Profile: Andrew D Moore

22nd Nov 2018

Andrew Moore Chairs the Australasian EPD’s Technical Advisory Group (TAG) is an approved verifier for the Programme. He is the Founder and Principal Sustainability Scientist with leading sustainability consultancy Life Cycle Logic, and a Certified LCA Practitioner (ALCAS). It was while Andrew was completing his Masters in Renewable Energy that life cycle thinking became central to his approach to the environment. With a degree in Botany and Geography and a decade working in various environmental agencies, he was already a committed environmentalist. The big picture thinking inherent in LCA provided him with a new paradigm that has enabled him to work with clients to target those actions with the greatest impact. We spoke to him about EPDs, the verification process and a recent “world first” project.

What prompted you to become an approved Australasian EPD verifier?

I am very passionate about LCA, and looking at the big picture when making sustainability decisions. EPDs are adding a new level of rigor to life cycle thinking and measurement.

I love that the EPD methodology is forcing the LCA community to keep learning and growing. To publish an EPD you need to meet very strict guidelines and rules, requiring a lot of interpretation. The process will stretch even the most experienced LCA practitioners, leading to personal growth and improved outcomes for the client.

As I verifier I am able to act as another set of eyes for some of Australasia’s best LCA specialists. That leads to learning opportunities on both sides and ensures a really high standard of measurement.

How did you find the approval process for new verifiers?

Like everything associated with EPDs, the certification process was extremely thorough. It can feel onerous because the requirements are so strict and the review process so exhaustive. But ultimately the process ensures that all verifiers are of an extremely high standard, which is critical to the value of EPDs as a genuinely transparent and comparable measure.

Why is the verification process so important?

Really the whole EPD program rests on thorough and strict third party verification. This is what guarantees that all EPDs meet the rigorous standards and rules, which ultimately set the EPD Programme apart. It is the confidence in these common standards that makes a EPDs genuinely comparable measurement.

What is the most exciting EPD project you have worked on and why?

I recently acted as the LCA consultant for NXT TEC Ltd on the first ever EPD conducted on a hotel concept design. NXT has developed a fully integrated prefabricated building technology, and they undertook an LCA and EPD on the Wyndham LUX Perth Hotel project, that was wholly utilising NXT technologies.

This project was exciting, not only because it was a “world first” but because the client is so genuinely committed to innovation and sustainability. They used the process to improve outcomes as much as to provide a benchmark.

When we completed the first LCA study, we provided NXT with a list of recommendations. With many clients these would come too late to impact the current project. NXT responded immediately and adjusted the final design of the hotel based on our advice. The result was a significantly improved building, before we even started on the full EPD.

I have every confidence that the EPD will serve as a baseline for NXT and will inform further improvements in their building technologies, which will result in even more environmentally sustainable buildings in the future.

We’ve dragged our feet on climate change for over 40 years. It is such a pleasure to work with a company that is proactively moving toward a sustainable future.