Hello,
I’ve just started with my first LCA on a student license. I’ve added XPS as a material and I can enter the area in the quantity column, but I’m unable to change the thickness to match my material. The thickness by default is for the functional unit (to give Rsi=1). Am I missing something?
I’ve looked at some of the other insulation materials I’ve selected and some I can change the thickness, but I can’t for EPS and XPS.
Thanks!
Hi Melanie!
Great to hear you are exploring the use of One Click LCA with a student license. For some products scaling is not possible, e.g. when there is a metal layer included to the insulation panels. Where possible we will always allow the option to change the thickness of a product (or change the unit of measurement). As we have quite a few XPS resources in the database, could you let me know regarding which product (or products) you experience this? I would be able to advice you better that way.
EPS - 4790678084.101.1
XPS - 4790979004.101.2
Melanie LeBlanc MacIsaac
Graduate Student
University of Prince Edward Island
Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
I live and work on the traditional and unceded territory of the Epekwitnewaq (Island) Mi’kmaq, a district of Mi’kma’ki, the Mi’kmaq Nation.
Hi Melanie,
Thanks for providing those documents.
I reviewed the files and noticed that both the EPS and XPS include a film or facer. Because the ratio of facer material does not remain constant as the product thickness changes, we are unable to scale these products linearly.
Let me know if you have any further questions!
Ok thank you for responding.
I’m confused as to how these EPDs can be used to scale for different insulation thicknesses then. The intent of using a functional unit with a thickness that gives an Rsi = 1, was that the EPD users could scale the impact factors to match the Rsi used in their installation/application.
Melanie LeBlanc MacIsaac
Graduate Student
University of Prince Edward Island
Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering
I live and work on the traditional and unceded territory of the Epekwitnewaq (Island) Mi’kmaq, a district of Mi’kma’ki, the Mi’kmaq Nation.
Hi Melanie,
When you have EPDs which have elements which cannot be scaled (like that layer of film), you simply cannot calculate said EPD with a different thickness. Many insulation manufacturers nowadays would either provide the core of the product (insulation) and the film, separately as EPDs, so that any calculation can be done. Some also work with scaling tables (e.g. you multiply the quantity by e.g. 1.2 and you would get a representative quantity, however not all manufacturers work with such systems.
For this purpose it might be better to take a different EPD, which has e.g. the EPS or XPS separate from the film, and include the film as a separate product.
