Plyboo® RealCore® Carved Bamboo Plywood

Declaration details

Manufacturer

Smith & Fong

Program operator

Smart EPD

Declaration number

SmartEPD-2024-009-0130-01

Date of issue

May 23, 2024

Valid until

May 23, 2029

Product category rules (PCR)

Smart EPD® Part A Product Category Rules for Building and Construction Products and Services, v1.01 (version 1.01)

Standard

ISO 14025:2006 and ISO 21930:2017

Declared unit

1 kg of product

System boundary

Cradle to gate (A1 - A3)

Product specificity

Product Specific

Manufacturing specificity

Facility Specific

Manufacturing plants

China Facility (Zhejiang, China); California Facility (Indio, CA, USA)

Product category

Finishes › WallFinishes

Verifier

Anna Lasso, Smart EPD

LCA software

openLCA 1.11

Program instructions

Smart EPD General Program Instructions v.1.0, November 2022

Life cycle assessment results

Results per 1 kg of product.

Environmental Impact Assessment Results

Resource Use Indicators

Waste and Output Flow Indicators

Carbon Emissions and Removals

ND = not declared. Life cycle modules: A1-A3 product stage, A4-A5 construction process, B use stage, C end of life, D benefits and loads beyond the system boundary.

Material composition

Hazardous substances

No regulated hazardous or dangerous substances are included in this product.

Product description

Carved bamboo plywood (flat and edge grain) is a panel product made entirely from Moso bamboo. All panels are of a 3-ply construction having a face skin on top and bottom with a perpendicular core. On a typical ¾ (19mm) panel the face skins are approximately 3.5mm each and the core is 12mm.

Carved bamboo plywood panels can be used in a wide range of applications both commercial and residential. Applications include cabinetry and casework, furniture, store fixtures and displays, wall and ceiling panel systems, doors, and many other applications where plywood is typically utilized.

Interpretation

Results Summary

The results of the LCA indicate that the Module A1 (bamboo plywood entering the California, USA plant) is the largest contributor to the Smith & Fong product footprint across impact categories. The largest contributor to Module A1 is the electricity and steam generation taking place during the manufacturing of the bamboo plywood. The packaging used for the carved bamboo plywood is a significant contributor. Impacts of the packaging are driven by the use of particle board. Inbound transportation of the bamboo plywood to the plant is included and is a small contributor to the product footprint. The study timeframe is for the year 2022 for Smith & Fong manufacturing in California, USA.

This study does not include comparisons or benchmarking. Environmental declarations from different programs based upon different PCRs may not be comparable.

Forest management impacts

While this EPD does not address landscape level forest management impacts, potential impacts may be addressed through requirements put forth in regional regulatory frameworks, ASTM 7612-15 guidance, and ISO 21930 Section 7.2.11 including notes therein. These documents, combined with this EPD, may provide a more complete picture of environmental and social performance of wood products.

While this EPD does not address all forest management activities that influence forest carbon, wildlife habitat, endangered species, and soil and water quality, these potential impacts may be addressed through other mechanisms such as regulatory frameworks and/or forest certification systems which, combined with this EPD, will give a more complete picture of environmental and social performance of wood products.

EPDs can complement but cannot replace tools and certifications that are designed to address environmental impacts and/or set performance thresholds – e.g. Type 1 certifications, health assessments and declarations, etc. National or regional life cycle averaged data for raw material extraction does not distinguish between extraction practices at specific sites and can greatly affect the resulting impacts.

Accuracy of Results

EPDs regularly rely on estimations of impacts; the level of accuracy in estimation of effect differs for any particular product line and reported impact when averaging data. Variability was estimated in this EPD by mass allocation.