1. Choose a building material or product.

Visit the manufacturer’s website

and determine what types of information are available that document the
material or product’s sustainable attributes. Categorize the types of
information available, such as product disclosures, ecolabels, EPDs, etc.
I choose steel, specifically carbon steel. Carbon steel is dull, matte-like, and
known to be vulnerable to corrosion. The name itself comes from the reality
that they contain a very small amount of other alloying elements. They are
exceptionally strong, which is why they are often used to make things like
knives, high-tension wires, automotive parts, and other similar items. Carbon
steel accounts for about 90% of all steel production. Steele is very sustainable
because once it is made, it can be used forever. Steel can be recycled an
infinite number of times and have zero downgrade in quality. This is nice to
have in construction because you can easily recycle the steel and repurpose
the product. The structural steel industry actively supports the transparent
reporting of environmental impacts associated with construction products.
Many rating systems, standards, green building codes, and specific customers
require the submission of environmental product declarations (EPDs) for
products delivered to the project site. These EPDs rely on the results of life-
cycle assessments to provide information on a number of environmental
impacts. AISC works with mill members to develop industry average EPDs
for structural steel produced in the United States.
2. Choose two similar products from two different manufacturers (for
example, exterior finish paints), both of which have published EPDs.
Choose two life-cycle impacts, such as global warming, acidification,
etc., and compare the results for the two products. Describe how the
differences between the two materials might positively or negatively
affect the environment or human health.
My two different products are both exterior finish paints. The first
product is Valspar Exterior Latex Primer, while the other is Behr Pro
E600 Exterior Paints. The environmental certification is the same on
each product, and it is a product certified for low chemical emissions.
The two-life cycle impacts I’m going to be talking about are global
warming, and ozone depletion. Global warming is an issue in the Behr
Pro paint and is also in Valspar primer as well. Global warming is an
average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the Earth’s
surface, which can contribute to global climate patterns. We definitely
want to refrain from causing any problems in the climate and would
wish to use the product that causes the least amount of global warming.
They could try to create an exterior paint that wouldn’t affect global
warming at all, and that would be the best problem to this situation
without negatively affecting the environment. Next is ozone depletion
potential, which is common in both paints. Ozone within the
stratosphere provides protection from radiation, which can lead to
increased frequency of skin cancers and cataracts from the human
population. This is something that can obviously negatively affect
human health, but also is not good for the environment as well. We
would need to develop a paint that doesn’t deplete the ozone.
Valspar Exterior Latex Primer:
http://info.nsf.org/Certified/Sustain/ProdCert/EPD10486.pdf
Behr Pro E600 Exterior Paints:
https://www.behr.com/binaries/content/assets/behrdotcom/web/pdfs/epd
/103.1_behr_epds_e600_11.17.pdf