Lafarge, Oldcastle, NPCA and PCI advance Precast Product Category Rule

Sources: ASTM International, West Conshohocken, Pa.; National Precast Concrete Association, Carmel, Ind.; CP staff

To support development of Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) catering to contracts for green building certification candidate projects—especially those targeting the recently released LEED v4— precasters and allied groups are finalizing a North American Precast Concrete Category Rule (PCR) through program operator ASTM International.

The document will suit EPD for architectural and structural components, building and non-building: walls, columns, floors, roofs, facades, bridge substructure and superstructure, plus underground utility and drainage. It specifies rules, requirements, and guidelines for developing precast concrete EPD and underlying requirements of related Life Cycle Assessments. Compliant declarations prepared with the Precast PCR will present data over the raw materials acquisition, transportation and manufacturing life cycle phases.

The PCR joins similar documents the Carbon Leadership Forum and National Concrete Masonry Association issued earlier this year for ready mixed concrete and block & paver, respectively. ASTM is accepting comments on the newest PCR, posted here, through month’s end. Along with the National Precast Concrete Association, the PCR was drafted by representatives of Lafarge North America, Lindsay Concrete and Oldcastle Building Systems, plus the American Concrete Pipe Association, Canadian Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, and Resource Management Associates.

Additional information on the PCR and the emergence of EPD in project specifications can be obtained from NPCA Director of Sustainability and Technical Education Claude Goguen, P.E., LEED AP, 800/366-7731; [email protected].

Related articles:

NCMA consolidates Concrete Masonry Product Category Rule

Forum revises EPD-underpinning Product Category Rules for Concrete