UNIGLAS® contributes to sustainability in construction

This is also evident in figures of the Federal Environment Ministry, which show that approximately one third of resource consumption in Germany is caused by buildings. As a result, environmental product declarations (EPDs) are gaining increasing importance in the construction trade.Environmental product declarations are based on ecobalances, which present the environmental impact of construction products transparently, independently and traceably, providing detailed information with reliable facts and figures. As "sustainability passes", EPDs form the basis for planning green buildings in accordance with building certification systems such as LEED, BREEAM or DGNB.

uniGlas^® also makes its contribution to making construction more sustainable. By producing an EPD with the pertinent ecobalance for uniGlas^® | FACADE timber-glass composites, uniGlas^® provides comprehensive information about the environmental impact of the product with a view to the entire life cycle.

The declaration is issued for the uniGlas^® | FACADE timber-glass composite, a special, supportingly adhered façade element with which the glazing is installed directly, i.e. without metal profiles, on a glued laminated timber substructure. To this end, a so-called connecting strip is adhered to the edge of the glass panel on the room side and is screwed together with the posts and beams of the timber framework. uniGlas^® | FACADE is designed as a complete glass façade of the building envelope, both for high-rise buildings - including with a variant secured against falls from heights - and for low-rise buildings.

As demonstrated in the EPD, uniGlas^® | FACADE fulfils all the physical building performance features required by EN 13830. No declarable materials according to REACH are used to manufacture the product. However, of particular note is the fact that a huge 88% of the materials used are renewable raw materials. Thus, a global warming potential (GWP) of -11.4 kg CO2 equivalent in the manufacturing phase can be proved. This indicator takes into account the quantity of carbon dioxide that is absorbed from the atmosphere and bound in the material during the growth of biomass. This value is offset against the greenhouse gas emissions produced during the manufacturing phase.

The information in the declaration is based on the European standard DIN 15804, which applies to construction products and services of all types. It describes the accruing environmental impact of the construction product in a transparent, independent and traceable fashion. Thus, the EPD is one of the most important requirements for the sustainability certification of structures and is recommended by the EU Construction Products Regulation (BauPVO).

"With the environmental product declaration, we show our product in the fullest transparency and provide architects, planners and customers tendering projects with reliable information for organising sustainable construction projects," explains Thomas Fiedler, Technical Director at uniGlas^®. He explains further: "The EPD we have strengthens us in our intention to keep on constantly improving the environmental compatibility of our products and thus strengthen our competitiveness."

More information can be found at www.uniglas.net

uniGlas^®'s first sustainability pass. The EPD with ecobalance

for the construction of the uniGlas^® | FACADE timber-glass composites as the basis for planning future-orientated and sustainable building.

 About UNIGLAS GmbH & Co. KG:

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Tel.      +49 (0)2602/94929-100

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E-mail: kuhlmann@uniglas.de

Web: www.uniglas.net