Tarksol Biosoy 60

BEES EPA Evaluation Results

8/25/06

BEES measures the environmental performance of building products by using the life-cycle assessment approach specified in the ISO 14040 series of standards. All stages in the life of a product are analyzed: raw material acquisition, manufacture, transportation, installation, use, and recycling and waste management. Economic performance is measured using the ASTM standard life-cycle cost method, which covers the costs of initial investment, replacement, operation, maintenance and repair, and disposal. Environmental and economic performance are combined into an overall performance measure using the ASTM standard for Multi-Attribute Decision Analysis. For the entire BEES analysis, building products are defined and classified according to the ASTM standard classification for building elements known as UNIFORMAT II.

BEES has been supported in part by the U.S. EPA Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program. The EPP program is charged with carrying out Executive Order 13101, "Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition," which encourages Executive agencies to reduce the environmental burdens associated with the more than $230 billion in products and services they buy each year, including building products. BEES is being further developed as a tool to assist the Federal procurement community in carrying out affirmative procurement programs.

BEES Scores 

 Understanding BEES Scores

      Here are the impacts that make up the BEES Environmental and Economic

      Performance Scores. Click on any impact or score for more information on

      its meaning and use in the Federal Biobased Products Preferred Procurement

      Program (FB4P) context.

      Computing BEES Environmental and Economic Performance Scores

      BEES results are provided to empower the procuring official to consider

      environmental and economic performance in identifying the product that

      best meets the Federal agency’s needs. By scoring products across a

      comprehensive range of environmental and economic impacts, BEES

      facilitates purchasing that takes into account the trade-offs often

      necessary to achieve a genuine reduction in these impacts, rather than a

      simple shift of impact. For example, “green” purchasing based on

      minimizing the global warming impact alone does not account for the fact

      that global warming may have been reduced at the expense of other impacts.

      And a short-lived, low first-cost product is often not the most

      cost-effective alternative. A higher first cost may be justified many

      times over for a durable, maintenance-free product.

      While the degree to which life-cycle environmental and economic

      performance are incorporated into the procurement system is left up to

      each agency, FB4P reports BEES performance results for the types of

      biobased products that would fall within each designated item grouping.

      Agencies are encouraged to request BEES results from manufacturers of

      fossil fuel-based products to facilitate direct comparison of life-cycle

      performance within a designated item. BEES results for fossil fuel-based

      products can be obtained by manufacturers through the NIST BEES Please

      program.

      While procurement officials are encouraged to consider life cycle costs

      and environmental impacts when appropriate in the context of a specific

      procurement, the FB4P program is not in a position to establish specific

      qualifying standards—such as maximum allowable BEES scores—for all

      possible products for all procurements. Moreover, by reporting results for

      all impacts contributing to the BEES performance scores, FB4P provides

      agencies the flexibility to place more or less importance on contributing

      impacts than assigned by BEES. For more on the importance BEES places on

      contributing impacts, see pages 25-31 of the BEES Technical Manual.

      Environmental Performance Score

      The BEES Environmental Performance Score combines product performance

      across all 12 environmental impacts into a single score. The lower the

      score, the better is the product’s overall environmental performance.

      The BEES Environmental Performance Score indicates the share of annual per

      capita U.S. environmental impacts attributable to the product. A score of

      0.0130, for example, means the production and consumption of a unit of the

      product is estimated to represent 0.0130 percent of average annual U.S.

      per capita contributions to environmental impacts.

      Global Warming is due to emissions generated by humankind that keep the

      earth’s surface warmer than it would be otherwise. The BEES Global Warming

      Score indicates the degree to which production and consumption of the

      biobased product contributes to this environmental impact.

      Acidification damages trees, soil, buildings, animals, and humans.

      Commonly referred to as “acid rain,” its principal human source is fossil

      fuel and biomass combustion. The BEES Acidification Score indicates the

      degree to which production and consumption of the biobased product

      contributes to this environmental impact.

      Eutrophication is the addition of mineral nutrients to the soil or water,

      which in large quantities results in generally undesirable shifts in the

      number of species in ecosystems and a reduction in ecological diversity.

      The BEES Eutrophication Score indicates the degree to which production and

      consumption of the biobased product contributes to this environmental

      impact.

      Fossil Fuel Depletion occurs when these resources are consumed at rates

      faster than nature renews them. The BEES Fossil Fuel Depletion Score

      indicates the degree to which production and consumption of the biobased

      product contributes to this environmental impact.

      Indoor Air Quality suffers when products release pollutants indoors during

      their use. The BEES Indoor Air Quality Score indicates the degree to which

      production and consumption of the biobased product contributes to this

      environmental impact.

      Habitat Alteration measures the potential for land use by humans to lead

      to undesirable changes in habitats. The BEES Habitat Alteration Score

      indicates the degree to which production and consumption of the biobased

      product contributes to this environmental impact.

      Water Intake can be problematic in areas where water is scarce, such as

      the Western United States . The BEES Water Intake Score indicates the

      degree to which production and consumption of the biobased product

      contributes to this environmental impact.

      Criteria Air Pollutants arise from many activities including combustion,

      vehicle operation, power generation, materials handling, and crushing and

      grinding operations. They include coarse particles known to aggravate

      respiratory conditions such as asthma, and fine particles that can lead to

      more serious respiratory symptoms and disease. The BEES Criteria Air

      Pollutants Score indicates the degree to which production and consumption

      of the biobased product contributes to this environmental impact.

      Human Health effects can arise from exposure to industrial and natural

      substances, and range from transient irritation to permanent disability

      and even death. The BEES Human Health Score indicates the degree to which

      production and consumption of the biobased product contributes to this

      environmental impact.

        FB4P requires reporting of the details underlying the BEES Human Health

        Scores, so a Human Health by Sorted Flows report is included with the

        BEES results. In assessing human health, BEES tracks more than 200 flows

        to air “(a)” and water “(w)” associated with cancer and other human

        health issues. The five flows with the largest contributions to the BEES

        Human Health Score are displayed in the report, with all others combined

        and reported as “All Other Flows.” These values are reported in grams of

        toluene per unit of product. Most result from electricity production

        that occurs outside the gates of the biobased product manufacturing

        facility. While the values may look large, the average U.S. resident is

        responsible for over 158 million grams of toluene-equivalent releases

        per year. So when you put the BEES Human Health Scores into context

        (like they are in the Environmental Performance report), they're not as

        large as they may first appear.

      Smog forms under certain climatic conditions when air emissions from

      industry and transportation are trapped at ground level where they react

      with sunlight. Smog leads to harmful impacts on human health and

      vegetation. The BEES Smog Score indicates the degree to which production

      and consumption of the biobased product contributes to this environmental

      impact.

      Ozone Depletion, or a thinning of the stratospheric ozone layer, allows

      more harmful short wave radiation to reach the Earth’s surface,

      potentially causing undesirable changes in ecosystems, agricultural

      productivity, skin cancer rates, and eye cataracts, among other issues.

      The BEES Ozone Depletion Score indicates the degree to which production

      and consumption of the biobased product contributes to this environmental

      impact.

      Ecological Toxicity measures the potential of pollutants from industrial

      sources to harm land- and water-based ecosystems. The BEES Ecological

      Toxicity Score indicates the degree to which production and consumption of

      the biobased product contributes to this environmental impact.

      Economic Performance Score

      BEES scores economic performance on the basis of a product’s life-cycle

      cost. The lower the life-cycle cost, the better is the product’s overall

      economic performance.

      The life-cycle cost includes all costs associated with a product over a

      fixed period of time. These costs are particularly relevant for durable

      products such as building materials for which competing alternative

      products may have significantly different useful lives, maintenance and

      repair schedules, operating energy usage, and installation requirements.

      Life-cycle costing accounts for these important differences by evaluating

      product alternatives over the same study period.

      First Costs includes costs for product purchase and, if applicable,

      installation.

      Future Costs include costs for operation, maintenance, repair, and

      replacement. For consumables and other products for which no significant

      or quantifiable durability differences are found among competing

      alternatives, future costs are not calculated.

      For a more technical, detailed description of the BEES product scoring

      system, go to the BEES Technical Manual.

      Office of Applied Economics

      Please send technical questions about BEES to barbara.lippiatt@nist.gov

      Last modified: 2/23/2006

Results on Tarksol Biosoy 60