Environmental Product Declarations

Introduction

The desire for more transparency regarding the origins and ingredients of building products continues to increase. Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) are just one of the tools industry has created to help tackle this accountability and reporting.

EPDs are a semi-standardized report of a product’s environmental impact throughout its life cycle. An EPD is based on the information gathered in an Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), but adds more information (particularly about its origins and sustainability) and is further verified by a third party.

• LCAs therefore do not give the whole picture of a product, nor does it allow to compare multiple products within a particular category.

Two Main Types: Industry-wide and product specific.

• Industry Wide: covers a generic type of product that several manufacturers make, such as building products like cement, acoustic ceilings, or carpet yarn.
• Product Specific: Specific to a single manufacturer's product and usually contributes more to sustainable credits.

Product Category Rules (PCR): Set of guidelines for a particular type of product that establishes what data should be collected in the LCA, how LCA results are reported, and what other information must be included in the EPD.

• The use of PCR’s makes it possible to compare one product to another more accurately and determine the complete environmental effects of products.
• Essentially makes it easier to ‘level’ the comparison between different products.

Product Categories: General types of items such as flooring, insulation, wood products and doors.