About Allegion

Allegion is a global pioneer in safety and security, with leading brands like LCN®, Schlage®, Steelcraft® and Von Duprin®. Focusing on security around the door and adjacent areas, Allegion produces a range of solutions for homes, businesses, schools and other institutions. Allegion is a $2 billion company, with products sold in almost 130 countries. As a subsidiary of Allegion plc, Zero International brand is recognized as the standard for quality in door sealing hardware. Their perimeter seals and thresholds are engineered for durability and reliable performance even under the most challenging installation and operating conditions. They also support green building applications by promoting heating and cooling efficiency.

Allegion is pioneering safety by protecting people where they live and work – and protecting our environment at the same time. We promote the health and safety of our employees, customers and local community members worldwide through our commitment to conducting business in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. Additionally, Allegion recognizes the value of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system to building environmentally safe and sustainable structures. By using Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Product Declarations, we aim to provide our customers with the information they need to make decisions regarding their own sustainable building concepts and green solutions. At Allegion, we value the importance of a cleaner world and are committed to being a responsible member of our global communities.

Product Identification

Zero thresholds are designed primarily to close the gap between the floor and the bottom of a door. This helps keep external elements like air, water, snow, and pests from entering the indoors. The threshold works in conjunction with other products such as weatherstripping and door bottoms to help protect the indoors. Zero thresholds feature top-quality materials and construction, designed to stand up to the demands of heavy traffic applications as well as those with extreme temperature differentials.

Table 1: Product Specification

For a complete list of products, see Zero's Door Sealing Systems product catalog.

Application and Standards

Application

Zero thresholds are designed to be used in commercial applications such as health care, education, hospitality, and retail. The product can also be used residentially if desired.

Table 2: BHMA Standards

* All Zero thresholds are designed for heavy-duty applications and far exceed BHMA A156.22 cycle test and force test requirements for Grade 1.

Declaration of Methodological Framework

This particular LCA is a cradle-to-gate with options LCA. A summary of the life cycle stages can be found in Table 11. The cut-off criteria are described in Section 0 and allocation procedures are described in Section 2.8. No known flows are deliberately excluded from this EPD.

Technical Data

This chart illustrates the most common types of threshold classifications.

Properties of Declared Product as Delivered

For shipping, all thresholds are packaged individually in cardboard boxes. Along with the threshold, an instruction manual, labels and screw bag are also included.

Material Composition and Manufacturing

Material Composition

Table 4: Material Composition

Manufacturing

Zero threshold products are manufactured at Allegion's Indianapolis plant, located at 2720 Tobey Dr, Indianapolis, IN 46219. Allegion receives metal sub-components from their suppliers in the US and China. These components are then assembled, finished and packaged in the facility in Indianapolis. Along with the threshold, an instruction manual, labels and a screw bag are also included in cardboard boxes. Product is shipped to customers via UPS or LTL carriers. Natural resources used in the manufacturing process include electricity, natural gas and water. Steel waste is also generated as parts of the product are formed, sheared and assembled. All steel waste is collected and recycled offsite.

Packaging and Transportation

Packaging

Table 5: Packaging

Transportation

It is assumed that all raw materials are distributed by truck, based on global region. An average distance using this information was calculated and used in the model. An average shipping distance from the manufacturing location to the customer was utilized and was calculated from sales records. The transportation distance for all waste flows is assumed to be 161 km based on best available data.

Installation, Reuse, Recycling, and Disposal

Product Installation

Detailed installation instructions can be found online. While installation equipment is required to install the product, it is not included in the study as these are multi-use tools and the impacts per declared unit is considered negligible. All waste generated during installation, including packaging waste, is disposed of according to the tables found in Section 2.8.5 of Part A: Life Cycle Assessment Calculation Rules and Report Requirements from UL Environment.

Reuse, Recycling, and Energy Recovery

Zero threshold products may be recycled or reused at the end of life. The LCA that this EPD is created from takes the conservative approach by assuming that all products are disposed of within the system boundary.

Disposal

Disposal pathways in the EPD are modeled in accordance with disposal routes and waste classification referenced in Sections 2.8.5 and 2.8.6 of Part A: Life Cycle Assessment Calculation Rules and Report Requirements from UL Environment. This indicates an end-of-life split amongst landfill, recycling, and incineration pathways.

Life Cycle Assessment Background Information

Declared Unit

The declared unit is one threshold per standard doorleaf, as indicated in Table 6.

System Boundary

The type of EPD is cradle-to-gate with options. All LCA modules are included and are summarized in Table 7.

Estimates and Assumptions

All estimates and assumptions are within the requirements of ISO 14040/44. The majority of the estimations are within the primary data. The primary data was collected as annual totals including all utility usage and production information. For the LCA, the usage information was divided by the production to create an energy and water use per declared unit, i.e., one threshold. Another assumption is that the installation tools are used enough times that the per threshold impacts are negligible.

Cut-off Criteria

All inputs in which data was available were included. Material inputs greater than 1% (based on total mass of the final product) were included within the scope of analysis. Material inputs less than 1% were included if sufficient data was available to warrant inclusion and/or the material input was thought to have significant environmental impact. Cumulative excluded material inputs and environmental impacts are less than 5% based on total weight of the functional unit.

Data Sources, Quality, and Allocation

Data Sources

Primary data were collected by facility personnel and from utility bills and was used for all manufacturing processes. Whenever available, supplier data was used for raw materials used in the production process. When primary data did not exist, secondary data for raw material production was utilized from GaBi Database Version 9.2.0.58, Service pack 39.

Data Quality

Geographical Coverage

The geographical scope of the manufacturing portion of the life cycle is Indianapolis, Indiana. This LCA uses country specific energy datasets that take into account US eGrid specific energy and transportation mixes. Overall, the geographic coverage of primary data is considered good.

Time Coverage

Primary data were provided by Allegion associates and represent calendar year 2018. Using 2018 data meets the PCR requirement that manufacturer specific data be within the last 5 years. Time coverage of this data is considered good. Data necessary to model cradle-to-gate unit processes was sourced from thinkstep LCI datasets. Time coverage of the GaBi datasets varies from approximately 2010 to present. All datasets rely on at least one 1-year average data. Overall time coverage of the datasets is considered good and meets the requirement of the PCR that all data be updated within a 10-year period. The specific time coverage of secondary datasets can be referenced in the dataset references table in each supplemental LCA report.

Technological Coverage

Primary data provided by Allegion are specific to the technology that the company uses in manufacturing their product. It is site specific and considered of good quality. It is worth noting that the energy and water used in manufacturing the product includes overhead energy such as lighting, heating and sanitary use of water. Sub-metering was not available to extract process only energy and water use from the total energy use. Sub-metering would improve the technological coverage of data quality. Data necessary to model cradle-to-gate unit processes was sourced from thinkstep LCI datasets. Technological coverage of the datasets is considered good relative to the actual supply chain of Allegion. While improved life cycle data from suppliers would improve technological coverage, the use of lower quality generic datasets does meet the goal of this EPD.

Period under Review

The period under review is calendar year 2018.

Allocation

General principles of allocation were based on ISO 14040/44. Where possible, allocation was avoided. When allocation was necessary it was done on a physical mass basis. Allocation was most prevalent in the secondary GaBi datasets used to represent upstream processes. As a default, GaBi datasets use a physical mass basis for allocation.

Life Cycle Assessment Scenarios

Table 8: Transport to the Building Site (A4)

Table 9: Installation into the Building (A5)

Table 10: End of Life (C1-C4)

Life Cycle Assessment Results

Table 11: Description of the System Boundary Modules

Life Cycle Impact Assessment Results

Table 12: CML Results

Table 13: TRACI Results

Table 14: Resource Use

Table 15: Output Flows and Waste Categories

LCA Interpretation

LCA Interpretation

The dominance analysis shows that the Production Stage (A1-A3) of the life cycle is responsible for the vast majority of impacts across all impact categories. Specifically, phases A1-A3 contributes the most to ADP-fossil through electricity and thermal energy used during manufacturing. The resources used to extract, and process (electricity and thermal energy) steel and aluminum mainly contribute to the impacts in the A1-A3 module. Transportation to customer (A4) and installation (A5) stages have second and third highest ADP-fossil impacts respectively. This is mainly due to fuels used for transportation to customer and steel fasteners used to install the product.

Additional Environmental Information

Environment and Health During Manufacturing

Allegion meets all federal and state standards related to the Environment and Health during manufacturing. Additionally, Allegion employs a strict waste minimization and recycling program that reduces and recycles waste produced in the manufacturing process. Beyond what is regulated, there are no additional environment and health considerations during the production of goods.

Environment and Health During Use

There are no environmental or health considerations during the use of the product.

Supporting Documentation

Table 16: Acronym Key

References

1. Life Cycle Assessment, Allegion, LCA report for Zero Gasketing and Thresholds. WAP Sustainability Consulting. April 2020.
2. Product Category Rule (PCR) for preparing an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for Product Group Builders Hardware (UL 9004). Version: April 3rd, 2014
3. ISO 14044: 2006 Environmental Management – Life cycle assessment – Requirements and Guidelines.
4. ISO 14025: 2006 Environmental labels and declarations – Type III environmental declarations – Principles and Procedures.
5. ISO 21930: 2007 - Sustainability in building construction -- Environmental declaration of building products
6. EN 15804: 2012-04 - Sustainability of construction works — Environmental Product Declarations for the product category of construction product. Core rules