EPDs for semi-precast concrete elements published

Since the adoption of the Federal Climate Change Act in 2019, with requiring climate neutrality in Germany by 2045, the requirements on producers of semi-precast concrete elements have increased too. So as to provide architects and planners with a sound basis for planning and assessing buildings holistically and allowing for the certification of buildings, the producers are requested to describe environmental impacts of their products along the entire life cycle. One instrument for this purpose, already established for some years now, is the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), which manufacturers of building materials can use to communicate the impacts of products on the environment.

An EPD is a documented, transparent and comparable information format, describing environmentally relevant properties of a construction product in the form of neutral and objective data. These data cover, if possible, all implications the product may have on its environment. In ideal case, the entire life cycle of the product is taken into account here. It is based on internationally recognized standards and is verified by independent third parties to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data provided. The Syspro-Gruppe Betonbauteile e.V. association has now published an EPD each for the products „Semi-precast floor slab“ and „Double wall“. Another EPD for the product „Thermal wall“ is announced for the first quarter of 2025 by the association for quality assurance and product development of mostly medium-sized manufacturers of precast concrete elements.

    Under the title „Strategy Syspro 2030“, the 15 Syspro members in Germany, Austria, Italy and Belgium had already made a plan just about three years ago, about how to transfer the production in the members‘ manufacturing plants into carbon neutrality.

Transparent communication of environmental impacts

For this purpose, the member companies collaborate with diverse research institutions and partners, and are investing in research and development more intensively. They are also working on methods that will reduce the energy demand in precast concrete production and are converting the power supply to renewable energy gradually.

„An important element of our strategy are the sustainability certificates of our products which we provide our customers with in the form of EPDs issued in German and English language as of now,“ outlines Syspro General Manager, Dr. Thomas Kranzler. „These certificates are above all required in the construction industry, are presupposed more frequently in the context of public tenders, and represent, moreover, an information basis as far as the sustainability certification of buildings is concerned. In this way, we offer all stakeholders a sound basis for transparent communication of environmental impacts of our product groups,“ states Kranzler.

Ecological performance of the member plants becomes comprehensible

The verification of the two Syspro EPDs was carried out by the EPD Hub program operator – a recognized member of the ECO Platform, a European umbrella organization – and is also published on its web site. The calculations are based on DIN EN 15804+A2:2019. In the EPD for Syspro semi-precast floor slabs, one square meter each of a semi-precast floor slab is modelled, being differentiated according to the thickness of 5 and 6 cm. The EPD for the Syspro double walls shows the environmental impacts for double walls with 5 or 6 cm thick inner shells in combination with 6 cm thick outer shells. Both EPDs can be used for all semi-precast floor slabs and double walls being manufactured at the respective production sites of the Syspro members. „With the publication of the EPDs, the Syspro group faces the topic of sustainability and makes an important contribution to climate protection. What is special about our EPDs is that all Syspro members have made available totally complete data from all production facilities. Therefore, our EPDs are much more representative than some other EPDs, which are often only based on selected data sets and then, strictly speaking, only apply to the production site indicated in the respective EPD. In addition, the knowledge that our group gained from the certification process is a valuable basis in order to make our manufacturing processes and thus the products more and more sustainable,“ adds Kranzler.

The share of semi-precast concrete elements has been increasing in Germany for several years. The figures published by the Syspro group in respect of the environmental impacts of their products are now and then considerably below so far known and/or made assumptions for comparable semi-precast concrete elements. Against this backdrop, architects and planners will appreciate the fact that the newly published environmental product declarations of the Syspro group will bring greater transparency in terms of the ecological impacts of concrete products.