Plumbing Supply Forum

1. Plumbing Supply Forum Sydney 20th May 2009 David Sharp Building Products Innovation Council

2. Acknowledgments • Nigel Howard – MD Edge Environment • Tim Grant – Past President of ALCAS • Black Sheep Brewery • Google Images

3. Have you ever used words like this to describe your products? • Reused, Recycled, Recycled Content, Recyclable • Carbon Neutral • Non-toxic, No Toxins, non-allergenic, PVC-free • Natural, Renewable • Durable, Long-Lived, • Flexible, Adaptable • Locally sourced • Low ecological impact • Low VOC • Low embodied energy

5. Spot the Green Tap

9. Green Wear

10. GreenBrush

11. Green Home ? Carbon Neutral? Renewable? Low embodied energy?

12. Locally sourced? Recycled Content? Green Construction? Low ecological impact?

13. Green Star credits for Materials & Products

14. Green Star credits for Materials & Products • Single issue measures: • Well intentioned BUT • Can provide perverse outcomes – that can be more damaging to the environment

15. Green Star credits for Materials & Products • Single issue measures: • Well intentioned BUT • Perverse outcomes – often more damaging to the environment NEED Life Cycle Assessment

16. The world is complex.

17. LCA of a Glass Soda lime production Detergents Landfill Glass production Yes Manufacture Transport Recycling Sand extraction Breakage? Packaging No Salt electrolysis Chlorine Use Cleaning Transport CradletoGrave PVC Water heating Diesel oil Bitumen Electricity generation Gas distribution Polythene Oil refining Water transmission Cracking Fuel ash to cement production Oil and gas extraction Water extraction Coal mining Naptha

18. BPIC.ASN.AU

19. bpic.asn.au The Council’s prime objective is to provide unified and coordinated representation of the building products industry to Government and regulators while providing a forum for discussion and information sharing between manufacturers.

20. AusLCI

21. A life cycle inventory (LCI) of generic Australian manufactured building products, based on sound scientific assessment that will provide the driver for materials selection rather than the subjective assessment of perceived ‘environmental features’ which is the current market norm and provide the scientific basis for whole of Life Cycle Assessment tools.

22. BPIC ICIP Project • Building Products Innovation Council: • ASI, AWA, CCAA, CMA, GBMA, IMAA, RTAA, SRIA, Think Brick, TDA • with: • Australian Life Cycle Assessment Society • BRANZ • Contractors • CSIRO

23. Unit Processes Process Product Raw Materials Co-product Energy Waste & Pollution Air emissions Water discharges Solid waste Water Products

24. Project Plan

25. The project will deliver • Level playing field LCI methodology • Life Cycle Inventory for a suite of generic Australian building and construction products • Consistent source of replacement life data • Protocol (set of rules) for the correct use of the data.

26. Current Emphasis • Methodology – Agreement on Boundaries, Scope, Age of Data etc + • Protocol – How the Data should be used • Collection of Data. • Weightings Workshops – what’s important and how should it be weighted based on location

27. Take Action Innovate to mitigate your environmental impacts and liabilities: Your products Your processes Your supply chain Your transport Your product end-of-life Your wastes Promote your environmental credentials and preferability to the market Tell the truth Have the proof of your claims or say nothing – ACCC Join the BPIC ICIP Project Ten Steps to Establishing LCA in your Business This nearly always saves money – sometimes spectacular savings