What Contractors Really Think About EPDs

In our last issue we spoke with the head of NAPA's sustainability efforts, Joseph Shacat, about all the new paradigms that the age of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) bring about. If you missed that article, and aren't sure what EPDs are or what they do, you should scan the QR code at the end of this piece, and go read about it on our website! That's a good place to start.

As a follow-up to that story, we wanted to reach out and speak with some contractors and business owners who have actually initiated and/or completed the process of filing EPDs using NAPA's Eco-Emerald Label tool. Five different asphalt producers responded to our questions, and the general consensus appears to be a positive one.

Why Start Now?

The first thing that we wanted to know from the contractors themselves, was why they felt that this was the time to get started and initiate the EPD process at their facility. Obviously, with the impending changes and demands on the industry, that would be a widely acknowledged reason, but, as the process is still in such a nascent phase, what caused them to bite the bullet.

Jeff Austin, Director of Asphalt Production, Brooks Construction (Fort Wayne, IN)

Brooks Construction has always been at the forefront of developing and encouraging environmentally innovative practices. We have pushed beyond industry standards and instead adopted carbon reducing solutions such as using methane gas, from local landfill, for burner fuel and developing an asphalt plant that can produce a 100% recycled asphalt mix. At Brooks Construction how we treat the environment today and in the future is very important to us. When NAPA started the Net Zero campaign we knew it was time for us to join the industry and lead our state with development of EPD’s and publication of them to continue our commitment to environmental stewardship.

CJ Hoy, Plant Engineer, Wiregrass Construction Inc (Dothan, AL)

Internally we started looking into EPDs in Dec 2021. The focus was to train staff on what is an EPD, data required, and how to analyze the results. However, we did not decide to publish until later recognizing there would be a new updated EPD tool available.  We officially published January of 2023.

The Huntsville area is a rapidly expanding city with vast amounts of engineering and sustainable technology. Given the close proximity to the Redstone Arsenal there is a large quantity of federal contracts. With the introduction of more and more environmental related federal policy such as the Federal Buy Clean Initiative it is inevitable that GHG will be a deciding factor within federal contracts.

In preparation for these policies we wanted to understand the energy and carbon footprint of our products and strategies for improvement. We particularly found the Emerald Eco Label Optimizer useful for this purpose. With the Optimizer we can then look at the effects of changing various variables within the overall manufacturing processes, Ex. different fuel types, different materials, different transport options. These variables can be changed and adjusted to show both different GHG emissions as well as the difference in price. For example, if a company is debating switching from a liquid fuel such as RFO, or a #2 fuel to natural gas the Optimizer will show the difference in price for that 12-month sample period as well as the change in GHG emissions.

Pam Ballantine, Asphalt Sales Manager, Holcim, Mid-Atlantic Region (Greenbelt, MD)

EPDs are an important tool we have to show the actual CO2 impact of our products. For asphalt, I started gathering the data last summer and published the asphalt EPD late summer/early fall of 2022. Holcim has a strong commitment to sustainable and innovative building. EPDs are like nutrition labels that help us be transparent about the CO2 impact our products have for our customers. We are committed to providing sustainable products and working towards Net Zero.

Andrew Kowalski, Manager of Sustainability, Rogers Group Inc. (Nashville, TN)

Internal Benchmarking was the biggest motivator for our team. We were trying to get an understanding of where each of our asphalt plants scores so that we can look for areas of improvement and implement them. Additionally, we want to be prepared for when upcoming regulations hit, and we are required to submit EPDs as part of the bidding process.

Kerianne Melillo, P.E. Chief Marketing Officer, Green Asphalt (Long Island City [Queens], NY)

We first heard about EPD’s in October of 2022. We worked through our EPD data over the winter and published them in February of 2023. Our motivation came from one our company’s core value of being Green and Lean. As a 100% recycled asphalt producer, we had always assumed that our product, by virtue of not utilizing virgin materials, was as eco-friendly as it could be. Before the introduction of EPDs, we didn’t have a good way of confirming that assumption. Since we wanted to “walk the walk,” we jumped on the opportunity to create EPDs for our asphalt mixes as soon as we became aware of it.

Trust the Process

Deciding that now was the right time to get started on EPDs was only the first step. Not a lot of people are familiar with what happens once you make that decision, because all of this is so new. For that reason, we wanted to know how the contractors would describe the process itself, and would they recommend, or not, the process for other companies who are, perhaps, still on the fence?

Brooks Construction

Overall the process was not too difficult. We do a great job at tracking all our fuel and energy usage so it was simply compiling all the data and inputting into the EPD software.

We would definitely recommend others the go through the process. It is important for everyone in our industry to compile their data and develop EPD’s so policy and lawmakers can make informed decisions for our future.

Wiregrass Construction Inc

The most difficult and time-consuming part of the EPD process is collecting the data all in one location. All of the data required are things that are already collected but most often not organized in one location. Once the data is collected the actual EPD process takes minutes.

I would say to anyone who already keeps track of the information needed, it is a very simple process and should be used even if it is just used internally. To anyone who does not collect the data, the goal of publishing an EPD is a great way to collect and determine trends related to plant efficiencies.

Furthermore, with the recent release of the GSA IRA Low Carbon Materials Standard which sets a national threshold for asphalt materials yet only considers a small set of data to create these thresholds, there is an increased urgency for industry to set benchmarks. Thus, industry needs to begin publishing EPDs to be sure a large data set is used to create thresholds that is more representative of the industry.

Holcim, Mid-Atlantic Region

The hardest part of the EPD process is gathering the data. Once you have the data, using the EPD tool is easy. When I did have questions, the NAPA office was very helpful. EPDs are a valuable tool, both for our customers and for us. I recommend this to other plant operators/owners, because it can highlight where improvements can be made to make your product/plant more environmentally friendly.

Rogers Group Inc.

NAPA did a great job of making the EPD process very easy. The hardest and most time-consuming part is completing the first EPD. Getting to know where all of your data is stored, validating the data, and making sure you are including the correct information takes time at first, but once you get it down it is a very straightforward process. Now that I understand all of this information, I am able to quickly turnaround an EPD for a new asphalt plant. Finally, creating different mixes is very easy to do once the more time-consuming part of collecting your baseline data is completed.

I would highly recommend for others to start creating EPDs. It has helped to drive a larger conversation around energy usage and efficiency at our asphalt plants. This has led to us looking into best practices that will reduce energy consumption, save money, and improve our EPD scores.

Green Asphalt

Like any program, EPDs have a learning curve. Gathering the information required by the program took a bit of effort but was fairly straightforward. Being that Green Asphalt’s mix designs are unique in that they contain no virgin aggregates, we did hit a few bumps in the road in inputting our data. However, utilizing the webinars and the resources available to us through the Asphalt EPD program, as well as NAPA’s staff, the input of our information went rather quickly.

We highly recommend the EPD process for other asphalt plant operators and owners. The first benefit is clear from the get-go – plants are immediately able to see where they are being inefficient and how it is affecting them, not only from an emissions perspective but also an economic perspective. The second benefit is that the EPD information from your plant will be added to the data pool that our government agencies may eventually utilize to set benchmarks. The more EPD’s that your plant contributes to the data pool, the more reflective the benchmarks will be of your own asphalt production processes.

The Takeaways 

From the collection of all this data, which for some was kind of new, we wanted to know if there was anything significant that they learned about their plant operations while conducting the EPD process. In the interview with Shacat, he described anecdotes of contractors finding some surprising results, and we wanted to know about any first-hand accounts. Sometimes hard data can fly in the face of traditional thinking or "common sense" understanding, so the opportunities here are fairly big.

Brooks Construction

We have learned more about how every aspect of our operation can affect our carbon output. It has put focused on processes that we can improve to lower our carbon footprint and operate more efficiently at the same time.

Wiregrass Construction Inc

We always have had a gut feeling which plants are most efficient. Emerald Eco Label allowed us to put data to those gut feelings by comparing the A3 production stage of the EPD. In some cases, we were spot on and in some cases, we were wrong.

Holcim, Mid-Atlantic Region

Not only do EPDs help our customers see exactly what the impact of our products are, but through the development process, I learned where most of our emissions are coming from so that we know what areas to look at for improvement in the future.

Rogers Group Inc.

We have learned a lot about our operations throughout the process. Some of our plants that we believed to be very energy efficient did not score as well as we would have expected. This has led to internal review of our operating practices to determine where our inefficiencies are at our plants. Additionally, it has led to increased awareness around energy usage and determining best practices to reduce energy usage and become more sustainable as a company.

Green Asphalt

We learned that although our 100% recycled mixes have very low impact from a materials and transport perspective. We also learned that on the production side, we had opportunities to maximize the efficiency of our processes. Our EPDs helped us pinpoint where our emissions were coming from and make an action plan to reduce our carbon footprint while also looking into greater long-term changes that will affect our EPD number significantly.