Trench systems with verified carbon footprints

Selecting air conditioning and ventilation products on sustainability criteria has benefits for the environment and future generations, as well as for all the project stakeholders. More and more construction projects are now using only building materials the environmental impact of which can be proved. This is a trend that will also continue to advance in building services. Qualitative data on the environmental impact of a product is thus increasingly becoming a selection criteria for building services designers and developers. The air conditioning and ventilation manufacturer Kampmann has therefore furnished itsfirst products, Katherm trench units, with reliable environmental impact data in the form of standardised and verified Environmental Product Declarations, EPDs. They can be used as evidence in certification processes for sustainable buildings erc.  Building services designers simply pass on the EPD for the respective product to the building certification auditor. EPDs are a recognised practice in all popular systems, including DGNB, BREEAM or LEED.

An EPD consists of a large volume of data that quantifies the environmental impact of a product over its entire lifecycle. A range of diverse environmental impacts are considered, including the Global Warming Potential (GWP), the stratospheric ozone depletion potential or the acidification potential of soil and water. This enables the CO₂ emissions generated throughout the entire production process of a product by incorporated metals to be calculated etc. The effect of the EPDs in practice is illustrated by considering the GWPS of two different versions of grille (wooden roll-up grilles and aluminium grilles) on the Katherm HK 320/130/2000 (width/height/length). Only the production phase of the product is considered (including raw material supply, transport of the raw materials and production of the product within Kampmann), as the environmental impact of the different grille versions only varies in this phase. The comparison shows that 45.1 kg of CO₂ equivalents can be saved by the use of a wooden grille compared to an aluminium grille. In other words, an aluminium grille generates 50% higher emissions for the entire product. EPDs therefore enable the environmental impact of different versions of a product to be compared.

The life cycle assessment (EPD) does not end at Kampmann with the lifecycle of a product. The recycling of products after their original use is also taken into account in our life cycle assessments: Apart from its Katherm trench units, the air conditioning and ventilation manufacturer will gradually issue life cycle assessments for more of its products. Sustainable building certificates are set to become increasingly important in the German construction sector. Investors will increasingly be putting their funds into sustainable projects, among other things because construction financing from credit institutes will insist more and more on sustainability documentation. The Energy Housing Standard KfW 40 already requires the Sustainable Building (QNG) quality seal. EPDs are helpful in obtaining these certificates/