Kiwa-Ecobility Experts – Product Level

A program operator is a body that operates a Type III environmental information program in accordance with ISO 14025. All tasks of the program operator are defined in ISO 14025. Specifically, the program operators of the Kiwa Ecobility Experts include the management of the following tasks:

• Provision and publication of the general program instructions
• Defining the program procedures and adapting the program procedures to current developments in standardization, life cycle assessment methodology, etc.
• Ensuring that the requirements for the
  Type III Environmental Declaration are complied with
• Establishment and involvement of interested parties (LCA Expert Panel)
• Providing and maintaining a process that ensures data consistency within the program,
• Organization of the Advisory Board (SVA)
• Competence and independence monitoring of the pool of validation and verification personnel
• Organization of a transparent procedure for the creation of specific product category rules
• Development of procedures to prevent the misuse of Type III environmental declarations
• Publication of environmental declarations in relevant databases
• Follow-up of changes after the issuance of the environmental declarations, adaptation, if necessary
• Cooperation with the notified bodies of the Kiwa Group to prepare validation reports on environmental sustainability in accordance with the Construction Products Regulation
• Cooperation with the Technical Assessment Body of the Kiwa Group on the implementation of environmental sustainability in the EADs according to the Construction Products Regulation.

Validation / verification is a critical examination that ensures the quality and consistency of the content of environmental information, e.g. an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). For publication, a validation / verification must usually be successfully completed.

The validation/verification body organizes the validation/verification process and issues the validation/verification statement for an environmental information on the basis of all necessary objective evidence. For this purpose, an LCA / environmental information tool (software) can also be used, based on which future environmental information will be issued.

The basis is the results or partial results from specific life cycle assessments according to ISO 14040 / 14044 as well as the program and product category-specific calculation rules. These life cycle assessments are prepared by third parties (life cycle assessment = claim within the meaning of ISO/IEC 17029). Third parties may include product manufacturers and external LCA practitioners.

The process stipulates that the data is always subject to evaluation by the Kiwa-EE, especially when provided by the third parties. Depending on the reference scenario of the data, a distinction is made between a validation / verification approach.

In accordance with the provisions of these General Program Instructions, it is possible to use data from a mixture of hypothetical, extrapolated and/or historical information (see also ISO/IEC 17029).

Validation: Process for assessing the adequacy of the assumptions, constraints and procedures that support an environmental declaration of the outcome of future activities.

Verification: Process of assessing an environmental declaration against historical data and information to determine whether the declaration is substantially accurate and meets the criteria.

Validation, in particular, must assess the assumptions, constraints, and procedures that lead to the determination of the hypothetical or projected data and information (estimates).

For more information, contact us at DE.Ecobility.Experts@kiwa.com.

The general program instructions form the basis for the program operator Kiwa-EE - and regulate the administrative and operational processes for the creation and publication of Type III environmental declarations (e.g. EPDs) in accordance with ISO 14025. The general program manuals are updated every three years to constantly adapt program operator to current developments in the field of standardization, life cycle assessment methodology, etc.

Since product groups sometimes differ widely in their environmental performance, specific rules must be developed for the individual product groups, so-called product category rules (PCR). The PCR, together with the General Program Instructions, form the basis for the environmental declarations presented here. The process for creating PCR is organized by program operator. This is also responsible for ensuring that the PCR set up meet the requirements of ISO 14025. Before release, an examination is carried out by the advisory board. The LCA Expert Panel, consisting of interested parties (users, associations, manufacturers, scientific institutions, organizations, etc.) is involved in the design of the PCR. Examples of specific PCRs from Kiwa-EE can be found in the download area.

If you are interested in participating in the development of PCR made available for public consultation, please contact us at DE.Ecobility.Experts@kiwa.com. Please provide your contact details and the name of the PCR you would like to participate in.

The SVA has the task of monitoring the guarantee of impartiality and neutrality in the implementation of the program tasks.

The following tasks are carried out by the SVA of Kiwa-EE:

• general advice to program operator
• the examination and approval of the respective program bases and verification of conformity and the associated rules
• technical supervision of the use of environmental information programs for type III environmental declarations in accordance with ISO 14025
• the review and approval of the development and review procedures for the methodological and editorial product category rules applied by Kiwa-EE
• checking the quality of environmental information and related documents
• the annual review of validation/verification personnel based on competence monitoring
• exchanging information with Kiwa-EE on the latest findings, research and activities in the field of sustainability to ensure that the programs are always up to date
• Decisions and resolution of disputes regarding non-compliance with program rules
• Handling appeals in the event of appeals

The SVA works independently and sets out its tasks, organization and working methods in its rules of procedure. To get in touch with the SVA, write an e-mail to DE.Ecobility.Experts@kiwa.com.

Once the data is collected, datal validation is done. As a next step LCA modelling is done based on the data. A project report draft and the environmental information (EPD) is created according to the applicable standards and Product Category Rules (PCR). The documents are checked by a validator/verifier commissioned by Kiwa-EE for completeness, consistency, and plausibility as well as for compliance with applicable specifications. After a positive validation/verification decision, the environmental declaration and the project report will be published.

Kiwa-EE has their own criteria for onboarding a verifier.  For more information, contact us at DE.Ecobility.Experts@kiwa.com.

For LCA and EPD experts who want to gain validation/verification experience through trainings with an approved individual verifier, they can apply for this program. For more information, contact us at DE.Ecobility.Experts@kiwa.com.