Rigid Aluminum Conduit (RAC) 1/2" to 6"

Declaration details

Manufacturer

Penn Aluminum International

Program operator

Smart EPD

Declaration number

SmartEPD-2025-083-0585-01

Date of issue

September 11, 2025

Valid until

September 11, 2030

Product category rules (PCR)

Smart EPD® Part B PCR for Electrical and Telecommunications Conduit, 1000-001, v1.0 (version 1)

Standard

ISO 14025:2006 and ISO 21930:2017

Declared unit

1 m of product

System boundary

Cradle to gate with other options (A1 - A3, C1 - C4, D)

Product specificity

Product Specific

Manufacturing specificity

Facility Specific

Manufacturing plant

Penn Aluminum (1117 N 2nd St, Murphysboro, IL 62966, USA)

Product category

Electrical › ElectricalConduit

Product SKU

P-100-10-RAC

Verifier

Salil Arora

LCA software

SimaPro 9.6

Program instructions

Smart EPD General Program Instructions v.2.0, March 2025

Life cycle assessment results

Results per 1 m 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.

Scenarios

End of life (C1-C4)

Collected separately

0.454 kg

Collected with mixed construction waste

0.454 kg

Recycling

0.431 kg

Landfill

0.0227 kg

Product or material for final disposal

0.0227 kg

Benefits and loads beyond the system boundary (D)

Recycling rate of product

95%

Recycled content of product

100%

Product description

RAC is a robust and corrosion-resistant conduit designed to protect electrical wiring in a variety of environments. Made from high-quality, recycled aluminum, this conduit offers excellent durability and is lighter than traditional steel alternatives, easing installation and handling. Penn’s RAC meets UL (UL 6A) and ANSI (C80.5) standards, ensuring safety and reliability for both commercial and industrial applications. It is available in standard trade sizes and is suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, with a design that facilitates secure connections with standard fittings. Additionally, the recyclable nature of aluminum makes it an environmentally friendly choice for sustainable construction practices.

Reference Standard: UL (UL 6A) and ANSI (C80.5)

Interpretation

The analysis of Penn aluminum conduit provides useful insights regarding the life cycle environmental impacts. The LCA results also identify where substantial impacts are occurring to allow further process and materials improvements to be implemented by Penn.

Both the raw materials module (A1) and the manufacturing module (A3) share a large contribution to almost all LCIA indicators, for both product types explored in this study. Penn's greatest opportunity for improving the environmental profile of their products is to focus on natural gas use during manufacturing. For example, decisions on a different fuel source to replace the energy used during manufacturing would reduce final impacts. The energy during melting relies heavily on fossil fuel consumption based on high demand during the melting process. The current production process uses natural gas which accounts for about 90 percent of the impact for the manufacturing module (A3). The impact from this energy demand can be reduced by integrating renewable energy alternatives instead of fossil fuels. There is evidence in the market from some aluminum manufacturers that hydropower is a viable replacement for fossil fuels successfully reducing energy impacts. There is also evidence of induction furnaces, solar power, and wind power for smelting of aluminum. Focusing on reducing this impact of this input would have the largest effect on total impacts.

The raw materials module (A1) also plays an important role in the indicator values. The aluminum used in the lifecycle includes impact from transforming recycled material into usable inputs for the system. Considering this material is recycled aluminum material, reduction of the impact for the process would come from energy intensity associated with transformation of the recycled material. Use of renewable sources of energy would allow for a less impact from these processes.

Module D represents a net credit, as the system produces more scrap material available for recycling at end-of-life than raw material used as input to the system. It is important to note that Module D is outside the system boundary of the cradle-to-grave assessment and should not be aggregated with the core life cycle results.