British Precast Drainage Association (BPDA) - 1m Of DN600 Precast Concrete Pipe With Class B Bedding

The product covered in this EPD is a generic 1m length of precast DN600 concrete pipe with class B bedding. Precast concrete pipes are made of cement, aggregates, water and (if needed) admixtures. Reinforcing steel is also present in some precast concrete pipes but not the size studied in this EPD. The pipes covered by this EPD have been manufactured using a cast moulding process in a specialist factory vibration system setting. The instant strip moulds are normally fabricated from steel plates, with fixings such that the mould casings can be easily removed. Once cast the pipes are either steam cured or stored in a warm humid environment to cure, sometimes electrically controlled.

This is an association declaration which uses average data from member companies of the British Precast Drainage 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 (Global Warming Potential) impact of 1m length of DN600 concrete pipe with class B bedding is 122 kgCO₂e (Modules A1-C4). For GWP, A1-A3 accounts for 57% of the lifecycle impact with carbonation in the use phase reducing the overall impact by 2%. The process of grouting a pipe at the end of life contributes 37% of the cradle to grave GWP impact.

The LCA results show that the cradle-to-grave primary energy demand of the declared unit is 863 MJ (Modules A1-C4).

For primary energy demand, A1-A3 accounts for 55% of the lifecycle impact. The cradle-to-grave Net use of fresh water (FW) is 0.26m³ (Modules A1-C4) with the product stage (A1-A3) accounting for 32% of this.

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