Guardian Glass has published six new Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for its flat unprocessed glass, sputter (vacuum) coated glass, and laminated glass products produced in Europe. One of the new EPDs covers Guardian ExtraClear™ float glass, which is the standard (mid-iron) float glass with the lowest embodied carbon value produced in Europe.
Third-party verified by an independent external verifier (UL), the six EPDs cover the following products:
- Guardian NEXA™ 6 lower carbon glass
- Guardian NEXA™ 9 lower carbon glass
- Guardian UltraClear™ low-iron float glass
- Guardian ExtraClear™ float glass
- Guardian LamiGlass™ and Guardian Bird1st Lami™ laminated glass product ranges
- Coated glass, including (but not limited to) SunGuard™, ClimaGuard™ and Guardian Sun™ products.
The new unprocessed flat glass EPD, which covers Guardian ExtraClear standard float glass produced in Europe, has a cradle-to-gate (A1-A3) embodied carbon value of 9.64 kilograms CO2 equivalent per square metre for 4 millimetre glass. This new value confirms that Guardian ExtraClear is the standard (mid-iron) float glass with the lowest embodied carbon value produced in Europe. A new EPD for Guardian UltraClear™ low-iron float glass produced at the Guardian Glass Bascharage, Luxembourg plant, in Guardian Glass’ most energy efficient furnace, is anticipated to be available in mid 2025.
EPDs are also now available for the new lower carbon glass range of products. Guardian NEXA 6 and Guardian NEXA 9 each have their own EPD, with embodied carbon values for 4 millimetre glass of 6.38 kilograms CO2 equivalent per square metre and 8.58 kilograms CO2 equivalent per square metre, respectively. Compared to the average European float glass dataset, this represents a reduction in embodied carbon of more than 40 percent for Guardian NEXA 6 and 20 percent for Guardian NEXA 9.
Embodied carbon estimation tool
In parallel with these documents, available for download on the Guardian Glass website, the recently added feature to the Performance Calculator tool (part of Glass Analytics™ software) allows glass processors and specifiers to obtain an estimate of the embodied carbon equivalent for a wide range of glazing combinations. Guardian Glass developed the Performance Calculator tool to help demonstrate the benefits of high-performance glass in building façades.
To learn more about Guardian Glass’ commitment to Stewardship, Guardian NEXA and other new products and digital services, meet the company at glasstec in Düsseldorf, Germany, October 22 to 25, 2024, in Hall 10, Stand A22.