CASE STUDY: VELSTONE
Bringing 30 solid surface styles together in one EPD

Project Scope

Cascade developed a life cycle assessment and one independently verified Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) covering over 30 styles of Velstone Solid Surface.

The aim was to create one practical, commercially valuable EPD that accurately represented the variation across Velstone Solid Surface’s different styles.

About Velstone

Velstone supplies Velstone Solid Surface sheets for worktops and other interior applications. The range includes plain colours and patterned styles containing coloured fragments made from other sheets. The sheets are manufactured in China and supplied to customers through Velstone in the UK.

The Challenge

The main technical challenge was deciding how one EPD could represent roughly 30 styles of Solid Surface sheets. The sheets use similar materials, but some patterned styles contain much more chipped material than others. All of these variations had to be accounted for within the EPD. Cascade also had to account for sheets made specifically to create decorative chips, plus offcuts at manufacture, fabrication and installation.

Selecting the most popular style as the basis for the EPD was also problematic: a large order could change which style sold most in any given year. Velstone needed a sound way to select a representative product, as well as detailed manufacturing data from its production partner in China.

A Bespoke Consultancy-Led Approach

Cascade worked with Velstone and a locally appointed data specialist in China to source, gather and clarify the manufacturing information.

To choose a representative product, Cascade first screened the raw material composition of each different style to identify how their global warming potential varied. This allowed them to calculate the mean results and identify a style closed to the mean as the representative product, rather than basing the EPD on a single year’s sales (which varied greatly from year to year). Cascasde explained and justified this approach during the third-party independant verification.

The full life cycle assessment was then developed for the representative product. The model accounted for the production of sheets used to make decorative fragments, alongside material losses during manufacture, fabrication and installation. The variation across the range between the representative product and the products with the highest and lowest global warming potential were also shown in the EPD.

Careful considersation was given to ensure that the environmental impacts of each style of sheet fell within the permitted variation for a single EPD.

The Outcome

Velstone achieved one third-party independently verified EPD covering the Velstone Solid Surface range. It can now provide customers and project teams with documented environmental information when requested.

The project illustrates how a varied product range can be covered by a single EPD when differences between products are assessed first and the choice of representative product is supported by clear evidence.

Do you require EPDs for a varied product range?

If you need EPDs for products that differ in composition or finish, we can help you work out which products can be covered together and develop an approach that stands up to independent verification. Get in touch to discuss your range.