Embodied Energy

Embodied energy is the energy consumed by all of the processes associated with the production of a building

Embodied energy is the energy necessary to manufacture a product or service.

The value of the embodied energy of a building product is that of the “Overall primary energy consumption” indicator expressed in megajoules (MJ) and presented in the Environmental Product Declarations compliant with ISO 14025 type III.

Consumption of primary energy at the different stages in the life cycle of 1 kg of VMZINC natural rolled zinc (IBU Certifikat).


The embodied energy relating to the production of 1 kg of VMZINC natural rolled zinc is 56.4 MJ; 90% of the embodied energy is due to the production of highly pure primary zinc. Recycling of used rolled zinc at end-of-life makes it possible to save 39MJ when it is used as a secondary raw material. For the entire life cycle including recycling at end-of-life, the overall embodied energy is 17.4 MJ (5).

Production of primary zinc and ISO 14001

The primary zinc used to manufacture VMZINC rolled zinc comes mainly from a production site that is ISO 14001 certified.

ISO Certifications

ISO certifications are a seal of approval from a third party body that a company runs to one of the international standards developed and published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Recycled content

Almost no zinc sheet reaches landfill, up to 99% is recycled into a number of products including zinc sheet, brass and zinc for galvanising.