oSIST prEN 16485:2023
(Main)Round and sawn timber - Environmental Product Declarations - Product category rules for wood and wood-based products for use in construction
Round and sawn timber - Environmental Product Declarations - Product category rules for wood and wood-based products for use in construction
This European Standard provides general Product Category Rules (PCR) for Type III environmental declarations for wood and wood-based products for use in construction and related construction and in-service processes.
This European Standard complements the core rules for the product category of construction products as defined in EN 15804 and is intended to be used in conjunction with EN 15804.
NOTE The assessment of social and economic performances at product level is not covered by this standard.
The core PCR:
— define the parameters to be declared and the way in which they are collated and reported;
— describe which stages of a product’s life cycle are considered in the EPD and which processes are to be included in the life cycle stages;
— define rules for the development of scenarios;
— include the rules for calculating the Life Cycle Inventory and the Life Cycle Impact Assessment underlying the EPD, including the specification of the data quality to be applied;
— include the rules for reporting predetermined, environmental and health information, that is not covered by LCA for a product, construction process and construction service where necessary;
— define the conditions under which construction products can be compared based on the information provided by EPD.
For the EPD of construction services, the same rules and requirements apply as for the EPD of construction products.
Additionally to the common parts of EN 15804, this European Standard for wood and wood-based products:
— defines the system boundaries;
— defines the rules for modelling and assessment of material-specific characteristics such as carbon storage and energy content of wood;
— defines allocation procedures for multi-output processes along the wood chain;
— defines allocation procedures for reuse, recycling and energy recovery;
— includes the rules for calculating the Life Cycle Inventory and the Life Cycle Impact Assessment underlying the EPD, including the assessment of carbon and energy content of wood;
— provides guidance/specific rules for the determination of the Reference Service Life (RSL).
This European Standard is intended to be used for cradle to gate or cradle to grave assessment, provided the intention is properly stated in the system boundary description.
Rund- und Schnittholz - Umweltproduktdeklarationen - Produktkategorieregeln für Holz und Holzwerkstoffe im Bauwesen
Bois ronds et sciages - Déclarations environnementales de produits - Règles de définition des catégories de produits en bois et à base de bois pour l'utilisation en construction
Okrogli in žagani les - Okoljske deklaracije za proizvode - Pravila za kategorije proizvodov za les in lesne kompozite za uporabo v gradbeništvu
General Information
Relations
Standards Content (Sample)
SLOVENSKI STANDARD
oSIST prEN 16485:2023
01-september-2023
Okrogli in žagani les - Okoljske deklaracije za proizvode - Pravila za kategorije
proizvodov za les in lesne kompozite za uporabo v gradbeništvu
Round and sawn timber - Environmental Product Declarations - Product category rules
for wood and wood-based products for use in construction
Rund- und Schnittholz - Umweltproduktdeklarationen - Produktkategorieregeln für Holz
und Holzwerkstoffe im Bauwesen
Bois ronds et sciages - Déclarations environnementales de produits - Règles de
définition des catégories de produits en bois et à base de bois pour l'utilisation en
construction
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 16485
ICS:
13.020.99 Drugi standardi v zvezi z Other standards related to
varstvom okolja environmental protection
79.040 Les, hlodovina in žagan les Wood, sawlogs and sawn
timber
91.080.20 Lesene konstrukcije Timber structures
oSIST prEN 16485:2023 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.
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oSIST prEN 16485:2023
DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
prEN 16485
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
June 2023
ICS Will supersede EN 16485:2014
English Version
Round and sawn timber - Environmental Product
Declarations - Product category rules for wood and wood-
based products for use in construction
Bois ronds et sciages - Déclarations environnementales Rund- und Schnittholz - Umweltproduktdeklarationen
de produits - Règles de définition des catégories de - Produktkategorieregeln für Holz und Holzwerkstoffe
produits en bois et à base de bois pour l'utilisation en im Bauwesen
construction
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 175.
If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations
which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.
This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.
Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG
CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2023 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 16485:2023 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.
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Contents
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 4 Abbreviations . 7
5 General aspects. 8
5.1 Objective of this general PCR for wood and wood-based construction products . 8
5.2 Types of EPD with respect to life cycle stages covered . 8
5.3 Comparability of EPD for construction products . 8
5.4 Additional environmental information . 8
5.5 Ownership, responsibility and liability for the EPD . 8
5.6 Communication formats . 8
6 Product Category Rules for LCA . 9
6.1 Product category . 9
6.2 Life cycle stages and their information modules to be included . 9
6.3 Calculation rules for the LCA . 9
6.4 Inventory analysis . 26
6.5 Impact assessment . 29
7 Content of the EPD . 29
7.1 Declaration of general information . 29
7.2 Declaration of environmental parameters derived from LCA . 29
7.3 Scenarios and additional technical information . 31
7.4 Additional information on release of dangerous substances to indoor air, soil and water during the
use stage . 32
7.5 Aggregation of information modules . 32
7.6 Additional environmental information . 32
8 Project report . 33
8.1 General . 33
8.2 LCA-related elements of the project report . 33
8.3 Documentation on additional information . 33
8.4 Data availability for verification . 33
9 Verification and validity of an EPD . 33
Annex A (informative) End of life formulae . 34
Annex B (informative) Example methods to calculate delayed emissions resulting from temporary carbon
storage . 36
Bibliography . 40
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European foreword
This document (prEN 16485:2023) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 175 “Round and
sawn timber”, the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
This document will supersede EN 16485:2014.
The main changes compared to the previous edition are listed below:
— New figures and examples for the systems boundaries in the calculation rules for the LCA (6.3.5);
— Proposal for co-product allocation (6.4.3.2);
— Add of new chapter Additional environmental information (7.6);
— Add of two informative annexes.
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Introduction
EN 15804 provides core product category rules for all construction products and services. It provides a
structure to ensure that all Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) of construction products,
construction services and construction processes are derived, verified and presented in a harmonized way.
This document provides rules for Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) specifically for wood and
wood-based products. It complements the core product category rules for all construction products and
services as established in EN 15804.
An EPD communicates verifiable, accurate, non-misleading environmental information for products and
their applications, thereby supporting scientifically based, fair choices and stimulating the potential for
market-driven continuous environmental improvement.
The standardization process has taken place in accordance with EN ISO 14025. All common issues are
covered horizontally for all product types in order to minimize vertical (branch specific) deviations. All
common issues are covered horizontally for all wood and wood-based products in order to minimize intra-
sectoral deviations.
EPD information is expressed in information modules as defined in EN 15804, which allow easy
organization and expression of data packages throughout the life cycle of wood and wood-based products.
The approach requires that the underlying data should be consistent, reproducible and comparable.
In line with EN 15804, the EPD is expressed in a form that allows aggregation (addition) to provide
complete information for buildings and other construction works. This document does not deal with
aggregation at the building level nor does this standard describe the rules for applying EPD in a building
assessment.
The document deals with a limited number of quantifiable parameters as predefined in EN 15804. Future
revisions of EN 15804 may lead to the incorporation of additional predetermined parameters.
This document provides the means for developing a Type III environmental declaration of wood and wood-
based construction products in the context of the suite of standards that are intended to assess the
sustainability of construction works.
This suite of standards includes:
EN 15643, Sustainability of construction works - Framework for assessment of buildings and civil engineering
works “
EN 15978, Sustainability of construction works — Assessment of environmental performance of buildings —
Calculation method
EN 15804:2012+A2:2019, Sustainability of construction works — Environmental product declarations —
Core rules for the product category of construction products
CEN/TR 15941, Sustainability of construction works — Environmental product declarations — Methodology
for selection and use of generic data
EN 15942, Sustainability of construction works — Environmental product declarations — Communication
format business to business
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1 Scope
This document provides general Product Category Rules (PCR) for Type III environmental declarations for
wood and wood-based products for use in construction and related construction and in-service processes.
This document complements the core rules for the product category of construction products as defined
in EN 15804 and is intended to be used in conjunction with EN 15804.
NOTE The assessment of social and economic performances at product level is not covered by this document.
The core PCR:
— define the parameters to be declared and the way in which they are collated and reported;
— describe which stages of a product’s life cycle are considered in the EPD and which processes are to be
included in the life cycle stages;
—define rules for the development of scenarios;
—include the rules for calculating the Life Cycle Inventory and the Life Cycle Impact Assessment
underlying the EPD, including the specification of the data quality to be applied;
— include the rules for reporting predetermined, environmental and health information, that is not
covered by LCA for a product, construction process and construction service where necessary;
— define the conditions under which construction products can be compared based on the information
provided by EPD.
For the EPD of construction services, the same rules and requirements apply as for the EPD of construction
products.
Additionally, to the common parts of EN 15804, this document for wood and wood-based products:
— defines the system boundaries;
— defines the rules for modelling and assessment of material-specific characteristics such as carbon
storage and energy content of wood;
— defines allocation procedures for multi-output processes along the wood chain;
— defines allocation procedures for reuse, recycling and energy recovery;
— includes the rules for calculating the Life Cycle Inventory and the Life Cycle Impact Assessment
underlying the EPD, including the assessment of carbon and energy content of wood;
—provides guidance/specific rules for the determination of the Reference Service Life (RSL).
This document is intended to be used for cradle to gate or cradle to grave assessment, provided the
intention is properly stated in the system boundary description.
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2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN ISO 14044:2006, Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Requirements and guidelines (ISO
14044:2006)
EN 15804:2012+A2:2019, Sustainability of construction works - Environmental product declarations - Core
rules for the product category of construction products
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN 15804:2012+A2:2019 and the
following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org
3.1
co-product
any of two or more marketable materials, products, or fuels from the same unit process, but which is not
the object of the assessment
[SOURCE: EN 15804:2012+A2:2019, 3.7]
Note 1 to entry Co-product, by-product and product have the same status and are used for identification of several
distinguished flows of products from the same unit process. From co-product, by-product and product, waste is the
only output to be distinguished as a non-product.
Note 2 to entry When further used as a material or fuel, according to COM (2007)59, (Communication from the
Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the Interpretative Communication on waste and by-
products) Annex I, sawdust, wood chips and off-cuts from untreated wood as generated at saw mills or at secondary
operation such as the manufacturing of furniture or pallets and packaging and customarily referred to as by-products
are, for the purpose of this document, considered co-products. Materials of this type fall outside the definition of
waste. However, where material of this kind requires a full recycling or recovery operation or contains contaminants
that need to be removed before it can be further used or processed, this would indicate that the material is a waste
until the recycling or recovery operation is completed.
3.2
biogenic carbon
carbon derived from/contained in biomass
3.3
biomass
material of biological origin excluding material embedded in geological formations and material
transformed to fossilised material
3.4
biogenic carbon neutrality
balance of biogenic carbon uptake during growth of biomass and release during natural decay or
incineration
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3.5
carbon storage
biogenic carbon stored over a specific period of time
3.6
direct land use change
change in human use or management of land at the location of the production, use or disposal of raw
materials (ISO 14050:2020, 6.12), intermediate products (ISO 14050:2020, 6.2.1) and final products
(3.4.1) or wastes (ISO 14050:2020, 3.12) in the product system being assessed
3.7
forest carbon pools
compartments storing biogenic carbon in the forest: above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, litter,
dead wood and soil organic carbon
[SOURCE: IPCC 2006, Table 1.1]
3.8
fossil carbon
carbon which is contained in fossilised material
Note 1 to entry Examples of fossilised material are coal, oil and natural gas.
3.9
recovered wood
all kind of wood material which, at the end of its life cycle in wooden products, is made available for re-use,
recycling or energy recovery
4 4 Abbreviations
EPD Environmental Product Declaration
PCR Product Category Rules
LCA Life Cycle Assessment
LCI Life Cycle Inventory analysis
LCIA Life Cycle Impact Assessment
RSL Reference Service Life
GWP Global Warming Potential
GHG Greenhouse Gas
CHP Combined Heat and Power
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5 General aspects
5.1 Objective of this general PCR for wood and wood-based construction products
An EPD according to this standard provides quantified environmental information for wood and wood-
based construction product or related service on a harmonized and scientific basis. It also provides
information on health related emissions to indoor air, soil and water during the use stage of the building.
The purpose of an EPD in the construction sector is to provide the basis for assessing buildings and other
construction works and identifying those which cause less stress to the environment.
Thus, the objective of this general PCR for wood and wood-based products is to ensure:
— the provision of verifiable and consistent data for an EPD, based on LCA
— the provision of verifiable and consistent product related technical data or scenarios for the assessment
of the environmental performance of buildings;
— the provision of verifiable and consistent product related technical data or scenarios potentially related
to the health of users for the assessment of the performance of buildings;
— that comparisons between construction products are carried out in the context of their application in
the building;
—the communication of the environmental information of construction products from business to
business;
— the basis, subject to additional requirements, for the communication of the environmental information
of construction products to consumers.
Declarations based on this standard are not comparative assertions.
NOTE See definition 3.4 of EN 15804:2012+A2:2019 and EN ISO 14044:2006, 5.1 for more information
concerning LCA used for comparative assertion.
5.2 Types of EPD with respect to life cycle stages covered
As in EN 15804.
5.3 Comparability of EPD for construction products
As in EN 15804.
5.4 Additional environmental information
As in EN 15804.
5.5 Ownership, responsibility and liability for the EPD
As in EN 15804.
5.6 Communication formats
As in EN 15804.
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6 Product Category Rules for LCA
6.1 Product category
The product category referred to in this standard includes all wood and wood-based construction products
as well as related construction services for buildings and other construction works.
6.2 Life cycle stages and their information modules to be included
6.2.1 General
As in EN 15804.
6.2.2 A1-A3, Product stage, information modules
As in EN 15804.
6.2.3 A4-A5, Construction process stage, information modules
As in EN 15804.
6.2.4 B1-B5, Use stage, information modules related to the building fabric
As in EN 15804.
6.2.5 B6-B7, use stage, information modules related to the operation of the building
As in EN 15804.
6.2.6 C1-C4 End-of-life stage, information modules
As in EN 15804.
6.2.7 D, Benefits and loads beyond the system boundary, information module
As in EN 15804.
6.3 Calculation rules for the LCA
6.3.1 Functional or declared unit
As in EN 15804.
6.3.2 Functional unit
6.3.2.1 General
As in EN 15804 with the following addition:
— When communicating the functional unit of an EPD, the apparent density and moisture content of wood
and wood-based products shall be provided as complementary information.
— Values for apparent density and moisture content can be taken from product or application standards
and should reflect the respective values underlying the LCA calculations.
6.3.2.2 Performance in a functional unit
As in EN 15804.
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6.3.3 Declared unit
As in EN 15804 with the following addition:
The declared unit is used instead of the functional unit when the precise function of the product or
scenarios at the building level is not stated or is unknown. The declared unit shall be applied when an EPD
covers one or more life cycle stages as information modules, i.e. in the case of a “cradle to gate” EPD and
“cradle to gate with options” EPD and when the EPD is not based on a full “cradle to grave” LCA. The
declared unit provides a reference by means of which the material flows of the information module of a
construction product are normalized (in a mathematical sense) to produce data, expressed on a common
basis. It provides the reference for combining material flows attributed to the construction product and for
combining environmental impacts for the selected stages of the construction product’s incomplete life
cycle (see 7.5). The declared unit shall relate to the typical applications of products.
The declared unit in the EPD shall be one of the unit types listed below. A different unit may be declared
for reasons that shall be explained and in such cases information shall be provided on how to convert this
unit to one or more of the required unit types:
— an item, an assemblage of items, e.g. 1 wood window;
3 3
— Volume (m ), e.g. 1 m of sawn timber;
— Mass (kg), e.g. wood chips, recovered wood;
—Length (m), e.g. 1 m of wood moulding;
2 2 2 2
— Area (m ), e.g. 1m of wall elements; 1 m of wood flooring; 1 m of wood-based panel.
If the declared unit is not expressed in mass, then a conversion factor, e.g. to 1 kg of material shall be
provided.
For the development of, for example, transport and disposal scenarios, conversion factors to mass per
declared unit shall be provided.
For the development of, e.g. transport and disposal scenarios, the apparent density and moisture content
shall be part of the declared unit provided.
NOTE 1 Reasons for declaring units other than those listed include the need to use units normally used for design,
planning, procurement and sale.
NOTE 2 CEN Technical Committees for product standards are expected to harmonize the declared unit to be used
for their product families.
6.3.4 Reference service life (RSL) (valid for cradle to gate with options and cradle to grave EPDs)
6.3.4.1 General
As in EN 15804.
6.3.4.2 Scenarios for RSL and functional unit
As in EN 15804.
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6.3.5 System boundaries
6.3.5.1 General
As in EN 15804 with the addition under 6.3.5.1.1.
6.3.5.1.1 Carbon fluxes over the life cycle
Carbon fluxes within the system boundary with nature is set to include those technical processes that
provide the material and energy inputs into the system and the following manufacturing (module A1 to
A3), as well as the processing of any waste arising from those processes, and construction processes
(module A5) and end-of-life modules C3 and C4 as well as benefits and loads beyond the system boundary
(module D).
Natural growth and decay processes including natural disturbances etc. shall not be attributed to the
production function of forests and therefore shall not be considered in the LCA.
Resulting from the fundamental principle of sustainable forest management to preserve the production
function of forest, total forest carbon pools shall be considered stable (or increasing) under sustainable
forest management. This is due to the fact that temporal decreases of forest carbon pools resulting from
harvesting on one site are compensated by increases of carbon pools on the other sites, forming together
the forest area under sustainable forest management.
Effects on forest carbon pools related to the extraction of slash, litter or roots shall not be attributed to the
material use of wood and are therefore not considered in this document.
NOTE 1 In accordance with European policies forests are understood as a natural system with multiple functions,
the production function of timber being one of them. The existence of forests as natural systems is protected by
European and national legislation.
NOTE 2 Harvesting operations lead to temporal decreases in forest carbon pools in the respective stand. Impacts
on forest carbon pools resulting from the sustainable or unsustainable management of forests, however, cannot be
defined or assessed on stand level but requires the consideration of carbon pool changes on landscape level, i.e. the
level based on which management decisions are made.
NOTE 3 It is acknowledged that excessive extraction of slash, litter or roots for the purpose of bioenergy
generation can lead to decreases in forest carbon pools. These activities, however, are not causally linked to the
extraction of timber for the material use of wood.
In order to reflect the biogenic nature of wood, its renewability and its potential carbon neutrality, the
system boundary between nature and the product system under study is defined as follows:
— Wood entering the product system from nature accounts for the energy content and the biogenic carbon
content as material inherent properties.
— All technical processes related to forestry operations intended to produce timber, (e.g. stand
establishment, tending, thinning(s), harvesting, establishment and maintenance of forest roads) are
considered within the system boundary and are subject to co-product allocations as outlined in 6.4.3.2.
— Potential implications due to the unknown origin of wood or unsustainably produced timber are
considered.
— Human induced impacts on forest carbon pools resulting deforestation are accounted in the impact
category Global Warming Potential land use and land use change (GWP-luluc).
GWP-luluc is 0 for countries that have decided to account for Art. 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol or for wood
originating from forests which are operating
...
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