The norwegian glass and facade assosiation (GF) with roots in glassmaking guilds dating back several centuries, serves as an industry association and employer’s organization. Governed and owned by its 240 members, it represents a wide range of actors — from individual crafts businesses to Norway’s largest companies in the glass industry, system furnishing, and facade contracting.
Sustainability: A necessity and a competitive advantage
– Sustainability is higher on the agenda than ever before. Many of our members rely entirely on environmental documentation to participate in tenders, says Jonas van Zwieten Sivertsen, GF’s technical manager.
Photo: Member Media AS / William Sandberg Huseby
Increased market demand is leading to a surge in activity, and GF is now facilitating easier and more cost-effective production of environmental data for its members.
– By increasing knowledge and facilitating, we can help our members while strengthening our collective position in political discussions and in facing new regulations, Sivertsen elaborates.
Collaboration with LCA.no: A Natural Choice
GF chose LCA.no as a partner to develop a customized EPD tool for its members.
– LCA.no is the largest and best player in Norway in this field. In addition, they have a broad international network of customers and collaborators. They provide the support and knowledge we need.
The collaboration began with a pilot project in 2022 with member companies Modum Glassindustri and Modulvegger. This provided LCA.no with valuable insight into the industry’s needs to develop a tool suitable for the membership within these segments and simultaneously designed for further development into other areas.
– This has made EPD production far more efficient, in terms of both time and cost, adds Sivertsen.
Nordic and European Collaboration
GF has a strong and well-established collaboration with its sister organizations in the Nordic countries (AGN – Association of Glass Nordic) and, through this, membership in Glass for Europe.
– Our sister organizations have closely followed the work on the development of GF’s EPD tool. Through AGN, discussions are underway on how to potentially facilitate the other Nordic associations joining the platform. This will open the door to efficient processes, economic advantages, and valuable Nordic interaction.
Member Response
– While a few are still on the fence about whether they need to deliver their own EPDs, those companies that are required to do so in tenders have embraced the offer. Even with regulatory requirements introduced in TEK17, greenhouse gas accounting from materials is still in a kind of early phase. So far, there is only a requirement for an accounting, but it is probably only a matter of time before requirements around maximum greenhouse gas emissions are introduced. Good advice and suitable tools to meet the authorities’ requirements become all the more important. Companies that decide to take an active position in relation to environmental documentation will gain a competitive edge.
EPD: More Than Just Documentation
– EPDs can also be a valuable tool for product development. Without publishing the EPDs, one can still get a complete overview of everything that affects the final product via the tool. This way, you can gain valuable insight into your own production, Sivertsen emphasizes.
He encourages companies to start working now before further requirements are introduced. Now is still the time to familiarize yourself with this. Waiting too long can make it very time-consuming to do everything within a given timeframe.
Future Trends and Plans
Sivertsen sees a clear trend toward increased use of so-called low-carbon products. Along with energy-efficient production processes, increased use of recycled materials in the raw material mix is crucial for such products.
– Unfortunately, far too much glass is still being landfilled. As an example, it can be mentioned that more than 95 percent of all glass that comes back from renovation and demolition globally each year ends its life in landfills. In Norway, the figure is around 70 percent. That cannot continue. The international glass industry takes this very seriously and is now preparing for the reception of glass from renovation and demolition for the production of new glass.
Glass is then moving from being a permanent waste product to a perpetual resource. The aluminum and steel industries already have better control over their material resources but continue to maintain strong attention to further improvements and control of material flows.
– GF has many plans for 2025, but within the environment and sustainability, we will continue to focus on the importance of recycling glass, aluminum, and steel. We also see that it is becoming important to keep pace with new regulations that will come in the future, such as digital product passports. Many of the member companies participated in webinars with LCA.no to learn more about using the EPD tool. We will probably run more webinars with LCA.no in the coming year; they are skilled at communicating and have high expertise in their field, concludes Sivertsen.
Would you like to discuss environmental documentation and EPD tools with Hans-Martin?
Contact: Hans-Martin Wehler Phone: +47 945 24 584 e-mail: hans-martin@lca.no
photo, main photo: Christian Berset