Data
Data
Product
                Declaration
                            AAC White Block
 In accordance with ISO 14025:2006 and EN 15804:2012+A2:2019/
            AC:2021, manufactured by National Industries Company.
2   •   EPD Information
                                                                                                How to read this EPD?
    An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is an ISO Type III             The table presented in this part has columns for each stage in
    Environmental Declaration based on ISO 14025 standard. An EPD             the life cycle. The considered stages are marked ‘X’ whereas
    transparently reports the environmental performance of products           the ones that are not considered are labeled as ‘NR’. Not all
    or services from a lifecycle perspective. The preparation of an EPD       EPDs consider the full life cycle assessment for a product’s
    includes different stages, from acquiring raw materials to the end        entire life stages. The ‘System Boundary’ page is also the place
    of life of the final product/service. EPDs are based on international     where one can find detailed information about the stages and
    standards and consider the entire value chain. Additionally, EPD is       the assumptions made.
    a third-party verified document. This EPD includes several sections
    described below.                                                          4. LCA Results
    1. General and Program Information                                        The results of the Life Cycle Assessment analysis are presented
                                                                              in table format. The first column in each table indicates the
    The first part of an EPD has information about the name of the            name of the impact category and their measurement units
    manufacturer and product/service and other general information            are presented in the second column. These tables show an
    such as the validity and expiration dates of the document, the name       amount at each life cycle stage to see the impact of different
    of the program operator, geographical scope, etc. The second              indicators on different stages. Each impact can be understood
    page states the standards followed and gives information about            as what is released through the production of the declared
    the program operator, third-party verifier, etc. The followed Product     unit of the material—in this case, 1 m3 (480 kg) AAC White
    Category Rule (PCR) is indicated on the second page.                      Block. The benefits of reuse/recycling of the declared product
                                                                              is reflected in this section.
    2. Company and Product/Service Information
                                                                              The first impact in the table is global warming potential
    Information about the company and the investigated product is             (GWP), which shows how much CO2 is released at each stage.
    given in this section. It summarizes the characteristics of the product   Other impacts include eutrophication potential, acidification
    provided by the manufacturer. It also includes information about the      potential, ozone layer depletion, land use related impacts, etc.
    product such as product composition and packaging.                        The second table provides results for resource use and the
                                                                              third table is about the waste produced during the production.
    3. LCA Information                                                        The fourth and final table shows the results for the GWP-GHG
                                                                              indicator, which is almost equivalent to the GWP-Total indicator
    LCA information is one of the most important parts of the EPD as          mentioned previously. The only difference is that this indicator
    it describes the declared unit, time representativeness of the study,     excludes the biogenic carbon content by following a certain
    database(s) and LCA software, along with system boundaries.               methodology.
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                                                                             About National Industries Company
    National Industries Company (NIC) is the leading and one of the most prestigious companies specialized in the manufacture and marketing
    of building materials and infrastructure products in the State of Kuwait. The company was established in 1960 and is a subsidiary of
    National Industries group (NIG) which has a portfolio of many industrial and financial companies in the Middle East, Europe
    and North America.
    NIC owns 16 factories and two rock quarries. Its work force consist of 1800 employees in various fields of specialization. The Company
    achieved a tremendous success in keeping abreast with the urbanization and building movement in the local and regional markets by
    timely expanding its industrial base in pursuant to a product diversification strategy, being the only domestic company that produces such
    products as Sandlime, Limestone, Large Diameter Concrete Pipes, High Density Poly Ethylene pipes and Ceramics.
Vision Mission
4   •    About Company
                                                                                         About AAC White Block
                                                Products of White Blocks have become the ideal choice for construction in Kuwait and the
                                                neighboring countries since it has started production in 1983. The properties of this product
                                                may be characterized in its high insulation quality, easiness and speed in the construction
                                                works and cost effectiveness. The product is subjected to regularly tested standards such as
                                                DIN 4102, DIN 4165, ASTM-C-518.
                                                Light Insulation Blocks features makes it the most suitable choice for construction. Which are
                                                as follows:
Thermal Insulation
                                                Insulation plays an important role in minimizing the costs of heating or air conditioning and
                                                it can help in extending the life span of the air conditioning system without the need for
                                                other insulation materials, knowing that the thermal insulation is inversely proportional to the
                                                density; i.e., whenever the density decreases, the thermal insulation increases. However, if the
                                                density becomes more than 500 kg/m3, the effective thermal insulation does not happen as
                                                per the standards of the Ministry of Electricity and Water.
High Endurance
    Undoubtedly, light insulation block is considered to be a very strong material which matches most of the required engineering specifications.
    It undergoes many continuous control tests to ensure it can withstand the utmost pressure forces so that it can be used with both load
    bearing walls and non-load bearing walls.
5   •   About Product
                                                                                     About AAC White Block
    The product investigated in this EPD is National Industries Company's AAC white block product produced at company's production
    location at West Industrial Region in Kuwait. AAC blocks are made of materials such as portland cement, sand, lime, gypsum etc. The
    product and packaging compositions are shown in table below along with production flow diagram.
Sand 32 - 34 0 0
Water 31 - 33 0 0
Lime 17 - 19 0 0
Portland Cement 14 - 16 0 0
                   Powder               <0.1                       0                          0
    *Wet product composition.
                                                                                      Biogenic material,
                                                    Post-consumer material weight
        Packaging Composition        Weight, kg                                        kg C / declared
                                                                -%
                                                                                             unit
6   •   About Product
                                                                                                         System Boundary
    A1 - Raw Material
    This life cycle module comprises all relevant processes required for the provision of the raw materials and precursors. Main materials used
    in the product are portland cement, sand, lime, gypsum, etc. Environmental impacts of these materialsare considered in this stage.
    This stage includes all the relevant transport processes of the raw materials and precursors to the production site. Highway transport is the
    dominant mean of transport at this stage along with sea transportation. Transport routes and distances are supplier-specific and provided
    by the manufacturer.
    A3 - Manufacturing
    This life cycle module A3 includes the manufacturing of the declared product at the production site. Including processes are shown in the
    below production diagram. The following production steps are included: proportioning the raw materials with their quantities, making the
    slurry mixture and pouring the mixture to mix ingredients with the addition of aluminium powder, casting the mold then de-molding and
    wire cutting. After wire curing, the product goes high-pressure steam curing. Then, it becomes ready for sale.
7   •   System Boundaries
                                                                                                         System Boundary
    A4 - Transport
    This stage describes the delivery of final product to the intended markets and customers. Highway transportation is involved at this stage.
    The transport routes and distances are supplier-specific and provided by the manufacturer.
    A5 - Installation
    This life cycle module describes the installation of the product in the building. During the installation of AAC white blocks at site, glue
    mortar is used. According to the manufacturer, there is around 13 kg cement mortar use per 1 m3 of AAC block application. The impact
    of mortar use and end-of-life impacts of packaging materials are considered at this stage.
    B1 - Use
    Due to the CaO content of the cement and lime used in the product, AAC blocks absord CO2 during their lifetime. Theoretical CO2
    uptake by carbonation process is calculated by considering the CaO content within cement and lime with reference to the Hartmut B.
    Walther (2018).
    C1 - Deconstruction/Demolition
    It is assumed that 0.07 MJ energy is needed for the deconstruction/demolition of 1 kg of final product. This is from the JRC technical report
    called “Model for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of buildings” prepared by Dos Santos Gervasio, H. and Dimova, S. in 2018 published by
    the publication’s office of the European Union. According to this assumption, 33.6 MJ, (0.07 MJ * 480 kg) of electricity energy is needed
    for the deconstruction/ demolition of the product.
    C2 - Waste Transport
    Due to the lack of information about the transportation of the discarded product to waste processing area, 100 km distance via Euro5
    motor is assumed.
    C3 - Waste Processsing
    This module is considered as zero since this life cycle module does not require any material or energy flows.
    C4 - Disposal
    Based on the current sector practices in the region, it is assumed that 100% of the AAC white block is landfilled at the end-of-life stage.
    Thus, this stage is modelled accordingly.
8   •   System Boundaries
                                                                                                           LCA Information
    Declared Unit
    1 m³ autoclaved aerated concrete white block manufactured by National Industries Company.
    Conversion factor:
    Dry density of 1 m³ of AAC white block considered in this study is 480 kg. Thus a mass conversion factor of 0.002 should be used.
    System Boundary
    Cradle to gate with options, modules C1–C4, module D and with optional modules (A4, A5 & B1).
    Cut-Off Rules
    1% cut-off is applied. Data for elementary flows to and from the product system contributing to a minimum of 99% of the declared
    environmental impacts have been included.
    REACH Regulation
    No substances included in the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern for authorization under the REACH regulations are
    present in this product either above the threshold for registration with the European Chemicals Agency or above 0.1% (wt/wt).
    Background Data
    For all LCA modelling and calculation, Ecoinvent database (v3.9.1) and SimaPro (v9.5) LCA software were used. Characterization factors
    of EN 15804 reference package based on EF 3.1 are utilized. Impact of infrastructure and capital goods are excluded from the analysis.
    Source of Electricity
    The electricity data modelled for the production processes is taken from Ecoinvent 3.9.1 dataset that represents medium voltage electricity
    production in Kuwait. The chosen dataset has GWP-GHG impact of 0.802 kg CO2 eq. / kWh.
    Allocations
    Energy consumption and raw material transportation were weighted according to 2023 production figures. In addition, hazardous and
    non-hazardous waste amounts were also allocated from the total waste generation in 2023.
    Assumptions
    Upstream and downstream road transportation are assumed to be carried out with Euro5 motor vehicles with a size class of 16-32 metric
    tonnes where distances acquired through Google Maps. In addition, 100 km distance for the waste transport at C2 stage is assumed.
9   •   LCA Information
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 LCA Information
                                                                                Construction                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Benefits
                                             Product                                                                                                                                                                                                                  End of Life
                                                                                  Process                                                             Use Stage                                                                                                                                                   and
                                              Stage                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Stage
                                                                                   Stage                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Loads
Deconstruction / Demolition
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Waste Processing
                                                                                                                                                                       Refurbishment
                                                                Manufacturing
                                                                                                                                                         Replacement
                                                                                                                               Maintenance
                                               Transport
Transport
Transport
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Disposal
                                                                                                                                             Repair
                                                                                                                         Use
          Module       A1                      A2               A3              A4           A5                          B1    B2            B3          B4            B5              B6                       B7                      C1                            C2          C3                 C4                  D
         Modules
                          X                     X                 X               X              X                       X     ND            ND         ND             ND              ND                       ND                           X                         X            X                 X                  X
         Declared
          Specific
                                                    *95.4%                                          -                    -        -           -             -              -                 -                        -                         -                       -             -                -                   -
         Data Used
         Variation -
                                                           0%                                       -                    -        -           -             -              -                 -                        -                         -                       -             -                -                   -
          Products
         Variation -
                                                           0%                                       -                    -        -           -             -              -                 -                        -                         -                       -             -                -                   -
           Sites
10   •     LCA Information
     The estimated impact results are only relative statements, which do not indicate the endpoints of the impact categories, exceeding threshold values, safety margins and/or risks. The
     results of this EPD should not be used without the consideration of Module C.
      Core environmental impact
                                               Unit          A1-A3               A4                A5               B1                C1               C2                C3                C4                D
      indicators (Mandatory)
      GWP - Fossil                       kg CO2 eq.         1.90E+02         9.23E+00          3.19E+00         -6.66E+01         7.48E+00          9.23E+00         0.00E+00          4.58E+00         0.00E+00
      GWP - Biogenic                     kg CO2 eq.         -3.90E-01         2.64E-03         4.80E-01          0.00E+00         1.08E-03          2.64E-03         0.00E+00          2.50E-03         0.00E+00
      GWP - Luluc                        kg CO2 eq.         3.52E-02          4.75E-03         1.56E-03          0.00E+00         4.41E-04          4.75E-03         0.00E+00          3.26E-03         0.00E+00
      GWP - Total                        kg CO2 eq.         1.90E+02         9.24E+00          3.67E+00         -6.66E+01         7.48E+00          9.24E+00         0.00E+00          4.59E+00         0.00E+00
      ODP                              kg CFC-11 eq.        1.11E-05          1.38E-07         1.42E-08          0.00E+00         1.54E-07          1.38E-07         0.00E+00          1.42E-07         0.00E+00
      AP                                 mol H+ eq.         8.94E-01          3.27E-02         1.20E-02          0.00E+00         3.61E-02          3.27E-02         0.00E+00          3.16E-02         0.00E+00
      EP - Freshwater                     kg P eq.          1.20E-02          8.72E-05         5.57E-05          0.00E+00         1.27E-05          8.72E-05         0.00E+00          1.01E-04         0.00E+00
      EP - Marine                         kg N eq.          1.27E-01          1.06E-02         3.11E-03          0.00E+00          5.75E-03         1.06E-02         0.00E+00          1.07E-02         0.00E+00
      EP - Terrestrial                    mol N eq.         1.39E+00          1.14E-01         3.45E-02          0.00E+00          6.19E-02         1.14E-01         0.00E+00          1.15E-01         0.00E+00
      POCP                               kg NMVOC           4.40E-01          4.39E-02         9.89E-03          0.00E+00          2.60E-02         4.39E-02         0.00E+00          4.39E-02         0.00E+00
      *ADPE                               kg Sb eq.         1.13E-04          2.95E-05         7.61E-06          0.00E+00          8.48E-06         2.95E-05         0.00E+00          7.60E-06         0.00E+00
      *ADPF                                    MJ           1.55E+03         1.30E+02          2.00E+01          0.00E+00         1.03E+02          1.30E+02         0.00E+00          1.26E+02         0.00E+00
      *WDP                                m depriv.
                                           3
                                                            2.81E+01          5.75E-01         6.91E-01          0.00E+00         3.89E-01          5.75E-01         0.00E+00          5.99E+00         0.00E+00
      Additional environmental impact
      indicators (Mandatory)
**GWP-GHG kg CO2 eq. 1.89E+02 9.25E+00 3.26E+00 -6.66E+01 7.49E+00 9.25E+00 0.00E+00 4.60E+00 0.00E+00
12    •     LCA Results
                                                                                                                     References
     ISO 9001:2015/ Quality Management Systems
GPI/ General Programme Instructions of the International EPD® System. Version 4.0.
     EN 15804:2012+A2:2019/AC:2021 Sustainability of construction works - Environmental Product Declarations — Core rules for the product
     category of construction products
     ISO 14025/ DIN EN ISO 14025:2009-11: Environmental labels and declarations - Type III environmental declarations — Principles and
     procedures
     ISO 14040/44/ DIN EN ISO 14040:2006-10, Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Principles and framework (ISO14040:2006)
     and Requirements and guidelines (ISO 14044:2006)
     PCR for Construction Products and Construction Services/ Prepared by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Swedish environmental
     Protection Agency, SP Trä, Swedish Wood Preservation Institute, Swedisol, SCDA, Svenskt Limträ AB, SSAB, The International EPD System,
     2019:14 Version 1.3.3.
     The International EPD® System/ The International EPD® System is a programme for type III environmental declarations, maintaining a
     system to verify and register EPD®s as well as keeping a library of EPD®s and PCRs in accordance with ISO 14025. www.environdec.com
www.nicbm.com/en
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                                                                                     Contact Information
www.nicbm.com/en
                                      4 Clear Water Place Oxford OX2 7NL, UK   Fahad Al Salem Street Al Watiya Tower, Floor 8,
      LCA practitioner & EPD Design
                                                  0 800 722 0185                    Offie 4. Qibla, Kuwait City / Kuwait
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