Standards Event at BSI
DAVID SMOKER
First off, a reminder about the standards and regulations workshop event being hosted by BSI in London on the 14thMarch. This event will be a follow up to our March 2023 workshop in which a consensus was reached that the UK water industry was not at the same level regarding the creation, maintenance and implementation of standards as other industries, or indeed other countries.
Recognising the complexity of the landscape (WIS/IGN’s,BSi/CEN/ISO, WIMES, CESWI and others), this new workshop will seek to answer the questions:
Places are limited and the registration deadline is 10thMarch.
More information and registration can be found here.
Climate change and Circular Economy
Coming out of COP 21, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change came into force in 2016. All the signatories agreed to “best efforts to limit global warming to no more than two degrees above pre-industrial levels”. Some of the UK and European efforts to reduce emissions have been publicly evident, such as the growth of renewable energy, incentives for electric vehicles and promotion of air source heat pumps(mixed views about the effectiveness of some of these). What is less publicly evident is the part that standards can play inachieving climate change goals.
We need a way to compare the embodied carbon of productsto determine which is the best environmental choice. The comparisons must be on a like-for-like basis which is where Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Product Category Rules(PCR) come into play, by ensuring that individual Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) use a common structure and approach.
Many standards relating to construction projects exist to define the PCR for a particular product type and more are being developed.
A few that are relevant to the water sector are: BS EN 16757 Product Category Rules for precast concrete products; BS EN 16903. Buried plastics piping systems; BS EN 16904. Plastic piping systems inside buildings.
Another part of the environmental jigsaw is the drive towards a ‘circular economy’, redefining the old Reduce-Reuse-Recycle mantra as “keeping materials within the economy at the highest level of value for the longest time possible”. To accommodate this, for example, plastic system standards, such as pipes and fittings, are being reviewed to not only allow theuse of more recycled plastic, but to actively encourage it.Much of this work is being done in CEN/TC 155 “Plastics piping systems and ducting systems” and Future Water has representatives on some of the UK mirror committees.
If you’d like to become more involved in standards work andinfluence the way that standards evolve in your area, get in touch with us at standards@futurewaterassociation.com