Catégorie FAQ: Data from the INIES database

Creation and update requests must be made on the Mlab platform available at the following address: www.mdegd.dimn-cstb.fr. The DED are updated either following a change in the calculation method or following requests on the Mlab platform. These update requests can be made for different cases:

• Detection of an anomaly in the DED or noticed error(s);
• Contribution to abnormally high impacts of the DED at the scale of the building or of construction or decoration products and equipment;
• DED advantageous compared to a specific data;
• Publication of one or more first specific data leading to modification of the calculation method of the DED (DED Case 3 (absence of specific data) becoming a DED case 1 or 2 (specific data existing));
• Publication of new specific data leading to modification of the calculation of the DED (DED Case 2 remaining Case 2 but initial sample modified and significantly impacting the statistical calculation of the DED);
• Publication of one or more specific data when only one data already exists leading to modification of the calculation of the DED (DED Case 1 becoming a DED case 2);
• Specific data with presumption of anomaly initially integrated into the sample and distorting the statistical calculation of the DED (Case 1 or case 2: Inies return)
• Request argued on a case-by-case basis.

Case
Description	1 specific piece of data corresponding to the product covered by the DED is available in the INIES database	Several specific data corresponding to the product covered by the DED are available in the INIES database (sorting of the sample often necessary to improve the homogeneity of the often heterogeneous INIES families)	No specific data corresponding to the product covered by the DED is available in the INIES database
Creation of the environmental profile	1. Product sizing FU max and RSL min 2. Use of specific data piece The environmental indicators of FDES/PEP(s) can be recalculated to be expressed according to the functional unit comprising the defined sizing characteristic and the retained service life for the default data	1. Sorting of the sample 2. Sizing of the product FU max and RSL min 3. Harmonisation / standardisation of the sample 4. Use of specific data. Environmental indicators of the FDES/PEP(s) can be recalculated to be expressed according to the functional unit comprising the defined dimensioning characteristic and the retained service life for the default data 5. In order to cover the variability: If N=2: selection of the max environmental profile If N>2: (weighted average (according to the collective status or not of the specific data) + 2 x Standard deviation)	1. Product sizing FU max and RSL min 2. Conservative assumptions for scenarios A2, A4, A5, C1-C4 Use of Ecoinvent V3.1 databases and updates for PDCs Use of ELCD databases as a priority and complement with Ecoinvent V3.1 and updates for equipment
Safety coefficient	+ 100%	+ 30%	+ 30%

Once the request is made on the Mlab platform, it is processed in order to judge its relevance and priority.

Module B, corresponding to the use of the product in a building, is itself divided into 7 modules:

• Module B1 covers operations related to product use (excluding water and energy use);
• Module B2 covers maintenance operations;
• Module B3 covers repair operations;
• Module B4 covers replacement operations;
• Module B5 covers refurbishment operations;
• Module B6 covers operations related to operational energy use;
• Module B7 covers operations related to operational water use;

In order not to count energy and water consumption twice, the information given in modules B6 and B7 should not be taken into account in the building LCA.

Two types of DED are available for wood products (sustainable or non-sustainable management of the resource). The calculation method applies safety coefficients to all the processes that contribute to the global warming impact indicator, excluding those related to biogenic carbon where the real balance between capture and emission is kept as it is in the calculation, without application of a safety factor. In case of sustainably managed resources, capture of biogenic carbon dioxide is affected by a coefficient of -1, and emission of biogenic carbon dioxide and methane respectively by a coefficient + 1, and + 25, for the impact indicator on global warming. In case of resources that are not managed sustainably, no capture of biogenic carbon dioxide is considered. Emissions are considered in the same way. If the origin of the wood is not known, the DED considers unsustainable resource management.

Wood and more generally any vegetal biomass, thanks to photosynthesis, capture CO2 during the growth of the plant; this carbon is generally called “biogenic carbon”. By capturing this CO2, the vegetal biomass can help to mitigate the effects of global warming. This effect is taken into account in the global warming indicator calculated as part of the life cycle assessment. Thus, for the production stage of the product, negative figures may be observed (“A1-A3” stages of the FDES or PEP). Wood construction therefore appears to be a solution for storing carbon during the life of the construction work. But when wood is used to produce energy (wood energy, energy recovery from wood waste) and at the end of life of the building, it re-emits all or part of this CO2, therefore, we use the term temporary storage. The NF EN 15804 +A2/CN standard (and the future PCR ed 4 for PEP) has defined the accounting rules allowing the upstream capture and various re-emissions of greenhouse gases to be taken into account throughout the life cycle, especially at the end of life. In order to meet the requirements of the ELAN law, an indicator of biogenic carbon storage in buildings is implemented by the RE2020 environmental regulation. Therefore, to meet this requirement, it is necessary that the environmental declarations of construction products and equipment specify the quantity stored during the service life of the product. This quantity must be expressed in kgC/FU. This field is now in place on INIES

The inventory method is used in the NF P01-010 standard for open-loop waste recovery processing (from one product to another). The inventory creates a real or fictitious border between the product that generates the waste and the product that uses it. Everything that is upstream of the inventory is therefore part of the life cycle of the product that generates the waste. Everything that is downstream of the inventory is part of the life cycle of the product that uses the waste. The position of the inventory is defined based on technical, legal and economic criteria.

For example, for concrete waste, the inventory can be positioned after the first crushing. The concrete product then takes on the impacts of being transported to a recycling centre and crushed. The steps after crushing, which transform the crushed concrete into a road product for example, belong to the road product’s life cycle.

All declarations (FDES and PEP) are vintage and valid for 5 years. The decision to update a declaration is the responsibility of its issuer. Like for drawing up an FDES, its updating is therefore a voluntary process. The main reasons for updating an FDES are:

• modification of the reference baseline to establish the FDES (revision of standards),
• addition of a production site or a manufacturer in the field of an FDES,
• significant change in one of the stages of the life cycle (supply of raw materials, manufacturing process, maintenance rules, modified end of life, etc.)
• update of the generic databases used to draw up the FDES.