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Plastic Piping Education Foundation Publishes Peer-Reviewed Life Cycle Inventory for Manufacture, Installation and Use of Plumbing Pipe

May 19, 2011

Glen Ellyn, IL—The Plastic Pipe and Fittings Association (PPFA) education foundation has released a completed, peer-reviewed Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) report for the manufacture, installation and use of plastic plumbing pipe. The results of the peer-reviewed report are suitable for submission to the U.S. LCI Database and NIST BEES LCA Database. Richard Church, PPFA’s Executive Director stated: “The release of this peer-reviewed LCI report allows for increased visibility of the industry’s sustainability efforts, expands knowledge about the relative environmental impacts of its products, and underscores PPFA’s leadership in green building and sustainability.” Plastics had very favorable results compared to metal tubing in the use phase portion of study. In fact, the peer review panel stated that “The results and conclusions sections show a clear advantage of plastic over copper…”.

The report evaluated two related LCI studies conducted by Franklin Associates, a Division of Eastern Research Group and a leading LCI practitioner. The methodology used to conduct this analysis is consistent with the methodology for LCI as described in the ISO 14040 and 14044 Standard documents. The first LCI assessed the environmental impacts (energy, waste, and emissions profiles) of raw material extraction through manufacturing of the most common types of plastic pipes and tubing used for service lines, hot and cold water distribution (HCWD), and drain, waste and vent (DWV) applications.

The second LCI study evaluated in the peer-reviewed report expanded the initial manufacturing LCI study to include the installation and use environmental impacts (energy, waste, and emissions profiles) for these pipes in three different plumbing model residential layouts. Updates to pipe production data, fittings, and other materials used to install these systems, and end of life considerations were evaluated.

While the manufacturing LCI report was positive for plastic piping products, the results of the use phase LCI were even more dramatic, with plastic piping systems clearly having lower energy, solid waste, and greenhouse gas emissions over the life cycle of the pipe with use phase included.

The peer reviewed LCI considered the following:

• Pipe material production and fabrication
• Fittings material production and fabrication
• Pipe and fittings packaging
• Pipe and fittings transportation
• Solder / adhesive use
• HCWD – natural gas energy
• HCWD – water consumption
• End of Life (EoL) transportation

The products included types of DWV, HCWD and service piping:

• Solid wall, cell core and recycled content (ASTM F1760) DWV pipe with corresponding material fittings were examined.
• CPVC (with CPVC fittings), PEX (installed with both brass and plastic fittings), and three types of soldered copper pipe were examined for HCWD pipe.
• PE, PVC and copper K and L were examined in the service line application.

The data from the peer reviewed LCIs will be submitted to LCI databases and to the Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) program. BEES is a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) program and is free for public use. It is based on the LCA approach specified in the ISO 14040 series of standards and allows users to make selections by comparing several environmental impact category results for products. LCA-based product selection tools are critical for unbiased green and sustainable building material and product decision making. PPFA encourages other piping material industries to develop and submit LCI data to LCI databases to allow for greater transparency.

PPFA selected Franklin Associates, an independent third party which has been at the forefront of LCA since 1974, to undertake the studies. The panel peer review was chaired by Four Elements Consulting, LLC, another well respected independent third party LCA practitioner.

PPFA is the North American trade association for plastic pipe, fittings, and related products used in plumbing applications. It has represented the industry for more than 30 years. PPFA is firmly committed to promoting the sustainability and superior performance of plastic piping systems in the built environment.

To read the full peer-reviewed report, visit PPFA at: http://www.ppfahome.org/Landing_Pages/Peer_Reviewed_LCI_Report_2011.html
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