Leading Irish window manufacturer Munster Joinery has emphasised the importance of environmental product declarations (EPDs) for reducing embodied carbon in buildings. The company sees reducing embodied carbon as the next major step for the industry after tackling operational energy.

Munster Joinery has published the first environmental product declaration (EPD) for a window under the Irish EPD system.

Munster Joinery has published the first environmental product declaration (EPD) for a window under the Irish EPD system.

Climate breakdown and global ecological crises mean that our efforts to make buildings sustainable must go far beyond operational energy use – including number crunching and drastically reducing environmental impacts of building materials. John Cradden reports on progress in the uptake of the building blocks of life cycle analysis of buildings: Environmental Product Declarations.

New regulations over the last decade have substantially cut operational energy use in buildings, and with more building product manufacturers now publishing environmental data on their products, now is the time to move towards in-depth life cycle assessment to reveal the full environmental footprint of our buildings, Pat Barry of the Irish Green Building Council tells Passive House Plus.