Environmental aspects
Environmental issues, being a crucial element of the ATLAS Group strategy, are present at any company action. The manufacturing of construction materials inevitably influences the environment, as production processes require use of natural resources and energy, cause emission of pollutants and creation of waste. Aware of mutual relations with the world we live in, we strive to limit or eliminate our negative influence on the environment.
Environmental aspects are continuously monitored with the use of capabilities offered by modern technologies. The monitoring applies both to direct and indirect environmental aspects within the whole product life cycle – from raw materials acquisition and transport, to production processes and waste disposal. The process of a product designing and marketing relates to conscious selection of raw materials and detailed quality assessment which then result in the product safety for users and the environment.
In 2008, ATLAS implemented the environmental management system in accordance to the ISO 14001 standard. Currently ISO 14001 is one of the elements of the Integrated Management System which in case of ATLAS includes also the requirements of the international standards on quality management (ISO 9001), social responsibility (ISO 26000) and occupational health and safety (ISO 45001).
Eco – responsibility is not a set of rules or a fad for us. It is an integral element of the company strategy, tightly binding the achievement of economic and pro – ecological aims. The aims and rules in this area are described in the company Environmental Policy with last edition dated 2018.
Environmental Declaration
ATLAS as one of the first Polish companies decided to assess the environmental impact with the LCA method and elaboration of the type III environmental declarations. The External Thermal Insulation Composite System ATLAS ETICS with products used for insulation of building external walls with polystyrene was chosen for the assessment.
Type III Environmental Declaration
Environmental declarations offer standardisation of transfer of information on environmental aspects between manufacturers, designers, installers and investors. According to the standard ISO 14020 „Environmental labels and declarations. General principles” one can list three types of declarations:
- Type I, so called environmental labels
- Type II, so called environmental claims
- Type III, so called environmental declarations EPD (Environmental Product Declaration)
ATLAS decided to elaborate type III declaration, which gives the most comprehensive ecological information on construction products. The elaboration of declaration is possible on the basis of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a method used for the assessment of the environmental aspects and potential environmental influence within the whole product life cycle.
The Declaration was first elaborated in 2014 and the External Thermal Insulation Composite System ATLAS ETICS with products used for insulation of building external walls with polystyrene was chosen for the assessment. The LCA analysis was conducted separately for 5 sets of thermal insulation, differing with respect to the type of the rendering top coat and for 4 product groups (adhesive mortars used for thermal insulation fixing and for base coat installation, mineral renders, dispersion renders and façade paints). For all cases the calculations were conducted for the product phase (modules A1-3, according to PN-EN 15804:2012), i.e. for the “cradle do gate” option, which includes raw materials delivery, transport and production of materials. On the basis of the LCA analysis and according to the PN-EN 15942:2012 standard guidelines, ATLAS elaborated the text of nine Type III Environmental Declarations:
- Thermal insulation set ATLAS ETICS with mineral renders
- Thermal insulation set ATLAS ETICS with acrylic renders
- Thermal insulation set ATLAS ETICS with silicate renders
- Thermal insulation set ATLAS ETICS with silicone renders
- Thermal insulation set ATLAS ETICS with hybrid renders
- ATLAS adhesive mortars
- ATLAS mineral renders with priming masses
- ATLAS dispersion renders with priming masses
- ATLAS façade paints with priming agents
In 2018, with regard to the ending of 5-year-long period of validity of type III declarations, ATLAS again launched the LCA analysis. The year 2017 was set as an input and three thermal insulation systems were analysed:
ATLAS ETICS (AT-15-9090/2016)
ATLAS ETICS PLUS (ITB-KOT-2018/0584)
ATLAS ROKER (AT-15-2930/2016)
For each of the systems above, the analysis was conducted for thermal insulation sets varying in the rendering top coat type and various insulation thickness. For all cases the calculations were conducted for the product phase (modules A1-3, according to PN-EN 15804:2012), i.e. for the “cradle do gate” option, which includes raw materials delivery, transport and production of materials. Environmental declarations data was verified by ITB Warsaw – the whole process was positively finished on 10.03.2019 and certified appropriately. Below one can find current documents:
ATLAS ETICS Thermal Insulation System
Environmental declaration certificate no. 078/2019
Environmental declaration-ETICS
ATLAS ETICS PLUS Thermal Insulation System
Environmental declaration certificate no. 079/2019
Environmental declaration-ETICS PLUS
ATLAS ROKER Thermal Insulation System
Environmental declaration certificate no. 080/2019
Environmental declaration-ROKER
The External Thermal Insulation Composite System ATLAS ETICS with products used in insulation of building external walls with polystyren was chosen for assessment.
Environmental policy – eco – responsibility is not a set of rules or a fad for us. It is an integral element of the company strategy, tightly binding the achievement of economic and pro – ecological aims. The aims and rules in this area are described in the company Environmental Policy with last edition dated June 2014.
Ecology – in 2008 ATLAS implemented the environmental management system in accordance to ISO 14001 standard – Requirements with guidance for use. Therefore, the environmental activity results are fully identified, continuously monitored and perfected. Currently ISO 14001 is one of the elements of the Integrated Management System which in ATLAS includes also the requirements of the international standards on quality management (ISO 9001), social responsibility (ISO 26000) and the British standard on occupational health and safety (BS OHSAS 18001).
Environmental declaration – ATLAS as one of the first Polish companies decided to assess the environmental impact with the LCA method and edition of the III type environmental declarations. The External Thermal Insulation Composite System ATLAS ETICS with products used in insulation of building external walls with polystyren was chosen for assessment.
Rich raw materials base, giving the company economic independence and additional proper control over the whole production
process, is also the area of special concern to keep the ecosystem balance at the excavation sites.
The process of a product designing and implementation to the market offer relates to conscious selection of raw materials and detailed quality assessment resulting in the product safety for the users and the environment.
Atlas_Polityka srodowiskowa_wyd.5
Type III Environmental Declaration
The environmental declarations is a type of standardisation of information on environmental aspects between manufacturers, designers, installers and investors. According to the standard ISO 14020 „Environmental labels and declarations. General principles” one can list three types of declarations:
- Type I, so called environmental labels
- Type II, so called environmental claims
- Type III, so called environmental declarations EPD (Environmental Product Declaration)
ATLAS decided to elaborate type III declaration, which gives the most comprehensive ecological information on construction products.
The declaration elaboration is possible on the basis of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a method used for assessment of the environmental aspects and potential environmental influence within the whole product life cycle.
The External Thermal Insulation Composite System ATLAS ETICS with products used in insulation of building external walls with polystyren was chosen for assessment.
The LCA analysis was conducted separately for:
- 5 sets of insulation, differing with respect to type of render
- adhesive mortars used for application of thermal insulation and base coat installation,
- mineral renders with a priming mass,
- dispersion renders with priming masses,
- paints with primers.
For all cases the calculations were conducted for the Product phase (modules A1-3, according to PN-EN 15804:2012), i.e. for the “cradle do gate” option, which includes raw materials delivery, transport and manufacturing of materials. On the basis of the LCA analysis and according to the PN-EN 15942:2012 standard guidelines, ATLAS elaborated the text of nine Type III Environmental Declarations.
Insulation ATLAS ETICS with mineral renders
Insulation ATLAS ETICS with acrylic renders
Insulation ATLAS ETICS with silicate renders
Insulation ATLAS ETICS with silicone renders
Insulation ATLAS ETICS with mixed renders
Adhesive mortars ATLAS
Mineral rendes ATLAS with a priming mass
Dispersion renders ATLAS with priming masses
Façade paints ATLAS with primers
The declarations and data provided were reviewed by Building Reasearch Institute (ITB) in Warsaw. The revision process was closed on 10 march 2014 with edition of Certificates confirming the correctness of assessment of data used in the declarations elaboration.