Building Product Declaration
Building Product Assessment, SundaHus, eBVD, and BASTA
A Building Product Declaration contains detailed information about a building product. This information refers to instructions on how to handle the product during the construction, use and waste stages. Furthermore, the document also contains information about the environmental impact of the product at various stages of its life cycle. A complete Product Building Declaration is a basis for assessment and registration with the Building Products Assessment, SundaHus, eBVD, and BASTA, as well as for selecting and prioritising building products from an environmental point of view.
What does a Building Product Declaration (BVD) mean?
The Building Products Declaration (BVD) is a document that gives you the opportunity to make an environmentally friendly and long-term efficient choice of building products in your business. With complete information collected from both suppliers and various databases in the building product declaration, you understand what risks your business could entail and how these could be prevented. Now you are also able to electronically register your declaration via eBVD, the content of which is agreed by the various players in the industry.
What should a Building Product Declaration contain?
There is no legal support that would state that the building declaration must be completed and what it should contain. However, the construction industry strongly recommends that companies create BVD for their construction products. Building Product Declaration should include a detailed account of a product’s content and environmental characteristics. For chemical products, Safety Data Sheets must also be provided.
Building Product Assessment
The Building Products Assessment is a tool for evaluating and providing information on environmentally assessed building products. It works to influence product development towards a non-toxic and well-built environment. The environmental assessment is carried out on the basis of criteria that evaluate the properties of substances and a product’s life cycle impact (environmental impact in manufacture, use and disposal as waste). The item can receive the rating “Recommended”, “Accepted” or “Avoid”. The registration contains the product’s Safety Data Sheet (chemical product), technical specifications, content declaration and also the results of emission tests (for indoor products). You can also insert installation instructions and maintenance documents, but these are not taken into account when assessing.
Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)
Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) describes the environmental characteristics of a product from a life cycle perspective. It provides comparable information on the environmental impact of goods and can be used in environmentally friendly procurement.
The content of the EPD follows categories that are based on criteria in the standard series ISO 14040 but relevant information in addition to these criteria can be included. An EPD can be used as a communication tool, describing relevant aspects of a product’s environmental performance.
Difference between BVD and EPD
While BVD provides a detailed account of a product’s content, EPD aims at the environmental impact of a product from the life-cycle perspective.
BASTA
BASTA is a register containing information about products and goods that meet the BASTA criteria and limits phasing-in and risk reduction substances. BASTA follows the official Swedish interpretation of the EU guidelines for composite goods Article 33. For a composite product, this means that all constituent components that were once goods themselves must be assessed separately.
SundaHus
SundaHus is a private company that, through a web-based system and qualified advice, offers a comprehensive solution for systematizing work on material selection and thus phasing out dangerous substances in a building’s entire life cycle. SundaHus creates the conditions for efficient work based on conscious material choices.
Registration of Building Product Declaration
Registration of Building Product Declarations is conducted through the Building Materials Industries portal. Registration concerns a company’s sustainability work and certification. The content of a product is reported with the raw materials, environmental impact in connection with production, distribution and construction phase. Information on demolition and waste management must also be noted and whether products give rise to emissions.
Building Product Declaration in English
Building Product Declaration in the Building Materials Industries portal can also be created and registered in English by choosing the language in the application. The instruction is also available in English. The English variant can be important for communicating with a supplier. It is often their job to provide more about the product’s environmental impact of raw materials and environmental impact in connection with manufacturing.
Help with Building Product Declarations in Swedish and English.
We create electronic Building Products Declarations in Swedish and English according to the Construction Materials Industries. In collaboration with manufacturers and retailers of construction products, the environmental impact of the product is mapped from the “cradle to the grave” – from the production stage to distribution, from the construction stage to waste management. We also assist in the mapping of the construction products according to the BASTA system, property criteria, SundaHus and the Building Products Assessment.