Environmental Product Declaration
Northern White Glass Fibre Loose Fill Insulation
Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for Northern White Glass Fibre Loose Fill Insulation, manufactured by CertainTeed Saint-Gobain. Declaration SmartEPD-2025-074-0546-01, prepared according to UL Part B: Building Envelope Thermal Insulation Products, valid until June 23, 2030.
- Functional unit
- 1 m2 of material with RSI = 1m2K/W of product
- Valid until
- June 23, 2030
- PCR
- UL Part B: Building Envelope Thermal Insulation Products
Declaration details
- Manufacturer
- CertainTeed Saint-Gobain
- Program operator
- Smart EPD
- Declaration number
- SmartEPD-2025-074-0546-01
- Date of issue
- June 23, 2025
- Valid until
- June 23, 2030
- Product category rules (PCR)
- UL Part B: Building Envelope Thermal Insulation Products (version 3)
- Standard
- ISO 14025:2006 and ISO 21930:2017
- Functional unit
- 1 m2 of material with RSI = 1m2K/W of product
- System boundary
- Cradle to gate with other options (A1 - A3, A4, A5, C1 - C4)
- Product specificity
- Product Specific
- Manufacturing specificity
- Facility Specific
- Manufacturing plant
- CertainTeed Insulation - Belgreen Drive, Ontario (3985 Belgreen Drive, Ottawa, ON, Canada)
- Product category
- ThermalMoistureProtection › Insulation › BlownInsulation
- Product service life
- 75 years
- Verifier
- Nathan Ayer, EarthShift Global
- LCA software
- GaBi 10.9.0.20
- Program instructions
- Smart EPD General Program Instructions v.1.0, November 2022
Life cycle assessment results
Results per 1 m2 of material with RSI = 1m2K/W of product.
Environmental Impact Assessment Results
| Indicator | Unit | A1-A3 | A4 | A5 | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GWP-total | kg CO2 eq | 4.79e-1 | 4.32e-5 | 7.26e-3 | 0 | 1.39e-5 | 0 | 1.17e-2 |
| GWP-fossil | kg CO2 eq | 4.68e-1 | 4.32e-5 | 7.04e-3 | 0 | 1.39e-5 | 0 | 1.17e-2 |
| ODP | kg CFC 11 eq | 3.70e-7 | 1.61e-15 | 3.68e-14 | 0 | 5.18e-16 | 0 | 5.66e-14 |
| AP | kg SO2 eq | 8.57e-4 | 2.56e-7 | 4.25e-5 | 0 | 8.22e-8 | 0 | 6.04e-5 |
| EP | kg N eq | 3.20e-4 | 1.42e-8 | 4.68e-6 | 0 | 4.56e-9 | 0 | 2.71e-6 |
| POCP | kg O3 eq | 1.59e-2 | 7.05e-6 | 1.24e-3 | 0 | 2.26e-6 | 0 | 1.17e-3 |
Resource Use Indicators
| Indicator | Unit | A1-A3 | A4 | A5 | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PERE | MJ | 1.45e-1 | 0 | 2.25e-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.87e-2 |
| PERM | MJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PERT | MJ | 1.45e-1 | 0 | 2.25e-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.87e-2 |
| PENRE | MJ | 4.47e+0 | 5.49e-4 | 7.89e-2 | 0 | 1.76e-4 | 0 | 0 |
| PENRM | MJ | 1.76e-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PENRT | MJ | 4.65e+0 | 5.49e-4 | 7.89e-2 | 0 | 1.76e-4 | 0 | 0 |
| ADP-fossil | MJ | 9.51e-1 | 7.54e-5 | 1.12e-2 | 0 | 2.42e-5 | 0 | 2.22e-2 |
| SM | kg | 2.82e-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| RSF | MJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NRSF | MJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | m3 | 1.36e-3 | 0 | 7.05e-6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| RE | MJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Waste and Output Flow Indicators
| Indicator | Unit | A1-A3 | A4 | A5 | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HWD | kg | 8.61e-11 | 0 | 9.05e-12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NHWD | kg | 1.16e-2 | 0 | 2.23e-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| RWD | kg | -4.78e-6 | 0 | 1.95e-7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CRU | kg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MFR | kg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.24e-2 |
| MER | kg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MNER | kg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EEE | MJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EET | MJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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
| Material/Component Category | Origin | % Mass |
|---|---|---|
| External Glass Cullet - Externally Sourced Recycled Content (Secondary Material) | 55-65 | |
| Internal Glass Cullet - Reprocessed within the manufacturing plant | 20-30 | |
| Borax | 5-15 | |
| Nepheline | 0-5 | |
| Soda Ash | 0-5 | |
| Other Additives | 0-2 |
| Packaging material | Origin | Mass (kg) |
|---|---|---|
| Film (LDPE) |
| Biogenic carbon content | kg C per m2 of material with RSI = 1m2K/W |
|---|---|
| Biogenic carbon content in product | 0 |
| Biogenic carbon content in accompanying packaging | 0 |
Hazardous substances
No regulated hazardous or dangerous substances are included in this product.
Scenarios
Transport to the building site (A4)
- Fuel type
- Diesel
- Vehicle type
- Truck
- Transport distance
- 1,068
- Weight of products transported
- 0.46 kg
- Packaging mass
- 1.17E-02
End of life (C1-C4)
- Collected separately
- 0.03 kg
- Collected with mixed construction waste
- 0.43 kg
- Recycling
- 0.03 kg
- Landfill
- 0.43 kg
- Product or material for final disposal
- 0.46 kg
Product description
CertainTeed is dedicated to Making the World a Better Home with insulation products that are produced with a commitment to minimizing environmental impact and improving energy savings. CertainTeed's insulation products included in this EPD are: Northern White Glass Fibre Loose Fill Insulation. The declared unit of the product reported in this document is 1 square meter of insulation material with a thickness that provides an average thermal resistance RSI = 1 m2 K/W (R=5.68), packaging included.
Northern White Fibre Glass Blowing Insulation is used in residential and commercial construction as a thermal and acoustical insulation. It is designed for pneumatic installation in open attic or ceiling plenum areas with flat flooring or up to a maximum slope of 4.5:12.
This product is non-combustible, non-corrosive and odour free. In addition, Northern White won’t settle, contains no chemicals to cause mildew and fungus growth, provides no sustenance for vermin, contains no asbestos, won’t rot or decay and won’t absorb moisture. Northern White is made from a combined minimum of 65% pre- and post-consumer recycled content.
Interpretation
To ensure the completeness of the study, all relevant stages and aspects of the life cycle (excluding use phase) were taken into consideration. All necessary data and information were available and complete. Based on the results from the life cycle assessment, the life cycle impacts are strongly driven by the manufacturing process as well as the raw materials. Increasing energy efficiency would help to reduce the overall environmental impacts. Identifying alternate uses or recycling options for the product at the end of its useful life will reduce the end-of-life. If possible, incorporating more recycled content into the product will help reduce the environmental impacts of the raw materials stage in the life cycle of the product. Increasing recycled glass cullet would be a viable option. As recycled content increases, the raw materials driving impacts will decrease, thus improving the overall environmental impacts.
The natural gas is the largest contributors to the manufacturing stage, responsible for over 85% of the environmental impact potentials in several categories. Reducing natural gas consumption through increased efficiency and/or electrification of equipment would be recommended to reduce the environmental impacts.
Production accounts for the majority of the product impacts. Within production, natural gas is the highest impact.
LCIA results are relative expressions and do not predict impacts on category endpoints, the exceeding of thresholds, safety margins or risks. EPDs are comparable only when they follow the same PCR, functional unit and system boundary. The full EPD (PDF) contains the methodology, scenario assumptions and verification statement.