What is an ESF?
An Environmental and Health Data Sheet (EHSDS) is the source of environmental data on construction products recognized in France for carrying out a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a building.
It describes the environmental profile of a construction product based on its LCA, which quantifies its various environmental impacts. It covers all the stages in a joinery product's life cycle, divided into groups of information modules.
What is the purpose of an EHSF?
An FDES, or Fiche de Déclaration Environnementale et Sanitaire, is a document that makes it possible to evaluate in quantifiable terms (in kilograms of CO2 emitted) the environmental impact of a product over its entire life cycle. In addition, they provide information on the product's contribution to health and comfort.
As part of the RE 2020the sum of the environmental impact of all construction products is assessed to determine the impact of the building as a whole. The use of ESFs is therefore mandatory under these regulations. In the absence of an ESF for a given product, default data will be used to penalize the product.
What information can be found on an EHSF?
This is a standardized, multi-criteria document, which must contain the following elements:
- Product characteristics: main constituents (raw materials, any hazardous substances, etc.), additional products for application, packaging, etc.
- Product functional unit and service life
- Environmental profile: set of environmental indicators calculated over the product's entire life cycle.
- Health information and comfort of use: the product's contribution to the sanitary quality of interior spaces and water, and to quality of life in the building (hygrothermal, acoustic, visual and olfactory comfort).
- Identity of issuer.
What are the different types of ESF?
- Individual EHDS: the declarant is a single manufacturer
- Collective ESF: the declarant is a group of manufacturers (e.g. UFME). The ESDS covers the same standard product manufactured by this group. It is drawn up on the basis of data collected from a representative sample.
- Individualized ESDS: a manufacturer can individualize the parameters of a collective ESDS (procurement, specific manufacturing, energy, distance from the worksite, etc.), thereby declaring potentially lower environmental impacts.
- Default environmental data (MDEGD): generic data established by the French government, resulting from a calculation that includes safety coefficients. It is used for the environmental assessment of new buildings when no equivalent specific environmental data is available (collective or individual FDES). Default environmental data do not include information on health and comfort.
How do I make an EHSF?
The study was carried out in several phases.
The first step is to define the scope, i.e. the products to be covered by the environmental declaration, their functional units, and the scope of their life cycle.
The result of this phase should be the identification of available and missing data, to be collected or researched.
Next, the inventory data must be collected and the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) carried out. In concrete terms, this means collecting all the data required for the LCA, including data from suppliers or subcontractors if necessary, via the applicant and/or under his responsibility.
These data must be processed by the organization in charge of producing the EHDS, using LCA software adapted to construction and decoration products, and electrical and HVAC equipment.
Finally, the organization must draw up an Environmental Declaration document, and have it validated by an independent third party.
Who can produce an EHSF?
An ESDS can be produced at the initiative of either a manufacturer or a professional organization, in the case of a Collective ESDS, for example. Finally, there are also "customized" ESDSs produced by configurators, which can be used to calculate an ESDS adapted to the product used in the structure being assessed.
These documents must be verified by an independent third party accredited by a government-approved verification program (link: https: //www.inies.fr/programmes-et-services).
How long is it valid?
To date, the validity of an ESDS is 5 years.
What are the standards governing ESFs?
Since 2014, an EHSF is a document drawn up in accordance with standard NF EN 15804.
The purpose of this standard is to ensure that all Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) relating to construction products, services and processes are obtained, verified and presented in a harmonized way.
The rules and requirements applicable to the EPD for construction services are the same as for the EPD for construction products. It provides the means to draw up a Type III environmental declaration for construction products, and is part of a series of standards designed to assess the contribution to sustainable development of construction works.
Do they include assessment of a product's social and economic performance?
No.
Where are they housed?
The data sheets are hosted on INIES, the national reference database for environmental and health data on construction products and equipment.
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