Ten National Associations Sign Up To ARGE EPDs

Following our announcement to produce generic Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), ten member associations have now signed up to the ARGE scheme – with more to follow.

The programme, which was agreed at the 2013 ARGE Conference as part of our sustainability roadmap, will see the delivery to ARGE members of generic, Pan-European EPDs for hardware products by summer 2015.

In addition to the UK’s Door and Hardware Federation, some of the key national associations in the lock and hardware industry have committed to the programme, including the Fachverband in Germany, UNIQ in France, as well as Spain’s AFACE, Austria’s FMMI and Netherland’s VHS. Italy is the latest nation that has committed to the EPDs, whilst Scandinavian associations are also represented by Finland’s Fin Committee and the SME in Sweden, with Switzerland’s VSSB making up the nine members signed up so far. Other national associations are also close to committing.

EPDs are designed to offer a coherent expression of data throughout the life cycle of a product. Developed to provide environmental data from LCA studies in a common format based on rules known as Product Category Rules.

Commenting on the importance of the EPD programme, Hans Weissenböck, ARGE Chairman, said:

“We are delighted that ten national associations, including some of the most influential in our industry, have recognised the importance of the sustainability agenda and the commercial benefits of generic EPDs. 

“EPDs are the most effective way for communicating a product’s verifiable and accurate environmental information, which is becoming increasingly imperative in the construction market, which is why ARGE took the decision to create generic versions for our national members.

“The development of generic Pan-European EPDs from ARGE, which can be used across a range of applications, will be critical in enabling hardware manufacturers to access the construction market and remain competitive in a market increasingly subject to European and international standards.

“As we look forward toward this September’s conference, we hope that more national associations will recognise the commercial value of the programme and join us in Veneto to discuss the details and next stages for ARGE.”

After ARGE has completed the data collection phase of the EPD creation process we will begin to assess the possible programme holders for the next stage of the EPD delivery. 

There is still time to register for this year’s conference in Veneto, Italy, where the delivery of EPDs will take centre stage. Registration forms and more information can be found on the event section of the website or follow us on Linked In for the latest updates.