Those who have chosen EPDItaly tell their story: UNIFLAIR S.P.A

Interview with Nicolò Fileccia -Electromechanics designer of UNIFLAIR S.P.A.

What are the main reasons that pushed you towards the voluntary EPD certification?

Uniflair S.p.A. is a company specializing in precision cooling and raised access floors, founded 25 years ago and continues today at Schneider Electric thanks to constant attention to innovation, product quality and technical support. Synergies with Schneider Electric S.p.A. solutions for building automation and control, the physical infrastructure for Data Center, electrical distribution and energy efficiency add to the Uniflair floating floor all the advantages of the integrated solution: the union of technology, functionality and aesthetics to give to the building body and soul, intelligence and elegance.

Uniflair S.p.A. being an excellence for raised flooring, it could not ignore respect for the environment.

It all started with a business need to demonstrate that our product can have increasingly reduced environmental impacts. Architects and contracting companies, for example, increasingly require EPDs for their green building projects and therefore the EPD can provide additional scores on certification systems. For us it is of primary importance to have a complete view of the products we offer on the market. We want to have an overview of the path of our product from the procurement of the raw material to its use and end of life. This allows us to optimize the ecological footprint at any stage and based on this analysis we can reduce the consumption of materials, increase the recycled content, reduce energy consumption in the production process and improve the storage and logistics of materials. LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) studies are for us the basic tool that supports us in optimizing products and their use and also supports our customers in reducing the environmental impact of their buildings. To date Uniflair S.p.A. is the first in Italy to have obtained the EPD for calcium sulphate panels with different finishes for raised floors.

Which product of your company has obtained the EPD? What are its main features?

The Uniflair Access Floor raised access floor is the privileged point of contact between design and technology.
The raised floor is used to ensure the functional and efficient organization of the rooms and the rapid adaptation of spaces to technological and organizational changes. It is made up of floating panels that make the plenum of electrical, electronic, plumbing and air conditioning systems easily accessible. The panels are placed on a height-adjustable steel structure and are easily removable, without compromising the aesthetics of the internal environment.

Uniflair offers a wide choice of finishes and sizes of the floating floor to elegantly accommodate the shapes created by the designer: the floating floor is modeled on stylistic and structural needs and leaves room for the creative freedom of designers and architects.
It also fits naturally into architectural structures of high historical and artistic value and allows you to carry out restorations and modernizations with quality materials, respecting the original construction.

The subject of the EPD are the 600x600mm panels with calcium sulphate core for raised floors. The panels are finished with upper and lower finishes of different materials. The lower part of the core is coated to improve the mechanical characteristics and increase thermo-hygrometric stability. The lower coating materials are: high density plastic laminate (thickness 0.9 mm) (not subject to study at this stage), aluminum (thickness 0.05 mm) and galvanized steel (thickness 0.05 mm). 0.5 mm), depending on the desired degree of protection and resistance. The upper cladding of the panels can be customized according to the design needs of the building thanks to the wide range of finishes available. The core is made up of inert material based on calcium sulphate (density ≥ 1500 kg / m3) which has excellent mechanical properties and fire resistance, very low sensitivity to humidity and considerable sound absorption for better walking comfort. Subject of the certification are only the most common coatings used such as laminates, vinyls, linoleum, rubbers, parquet, aluminum and steel.

What are the main advantages obtained from the publication of the Environmental Product Declaration? What are the repercussions on the final consumer?

The advantages of the Environmental Product Declaration are many: optimizing production processes and reducing costs / waste within the company, monitoring the improvement of the environmental performance of products / services, communicating the relative environmental performance in a clear, transparent and objective way. to a product / service along the entire production chain, enhance the corporate brand by adopting a transparency policy towards stakeholders, contribute to obtaining credits for sustainability protocols (ES. LEED V4, BREEAM, …), facilitate the exchange of information to support both public and private “green purchases”. The EPD creates transparency by accurately detecting what is contained in each product. There are thousands of green labels globally but the EPD differs because it is based on ISO 14025 and EN 15804, international standards verified by independent third parties and recognized by the most important green building protocols. The EPD provides both us and our customers with a high level of integrity and credibility. The benefits of EPD do not only concern producers but also consumers and end users. The former can demonstrate that they are attentive and sensitive to environmental issues having carried out in-depth analyzes on the product regarding the environmental impact; the latter, on the other hand, can obtain clear and transparent information on the product they will use in their buildings. Consumers will therefore be able to make informed choices with a view to environmental sustainability by contributing to the preservation of the ecosystem.

Do you think that EPDItaly can contribute to spreading the culture of product sustainability?

EPD certification is managed and published by independent Program Operators which vary depending on the country of publication / market of the company and the product sector. We have relied on the Program Operator EPDItaly because we are aware that it is a promoter of environmental sustainability both nationally and internationally. Precisely because of its way of operating even outside the national scene, we strongly believe that EPDItaly belonging to the Eco Platform circuit, which brings together the main Program Operators in the construction sector, can increasingly spread the sustainability of products at a global level. Furthermore, EPDItaly is a platform that allows you to better understand the European and Italian regulatory framework linked to Green Public Procurement – “Minimum Environmental Criteria for the assignment of design services and works for the new construction, renovation and maintenance of buildings and for the management of public administration sites “(CAM-Edilizia).

How important, in your opinion, is the presence of sustainable Italian products within a Program Operator that makes the international network one of its strengths?

The EPD is based on independently verified, objective, clear and transparent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) data. Precisely for this reason EPDItaly could not be the best choice to promote and enhance our product globally.