Seeking to establish the first Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for backup generators, Rehlko has successfully completed the PEP Ecopassport® program, a type III environmental declaration according to the ISO 14025 standard. The project aims to provide data centers with a detailed, data-driven analysis of the generator’s environmental impact throughout its lifecycle, aiding in more sustainable purchasing decisions. This aligns with broader regulatory trends, such as California's Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act and the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, which require companies to disclose greenhouse gas emissions. With such a detailed and complex certification process, though, the path to authorization had a few twists and turns. Here’s a peek behind the curtain on what it takes to achieve an industry first.
The Process
The project examined the Rehlko K175 model series (which includes several different engine sizes, from 2000kVA to 4500kVA), generator sets manufactured in France. The KD3750 serves as a benchmark for the environmental declaration, but the process also provides an extrapolation tool to assess the environmental impact of all generators in the model series. Rehlko collected internal data and collaborated with suppliers to gather detailed information on key components such as engines, alternators, chassis, radiators and fluids. By performing a lifecycle assessment (LCA) of these components, the team assigned values to each stage of their lifecycle — covering manufacturing, distribution, installation, use, and end-of-life disposal. This thorough analysis allowed them to quantify environmental impacts including climate change, ozone depletion, acidification, resource use, primary energy consumption, and wastewater generation.
The process began in March 2023, when the team began to undertake the comprehensive and meticulous process of collecting complete and accurate data for use in the LCA. After gathering the necessary information, Rehlko began collaborating with an eco-design consulting firm to analyze the data. Using specialized software, the partnership between the consulting firm and Rehlko produced a full LCA. Once complete, the LCA was then used to draft an EPD, which was complete by February 2024. This draft declaration was then verified by independent third parties to ensure it met standards such as ISO 14025. Finally, the EPD was audited and certified in May 2024.
The Challenges
One of the most innovative aspects of this project was the team’s ability to define an entirely new product category for backup generators. No such process had ever been performed on a backup generator, so there was little existing historical data to base research on and no similar projects to compare to. With no pre-existing parameters for this category, the team had to craft hypotheses around key factors like product lifetime and operating hours, drawing guidance from ISO standards. This approach introduced a fresh, data-driven way to assess environmental impact, pushing the boundaries of current industry standards. By pioneering this category, the project set a benchmark for similar future products, ensuring that other manufacturers could follow a structured path for environmental declarations.
A significant hurdle was working with suppliers to gather accurate data on their component parts, many of whom were either reluctant to publicize or lacked the necessary environmental impact information. The Rehlko team’s innovative approach in this area involved educating suppliers and encouraging them to increase transparency and improve their own environmental data reporting. By fostering collaboration, the team not only overcame challenges but also contributed to driving greater accountability and sustainability across the supply chain. This collaborative and forward-thinking process ensured the project's success, while enhancing the industry's overall environmental responsibility.
The Learnings
Overcoming challenges related to data collection and supplier transparency, the project not only succeeded in creating a credible EPD but also set a new standard for environmental reporting in the industry. The LCA highlights high emission factors from engine production and maintenance, revealing that the production of the engine itself contributed significantly to the overall carbon footprint. This prompted the team to explore solutions for reducing these emissions, particularly through more efficient production processes.
The LCA analysis offered some surprising insights, such as revealing that backup generators with internal combustion engines are typically made up of over 94% recyclable metals and do not contain rare materials like lithium, nickel, manganese, or cobalt found in electric batteries. Additionally, another unexpected finding was that switching from steel to aluminum, initially intended to reduce the product's weight and carbon impact, actually resulted in higher emissions due to aluminum's environmental footprint — creating another valuable area for future progress. These new and interesting findings underscore the complexity of material choices and the need for a nuanced approach to evaluating environmental impacts.
The Impact
This successful EPD offers a blueprint for other data center suppliers, fostering the creation of standardized environmental metrics and promoting sustainable practices across various sectors in the industry. By setting a new standard for backup generators, the project serves as a model for how proactive environmental strategies can drive meaningful changes across the sector.
In fact, the project is already helping push the industry toward Environmental Product Declarations adoption in alignment with iMasons Climate Accord’s (ICA) mission to decarbonize digital infrastructure. In a recent open letter, the ICA called on data center suppliers to adopt EPDs. As a member of the ICA program, Rehlko actively collaborates with the ICA in these efforts to standardize EPD use. It’s an important step toward widespread adoption of this approach, leading to more environmentally responsible decision-making and product development throughout the data center industry.
To learn more about the purpose of EPDs and the PEP Ecopassport® program, click here. Or, to hear more about the certification process from contributing engineer Nicole Diresheide click here.