Building materials and their impact on climate – EPD

With an EDP (Environmental Product Declaration), you can communicate the environmental impact of your products or services in a reliable, transparent and standardised way.

Here at Sweco, we prepare environmental product declarations (EPDs) for construction products and offer guidance on optimizing production to minimize the climate impact and other environmental effects from production. We help building product manufacturers, industrial companies and other material and system suppliers with calculations, quality assurance and expert assistance.

An EPD is a document, verified by a third party, and based on a life cycle assessment (LCA), that is prepared in accordance with the product specific regulations applicable to the product. Calculations are made according to the European standard EN15804+A2, which is based on ISO standards ISO 14040 and 14044. An EPD includes not only the carbon footprint (CO2 emissions) but also factors such as waste, residues, chemical constituents, etc. throughout all stages of the product’s life cycle.

Communicate the environmental impact with an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)

An EPD contains product related information, including a description of the product’s function, areas of use and the manufacturing process, as well as a declaration of contents and an account of the environmental impact throughout the life cycle, which provides a good basis for understanding and identifying improvement measures. An EPD can also be used as a basis for marketing, and it is becoming increasingly common for clients to request or require EPDs during the tender process.
An EPD helps you build trust with your clients by providing the essential information they need for their decision-making processes. As sustainability requirements increase, an EPD provides a documented foundation for your company’s sustainability efforts. The environmental product declarations can also be used by LCA consultants, architects, and engineers, and are typically included in the calculation of a building’s climate impact through a building LCA, which is prepared in connection with DGNB certification of a building and the climate requirement in the Danish Building Regulations that came into force on 1st January 2023.

When we prepare an EDP

– You will be put in contact with a third party verifier to make an agreement for an independent third party verification

– The registration process will be handled by the chosen EPD programme operator

– You will receive support with the data collection. Sweco will assist you in finding the relevant data for your production

– You will receive an LCA model in dedicated LCA software, LCA for Experts, where we have access to two databases; ecoinvent and the professional database

– You will receive a calculation of the environmental impacts and a review of the results and hotspots, giving you and understanding of the major emissions in production and, thus, the potential for optimization. Consequently, the LCA results can be actively used to optimise and improve the production of the product

– You will receive the LCA background report and the EPD.

Advantages of working with Sweco on product specific EPDs
  1. We provide interdisciplinary and comprehensive consulting
  2. We understand the needs of industrial companies, manufacturers, and suppliers
  3. We have extensive experience and are part of strong international industry networks
  4. We follow research developments closely, and actively contribute to advancements in the field

Nana Lin Rasmussen

Sustainability Engineer / LCA Consultant