It has been a busy and exciting few months for the Australasian EPD Programme. In March this year Stephen Mitchell of Stephen Mitchell Associates was appointed to the position of Chairperson of the Australasian EPD Board of Directors. Steve brings significant expertise and experience to the programme, particularly with the last 9 years in the timber industry in Australia. Additionally, a new Programme Manager was appointed to the Secretariat in April. Kelly Taylor, our new Programme Manager is an independent Environmental Consultant with 13 years’ experience in Sustainable Business, auditing and assessment, and has been working with the programme since August 2016 as Technical Assistant.
Recently the programme has updated its’ General Programme Instructions (GPIs) to align with the International EPD System. The current International GPI is now the adopted instructions for the Australasian EPD Programme with an additional annex provided to cover aspects particular to the Australasian region.
Further work is continuing behind the scenes on policies and procedures, and marketing and advocacy. Since the beginning of this year nine new EPDs have been published – Dulux® paints (Wall paints, ceiling paints and preparation paints), Fibrecons EMesh product, Zip Industries HydroTap, BlueScope COLORBOND®, Holcim Concrete Pipes, Karndean Looselay polyvinyl flooring and ASP Floors Steel Cementitious access floor system. The programme is expecting a further 15 EPDs to be published this year.