Aircrete Products Association (APA) - 1m³ Of Precast Aerated Concrete Blocks

The product covered in this EPD is a generic 1m³ of precast aerated concrete blocks. Aerated concrete blocks, commonly referred to as Aircrete, are lightweight, autoclaved, thermal insulation blocks. Aircrete is normally used as internal masonry but is also used in external, cavity, foundation and separating party walls in houses and other buildings.

The precast concrete blocks studied in this EPD range in density from 460 - 760 kg/m³ with the value used in carbonation calculations set at 600 kg/m³. Concrete blocks are manufactured to a range of dimensions, 440 x 215 x 100 mm taken as the dimensions for this EPD.

This is an association declaration which uses average data from member companies of the Aircrete Products Association. It is based on data covering a period of 12 months (From January to December 2014). All data was collected from UK factories. The type of EPD is Cradle to Gate with all options declared – This equates to a cradle to grave EPD without the inclusion of module D. The modules considered in the Life Cycle Assessment are modules A1-C4 inclusive.

Interpretation:

Interrogation of the LCA results show that the cradle to grave GWP impact of a 1m³ of precast aerated concrete blocks is 122.2 kgCO₂e (Modules A1-C4).

For GWP, A1-A3 accounts for 137% of the lifecycle impact with carbonation in the use phase and post-demolition, reducing the overall impact of the Aircrete blocks. Carbonation in the use phase alone reduces the GWP impact by 45%. Further analysis of the GWP figures show that the largest contributors to this value are cement (41%), utilities (30%) and the aggregates and powders used in production (24%).

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