Summary of Verification Findings and Key Issues Addressed

Overall, the life cycle inventory (LCI) used for this LCA was comprehensive and relied heavily on recent plant and raw material supply-specific data from Company ABC’s manufacturing facility. Both utility (electricity, gas, water) and waste treatment were based manufacturer’s data stemming from the years 2016, 2017 and mid-2018. Raw material inputs required for manufacturing the panels were based on actual weights and material compositions along with supplier-specific transportation distances and annual material and energy flows used in their facilities. Additionally, region-specific electricity and water mixes were assumed. Given this site and region-specific dataset informed the most important inputs required by the core module, it was concluded that the LCI used in this study was of sufficiently high quality.

Upon first revision of the detailed LCA report and the summarized EPD report, the author of these documents met all of the mandatory requirements of the PCR Construction products and constructions services, V2.2 2012:01 developed by the International EPD® System. After initial review, the following list provides some key concerns that the EPD Applicant was asked to address before final submission along with a brief statement of the Applicant’s response.

Justification of Validation Procedure

An “on-desk” approach to validating the LCA and associated reports was undertaken. This approach was justified because the client’s manufacturing operation and related raw material suppliers were the only life cycle inventory datasets attained. Given the relatively well-known manufacturing assembly required, the direct inputs and outputs derived for this process and utilized in the LCA could easily be compared with other studies to ensure the unit processes developed for this LCA were in sufficient agreement with well-documented studies. Additionally, the LCA practitioner carrying out the study is an independent consultant who continuously strives to undertake unbiased and high quality LCAs.

Correspondence between Applicant and Verifier

The following table lists correspondence between the Applicant and the Verifier:

Table 6373: Record of communication between 3rd party verifier and LCA practitioner:

Date	From	To	Message.Summary
2020-01-02	Verifier	LCA practitioner	Please update several mix design values on inputTab3

Verifier Signed Confirmation of Validation

As Verifier I hereby confirm that this LCA and EPD meet the strict compliancy requirements of the chosen PCR and the Program Operator.

FirstName LastName

Verifier Signature:

All sub-PCR and key PCR shall statements checklist

The following table lists the most relevant shall statements in the PCR/sub-PCR and whether they have been adhered to:

Table 6374: Compliance checklist of all ‘shall’ requirements founds in the PCR

#	Section	Shall statement	Included? Further comment
1	Options when using this PCR	This sub-product category rule (PCR) addresses UN CPC Group 375–Concrete and enables the development of EPDs associated with the production of that product from cradle-to-gate.	yes
2	Options when using this PCR	This PCR was developed specifically for use where applicants use the following standards: ASTM C94, CSA A23.1/A23.2, UNSPSC code 30111500. An additional PCR is required for concrete products to outline the additional LCA stages such as formwork, reinforcement and curing.	yes
3	Options when using this PCR	While this PCR will likely be used primarily in North America, it may be used in other regions where program operators deem it appropriate.	yes
4	General Information	The validity of the EPD® is set at five years – in accordance with ISO 21930:2017 – after which if after five years, relevant changes in the product category or other relevant factors have occurred (for example, evolution of LCA methodology in ISO 21930:2017), the document will be revised.	yes
5	General Information	If any environmental indicators for products included in the average differ by more than +/- 10%, the minimum and maximum of the population or dataset shall be reported.	yes
6	General Information	Manufacturers seeking to benchmark their individual type III EPDs against an industry average EPD shall have participated in the industry average EPD.	yes
7	General Information	Comparison based on LCA A1-A3 data, shall be made only if the same secondary data sets, and all subsequent life cycle stages are equivalent for both EPDs.	yes
8	General Information	The EPD shall either be based on a declared unit or a functional unit.	yes
9	Declared functional unit	No functional unit is defined in this PCR. However, performance characteristics of concrete shall be reported including: A. UNSPC Product code and CSI Specification number; and B. specified compressive strength at specified age in days (e.g., 4,000 psi (28 MPa) at 28 days). Compressive strength can be presented in either SI or US units or both as appropriate for the application.	yes
10	Declared functional unit	Since this PCR only covers Module A (manufacturing), a declared unit shall be used. The declared unit shall be one cubic meter of concrete. Data may additionally be presented per U.S. cubic yard or tonnes (1,000 kg).	yes
11	Units and quantities	Compressive strength can be presented in either SI or US units or both as appropriate for the application.	yes
12	General System Boundaries	A1 shall include the constituents of concrete listed in Table 1	yes
13	General System Boundaries	A2 shall assume all long haul transport by bulk carriers (greater than 322 km (200 mi)) do not typically return empty and thus can use the US LCI dataset which includes 35% additional distance to account for this	yes
14	General System Boundaries	A2 shall assume that all short haul transport (local trucks and dump trucks) return empty. Thus, one way transport distance shall be multiplied by (2/1.35) to reflect two way transport and eliminate the 35% additional distance included in the US LCI;	yes
15	General System Boundaries	A3 shall include transportation activities at the concrete manufacturing site;	yes
16	General System Boundaries	A3 shall include an assumption of 5% material loss unless product specific data is available and transparently reported in the project LCA report underlying the EPD;	yes
17	General System Boundaries	A3 shall include ancillary materials which include, but are not limited to, lubricating oils, engine oils, & other consumable operations equipment maintenance (OEM) products;	yes
18	General System Boundaries	A3 shall include final end of life treatment for any manufacturing waste. For example, admixture and ancillary material packaging. Concrete returned from construction sites is not included in A3; it is included in the construction process stage A5;	yes
19	General System Boundaries	For all truck (transit) mixing plant operations covered in the EPD, a default factor of 30% of all mixing truck (fleet) energy use is to be allocated to module A3, regardless of whether A4 is reported. This default is to be applied and quoted in the EPD unless a specific power takeoff analysis has been completed and is transparently documented in the project LCA report underlying the EPD. Per Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, SAFETEA-LU, Section 11144 – PTO Report, SB/SE Research – Philadelphia, Project ID–PHL0019, July 2007, Appendix E.	yes
20	General System Boundaries	A4 is optional. If provided, a description of the reference scenarios shall be part of the EPD	yes
21	General System Boundaries	A4, if included, shall include: backhaul; and the remaining 70% of mixing truck (fleet) energy.	yes
22	General System Boundaries	A5 is optional, but when placement of concrete is included, it shall include the impacts of concrete ordered but not used and returned. Returned concrete shall be considered a waste product and can be used as a burden free input until the point at which it is recovered and processed for further use, and that impacts from recovery and processing operations shall be included in Modules A1-A3 of the system using the secondary material.	yes
23	General System Boundaries	ISO 21930:2017 (Table 3) shall be supplemented by Table 2 with additional detail on the upstream data to use in developing the EPD.	yes
24	General System Boundaries	As noted in ISO 21930:2017 SI units shall be used. Optionally, EPD may provide both US and metric units using the conversion factors given in section 7.1.11.	yes
25	General System Boundaries	The following materials shall be considered recovered materials and not co-products as is consistent with version 1 of the Concrete PCR and the ASTM PCR for Precast Concrete: fly ash; blast furnace slag (as a cement); and silica fume.	yes
26	General System Boundaries	As in the ASTM PCR for Precast Concrete, concrete recycling processes may be treated as closed-loop recycling when the recycled concrete is used as a material input for the production of manufactured concrete and concrete masonry products. In this case only the flows and impacts associated with transportation, recovery and crushing of the recycled concrete shall be taken into account and the need for allocation is avoided since the use of secondary material displaces the use of virgin (primary) materials.	yes
27	General System Boundaries	If different allocation options are relevant and a deviation of greater than 20% is a foreseen outcome, a sensitivity analysis shall be initiated. These different allocation approaches and data sets shall be documented and declared in the EPD.	yes
28	General System Boundaries	Where potable water from a municipal source is used, the water treatment and distribution systems shall be included as an upstream process, which will have its own resource use and discharges. The impacts of water desalination shall be included.	yes
29	Content of the EPD	A simple visual representation of ready mixed concrete is not relevant and thus not required.	yes
30	Content of the EPD	As the percentage of material components can be considered proprietary information, the list of materials should be reported in order of greatest mass per mix.	yes
31	Content of the EPD	Include the table given in section 9.2.C	yes
32	Content of the EPD	EPD shall include the note: “The product category rules for this EPD recognize fly ash, silica fume and slag as recovered materials and thus the environmental impacts allocated to these materials are limited to the treatment and transportation required to use as a concrete material input”;	yes
33	Content of the EPD	The EPD shall include a table summarizing the life cycle stages included in the EPD as per section 9.3.B	yes
34	Content of the EPD	The EPD shall include A table outlining the primary sources of data used to complete the upstream material LCI background data including the date or version number;	yes
35	Content of the EPD	For industry average EPDs, the EPD shall include the date and source of industry data survey including a list of all companies who participated in the EPD data;	yes
36	Content of the EPD	The EPD shall include one of three statements, addressing GWP 100 (years), ODP, EP, AP, and POCP impact categories as given in section 9.3.E.	yes
37	Content of the EPD	Abiotic depletion potential for non-fossil mineral resources (ADPelements) LCA results shall be included in the EPD.	yes
38	Content of the EPD	Many of the impacts and inventory items included in ISO 21930:2017 are emerging and have high levels of uncertainty. This shall be recognized within the EPD with the following note: ‘Emerging LCA impact categories and inventory items are still under development and can have high levels of uncertainty that preclude international acceptance pending further development. Use caution when interpreting data in these categories.’ (Can be listed as given in section 9.5.A)	yes
39	Content of the EPD	When upstream data specified in the PCR and/or used in calculating the EPD do not have data for select impact categories or inventory items, they shall be reported as an ‘x’ or ‘-‘ and not zero and qualified with the note: ‘Not all LCA datasets for upstream materials include these impact categories and thus results may be incomplete. Use caution when interpreting data in these categories.’	yes
40	Content of the EPD	The following references shall be provided at a minimum in the EPD: ISO 21930:2017 Sustainability in Building Construction — Environmental Declaration of Building Products	yes
41	Content of the EPD	When a product specific EPD is aligned with an industry average EPD, the same LCA modeling software and version and background data shall be used to create the EPD, OR the LCA modeling software and version shall test representative samples of the regionally specific industry average benchmark data and include in the EPD a report of the maximum percent difference for environmental impact categories: global warming potential, acidification potential, ozone depletion potential and smog creation potential. If a different LCA tool is selected, it shall be used to calculate environmental indicators for a sample of representative mixes taken from the published industry average LCA report. The variation of results produced by the selected LCA modeling software and verson, compared to the published environmental indicators in the industry EPD shall be reported as a maximum percent variation for GWP 100, AP, EP or POCP. This is to provide transparency on the variability of results that stem from background data and models.	yes
42	Content of the EPD	An EPD shall be recalculated when changes to manufacturing practices are reasonably expected to result in a significant change to the EPD results.	yes
43	Content of the EPD	An EPD shall be recalculated when its period of validity is complete or when updates to the PCR result in significant changes to the EPD results.	yes
44	Content of the EPD	The default LCA/LCI data noted in Tables A1 of appendix A shall be used unless manufacturer and product specific EPD results are available.	yes
45	Content of the EPD	Tables A2 and A3 of appendix A shall be used for all applications unless an alternate standardized regional database is published as a clarification to the Concrete PCR to enable more accurate yet still standardized upstream LCA data. The data noted here shall be used even if more current data is published unless a revised version of Appendix A is issued as a clarification to the PCR.	yes