Vitro Lowers Embodied Carbon
Vitro Architectural Glass has published updated versions of its Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for both flat and processed glass. These updates reaffirm that the company’s glass products contain less embodied carbon than the industry standard for architectural glass products and indicate a lower embodied carbon value than previously reported in the 2017 editions of these EPDs.
As a standard measure of embodied carbon, EPDs calculate a value of global warming potential (GWP) that is expressed as kilogrammes of CO2 equivalent. Vitro’s 2023 EPDs indicate that its products contain just 1350kg of CO2 equivalent, which is 6% lower than the National Glass Association’s industry standard figure of 1430kg of CO2 and an improvement on figures reported in 2017.
Vitro’s lower GWP was driven by several key steps taken by Vitro’s production teams to lower embodied carbon generated during glass production. These include more efficient use of batch material, implementing furnace efficiency and design improvements, installing energy-efficient lighting and regulating equipment and driving supplier improvements. A highlight of these efforts is Vitro’s pioneering use of oxy-fuel technology at three plant locations in the US, which can reduce energy consumption in glass melting furnaces by as much as 20% and cut greenhouse gas emissions in half.
“EPDs have become extremely valuable as green building certifications and sustainable design have become more mainstream and architects demand greater transparency in their product selections,” said Mike Hammond, manager, technical support, Vitro Architectural Glass. “We’re pleased to be able to offer EPDs for our glass products that attest to Vitro’s lower embodied carbon values, especially with this latest update.”
