Environmental Data for Rainscreen Fixings Helps the Market Make an Informed Choice on Sustainability

An EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) is an independently verified and registered document that communicates transparent and comparable information about the environmental impact of products across their whole life cycle. Model EPDs have now been introduced and verified for two high performance structural adhesives for rainscreen fixing cladding panels, namely SikaTack Panel and SikaTack Panel-50.

While an EPD does not imply that a declared product is environmentally superior to alternatives, it enables specifiers to compare products within each category on their environmental impacts, using third-party verified data. For projects aiming for high sustainability scores such as those seeking BREEAM ratings, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data provided within EPDs can be included in the evaluation of a building, helping towards achievement of the necessary credits required.

Credible Data

Produced by European adhesives sealants association FEICA following LCAs of the products measuring their impact from cradle to grave, the EPDs conform with EN 15804 and ISO 14025 and have been independently verified by the European Institute Construction and Environment (IBU). The harmonised European standard BS EN 15804 provides core product category rules which define how the LCA data is calculated, collected and reported for each product category. It describes which stages of a product’s life cycle are considered in the EPD and which processes are to be included in the life cycle stages.

This helps ensure EPDs are verified, accurate, and not misleading to support science-based, fair choice in the market and market-driven continuous environmental improvement. EPD information is expressed in information modules which are designed to provide easy access to data packages throughout the life cycle of the product. This however requires the underlying data should be consistent, reproducible and comparable.

Secret Fix Solutions

High-performance adhesive systems solve corrosion problems encountered in fixing rainscreen panels using systems containing steel, which can hamper their thermal performance and aesthetics. Using a secret fix structural adhesive method such as SikaTack, design freedom can be granted, avoiding the need to have cladding panel arrangement dictated by support rails using in metal fixings.

High performance structural adhesives, consisting of an adhesive, prefixing tape and surface pre-treatment agents, require no secondary mechanical fixing or temporary support and can be bonded on or off site. SikaTack is able to bond to a variety of panel types, however a specialised solution - SikaTack Panel-50 - has been developed for increasingly popular fibre cement panels which give the appearance of stone cladding, giving designers further freedom.

With both products now having EPDs, specifiers have the full and transparent information on the life cycle credentials of high performance cladding fixing solutions, enabling them to make an informed choice and enhance sustainability evaluation within their project.