Is there a good single source of published PCRs for various products used in buildings?
NSF and UL have their own lists:
https://www.nsf.org/standards-development/product-category-rules
https://www.ul.com/services/product-category-rules-pcrs
Just wondering if someone has compiled these and others all in one place.
Thanks!
Eric
Sustainable Minds maintain a pretty good list for North America:
I have some follow up questions related to this:
Can there be more than one active PCR for a given product category at the same time?
I think this is the current PCR for ready mix concrete, published by NSF: (https://d2evkimvhatqav.cloudfront.net/documents/pcr_concrete.pdf?mtime=20210903125351&focal=none)
It includes the following revision history:
It looks like versions 1 and 1.1 were published by CLF. From looking at some older EPDs, I think the National Ready Mix Concrete Association (NRMCA) was the program operator for v1 and v1.1 of the PCR. Then starting with version 2, NSF became the publisher of the PCR and also took over as program operator.
Am I understanding this timeline correctly? Why did NSF take over, and who governs a change like that? Was there a period of time when a ready mix concrete producer could select either PCR and publish and EPD?
Any insight that even partially answers these questions is appreciated!
Some others may want to weigh in here, as in those more familiar with the development at the time and the switch to NSF. That may have been a CLF request for NSF to take over the management. In the development of a PCR one of the first things to do is verify that another PCR doesn’t already exist. I can say when those first versions were published it was pretty early in the PCR/EPD game in North America and much has changed since then. The players involved in the market appear to have settled into their roles.
Regarding the publication of EPDs relative to the PCR it depends on what is in the PCR as to how it relates to an EPD. In some cases when a PCR expires, the EPDs based on that PCR also expire. This is the case with the NAPA PCR for Asphalt. Most EPDs are valid for 5 years regardless of the expiration of the underlying PCR.
In the case of PCR udates and revisions, generally speaking it is the latest PCR that governs. All EPDs will have a line item in them to indicate what PCR was used to develop the EPD. I say generally speaking only because there may be a short period where an EPD is developed and may be going through verification when a new PCR is published for example. I would however say that is a rare circumstance.
Some users of EPDs may not want to use an EPD based on an expired PCR, but that can depend on how substantial the changes are in the PCR and the specific circumstances.
Hello,
The Program Operators Consortium has the most complete list I’ve come across.
https://programoperators.org/
UL also has an extensive list. https://www.ul.com/services/product-category-rules-pcrs
Happy PCR hunting!