The main aim of the study is to serve the Fundación Centro Tecnolóxico do Granito de Galicia as the basis for the development of Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) of granite construction products, from a life-cycle perspective.
The study has been carried out to understand the environmental impact of granite cladding solutions, including all stages from the extraction of blocks in stone quarry to the manufacturing and processing of products for surface cladding (interior and exterior). In other words, it is a cradle-to-door study. Thus, the scope of the study includes the entire process from the extraction and production of raw materials, fuels and the transport of these from their place of origin to the processing plant itself. The system under study follows the framework established by the PCR 2012: 01.
The study has been carried out with sectoral focus, collecting data from many companies in the sector (extraction and processing) and ensuring a high level of representativeness at the Galician regional level. Likewise, a scenario analysis has been carried out to cover the different circumstances that occur in the sector. In this way, several scenarios have been analysed based on means of transport and distance from the stone quarry to the manufacturing industry.
EnergyLab performed the following tasks:
