Ruukki Environmental Product Declarations now also cover roof safety products

We have expanded our range of environmental product declarations (EPDs) to include roof safety products. This now makes us one of the first companies in the industry to provide an EPD also for roof safety products that improve operational safety of buildings. The new EPD covers powder-coated steel ladder products, snow guards and roof walkways, as well as related fastening systems. It complements the EPD coverage of Ruukki products and serves all Ruukki Construction.

The new EPD is available in English at EPD Hub (search for ‘Piristeel’ or ‘Roof safety’). Later in the spring, we will add it in Finnish and Swedish to the Piristeel, Ruukki and Plannja websites, as well as to the One Click LCA tool, which is used to calculate the carbon footprint of buildings.

"Our EPD is a response to customers' growing needs to assess the environmental impact of roof safety products. We can now better communicate the competitive carbon footprint of this product group in a transparent and verified way. At the same time, both our customers and we ourselves can better understand where the emissions from our products originate and what the share of total emissions is in different life cycle stages," says Markus Tupala, Technology Manager at Piristeel.

EPDs promote sustainable construction

EPDs are used to assess the climate impact of buildings, compare products and communicate their environmental impact, and can have a decisive impact on the choice of products for construction projects. EPDs are also used to score points in environmental certification systems of buildings, such as BREEAM, LEED and RTS, and additional points are awarded for the use of EPD in these assessments.

In the near future, limit values will be set for the carbon footprints of new buildings, and they may also later be applied to renovation construction . Limit values are usually set on a country-by-country basis, but the EU also plans to oblige all Member States to examine the emission impacts of buildings. In Finland, for example, the new Building Act entering into force on January 1, 2025 requires an assessment of the climate impacts during the life cycle of new buildings and lays down limit values. In addition, the legal requirements concerning manufacturers of building products are developing in such a way that environmental impacts must in future be communicated as part of the declaration of performance.

"Piristeel is a forerunner in roof safety products also in environmental impact assessment. Our transparency in this respect helps us to stand out from our competitors. We will continue our work towards a carbon-neutral future in construction, so be sure to follow our news to keep up to date of our development," Markus Tupala concludes.

More information:

Markus Tupala, Technology Manager, markus.tupala@piristeel.fi