INTENT:
Manufacturers should understand their impacts both on-site at their facilities location}, as well as how their supply chains impact their footprint regarding energy use. Requiring every manufacturer to measure their energy impacts on-site and throughout the life cycle, identify hotspots of usage and explore Handprinting and efficiency solutions enlightens and can spur change even on the path to becoming Net Positive.
REQUIREMENTS:
Living Products have a quantified energy Footprint for their cradle-to-gate production. In order to improve energy management, it is critical to understand the amount and types of energy used for on-site production, as well as the life cycle energy impacts.
On-Site Energy Footprint:
Manufacturers must clearly describe the sources of energy at the final facility and when and how energy is used in production. They must also identify opportunities for decreasing energy use and increasing the percentage of power supplied by renewable energy on-site.
Life Cycle Energy Footprint:
Manufacturers must conduct a Life Cycle Assessment to assess and document the fossil-based energy Footprint and identify the five processes (key drivers) that make the largest contributions to the product’s cradle-to-gate fossil energy Footprint. The fossil energy Footprint reflects the use of fossil fuel energy across the supply chain. The manufacturer can make use of an existing LCA or Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) that follows the ISO 14044 standard for LCA that is used for third party communication. The manufacturer must also demonstrate that the fossil energy Footprint of the product is lower than the industry average for the product type.
CHANGES FROM LPC 1.1 TO 2.0
This is a new Imperative under LPC 2.0 now separate from the requirement for becoming Net Positive on-site and in the Life Cycle (Imperative 07). It requires that manufacturers understand their on-site and life cycle fossil energy impacts, make those numbers transparent and explore opportunities for impact reduction within both of those scales to move towards becoming Net Positive. It also establishes that a valid LCA is required for all products regardless of the level of certification.
