Sustainable Manufacturing Pilot Program
ASPN is seeking manufacturers interested to participate in a Sustainable Manufacturing Pilot Program which includes a no cost Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Life Cycle Assessments typically cost a manufacturer approximately $50,000 per assessment. We are able to offer this assessment at no cost thanks to a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.
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What is an LCA?
An LCA measures the environmental impacts of a product or material. It is a quantitative assessment and is the gold standard in understanding the environmental consequences of a product. There are a number of benefits of an LCA and it can benefit your company in the following areas:
Design
What changes can we make to the product to lessen its environmental impact?
Tracking
​How’s our environmental performance doing this year compared with past years?
Purchasing
Which product has the least environmental impact?
Marketing
Is our product “greener” than competing products?
Benchmarking
How’s our company doing next to all the others in our industry?
Policy
What initiatives will help our company improve overall environmental outcomes?
Other benefits include:
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Environmental impact reduction: A life cycle assessment (LCA) can identify environmental hotspots within a product’s lifecycle, allowing potential improvements to be identified and implemented. This can lead to a reduction in the product’s overall environmental impact.
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Resource preservation: LCA can aid in identifying opportunities for resource preservation by spotting areas where resources are being used inefficiently or where alternative materials or processes may be more sustainable.
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Cost savings: Putting an LCA’s recommendations into action can result in cost savings by identifying and implementing more efficient processes and using less expensive, more sustainable materials.
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Risk management: LCA can assist in identifying and assessing potential risks associated with the manufacture, use, and disposal of a product, allowing risk management strategies to be implemented.
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Improved stakeholder relationships: By demonstrating a commitment to sustainability and transparency, LCA can help to strengthen relationships with customers, regulators, and others.
Simply having an LCA-based report called an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) can be a major boost to market access, particularly for building products and materials.
Program Details
We are seeking manufacturers of building products and/or materials to participate between April and June 2024 and will require approximately 1-2 weeks participation of the manufacturer.​
At the conclusion of the pilot, you will receive a report with the results of the LCA as well as an LCA model of your product. This model can then be used to help you identify product design changes to lessen its environmental impact. It can also be used as the basis for generating a third-party certified Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) which can boost access to markets.
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If you are interested in participating in this pilot,
please contact Greg Norris, gregn@gba.org
