Driving Sustainability with Environmental Product Declaration

Date: February 26, 2025

In 2024, Deceuninck Colombia took a crucial step towards sustainability by obtaining the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for its window and door systems. This certification reinforces the company's commitment to environmental protection and technological innovation in its products. In this interview, we explore the process behind this declaration, the challenges overcome and the impact it has on the company's sustainability and on the Colombian market.

In charge of this certification was Luis Felipe Ospina, Sales and Specifications Specialist Deceuninck Colombia, who will talk about the following:


1

What motivated Deceuninck Colombia to initiate the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) process?

The initiative arose on a voluntary basis, as we talk about sustainability all the time. However, it was necessary to measure the environmental impacts of manufacturing our products in Colombia with real data, according to the Colombian energy matrix. This data is increasingly relevant in the sustainable purchasing decisions of construction companies. This industry is identifying a market and consumers with greater environmental awareness, so they are certifying their projects with sustainable construction seals. To do this, they need suppliers of materials with sustainable attributes. Our EPD has a regional scope in LATAM, that is, this document applies to all countries in the region.

2

What was the main challenge during the WTP certification process, and how did you overcome it?

The process requires a large amount of information from all stages of the manufacturing of our profiles, from the procurement of raw materials, transportation, energy used, water consumption, to the final stage where we have the product ready for shipment. This required the support of all the areas involved and the coordination between them, this was the main challenge, to have the time and organize the information to present it to the consultant. In the end it was very pleasing to see that all the work teams within the organization were always in the best disposition and gave the process the deserved importance.


3

How does Deceuninck Colombia ensure that its products meet the sustainability and energy efficiency criteria required by the EPD?

Actually the DAP, what it does is to evaluate multiple environmental impacts, through an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment), it is a very transparent process, because it can also detect failures and inefficiencies in the processes, this document, what it does is to define a baseline of the impacts we have at this time, which allow us to draw and correct the plans that we have for the future. It was interesting to see that the results of consumption in the use of water, gave negative, this thanks to the water recycling system we have in our plant, we also saw that the carbon footprint, is very close to European standards.

4

What steps is Deceuninck Colombia taking to further improve its environmental impact and how does the company plan for the future in terms of sustainability?

The results were very interesting, the energy consumption for the manufacturing of our profiles is low, because only 190 degrees are needed for the extrusion process, in the industry of profiles of other materials, more energy and temperature are required. As I said before, we already have a baseline to improve and make the production of our products more efficient, we have a medium and long term plan, the goal is to be a carbon neutral product in 2050. We have three concrete actions, the first is to start increasing the use of recycled material in our profiles, this decreases much of the carbon footprint required in the extraction of raw materials, second, update equipment and technology that requires less energy consumption and greater efficiency in all manufacturing processes and finally, implement renewable energy within the plant, install photovoltaic panels, providing clean energy, which will lower the carbon footprint embedded in the product.

Deceuninck Colombia's achievement of the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) marks a milestone in the construction industry in the region. With a focus on energy efficiency, the use of recycled materials and the implementation of renewable energies, the company is moving towards its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. This effort not only benefits the environment, but also strengthens its position as a key supplier for sustainable construction projects in Latin America. The transparency and detailed analysis provided by the EPD enables Deceuninck to continuously improve its processes and offer innovative solutions that contribute to a more sustainable future.


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