What is an EPD?
An EPD, or Environmental Product Declaration, is a verified document that transparently reports the environmental impact of a product throughout its life cycle; from raw material extraction to end-of-life disposal. Often referred to as an EPD certificate, it provides standardised data on resource use, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, waste generation and other environmental factors.
EPDs follow international standards such as ISO 14025, ISO 14040/14044, and EN 15804 to ensure consistency and comparability across industries. While EPDs are commonly associated with the construction sector, they can apply to almost any product, from building materials to consumer goods.
Why develop an EPD?
EPD helps manufacturers demonstrate transparent, credible environmental performance, supporting a variety of business benefits:
Gain competitive advantage
They can help differentiate your product by showcasing verified environmental data. An EPD can also brand perception by providing customers with credible insights into your product's environmental performance, strengthening customer trust.
Access new markets
EPDs are increasingly becoming required for public procurement and in sectors like the built environment, packaging, and manufacturing.
Support for certifications
EPDs can contribute to higher scores in sustainability certifications like LEED and BREEAM, which are both widely recognised green building certification systems.
Improve supply chain management
With more accurate data from EPDs, companies can make more informed choices around materials and suppliers.
Benchmark your product
EPDs enable you to quantify and compare environmental performance across product lines or against competitors.
These benefits position EPDs as a strategic asset for sustainability-focused companies, offering more comprehensive insights compared to PCFs alone.
EPD vs. PCF vs. LCA: What’s the difference?
Understanding the distinction between EPD, Product Carbon Footprint (PCF), and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can help clarify their use cases:
LCA (Life Cycle Assessment): A comprehensive analysis that evaluates the environmental impacts of a product across its entire life cycle. It forms the foundational data for an EPD.
PCF (Product Carbon Footprint): Focuses specifically on the carbon emissions associated with a product. It is often a subset of an LCA.
EPD (Environmental Product Declaration): A standardised, third-party verified report that presents LCA results in a structured and comparable format.
Compared to standalone LCAs or PCFs, EPDs offer greater credibility and market value. Their standardisation and third-party verification turn environmental insights into verified, recognised declarations suitable for public reporting and competitive positioning.
What are the regulations and standards driving EPDs
The demand for EPDs is being driven by increasing regulatory requirements and voluntary sustainability schemes worldwide. Key frameworks and standards include:
- EN 15804: The European standard for EPDs in the construction sector.
- ISO 14025: Provides the general principles for environmental labels and declarations.
- ISO 21930: Specific to the building and construction sector.
- Building certifications: Green building schemes such as LEED, BREEAM, and DGNB require or incentivise EPDs.
- Public procurement: Some governments require EPDs for products to qualify for public tenders.
These standards ensure that EPDs are reliable, consistent and globally recognised.
An example of how an EPD works
For this example, we’ll use a company that manufactures insulation materials for buildings. To create an EPD, the company would have to go through the following steps:
- Conduct an LCA: The company assesses the environmental impact of the insulation product across its entire life cycle: raw materials, production, use, and disposal.
- Compile results: Data on emissions, energy use, water consumption and other impacts are aggregated.
- Third-party verification: An independent verifier checks the data and methodology against relevant standards.
- Publication: The verified EPD is published and often registered with recognised programmes like Environdec or IBU.
An EPD typically includes several critical components:
- General product information: Including manufacturer details, product description, and material composition.
- LCA methodology: System boundaries, data sources, and allocation rules.
- Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA): Covering impacts like global warming potential, resource depletion, and water use.
- Verification statement: A third-party verifier confirms the accuracy of data and methods.
- Publication: The verified EPD is registered with a program operator such as EPD Norway or Environdec.
The resulting EPD certificate enables architects, specifiers and clients to compare the insulation product against alternatives, supporting more sustainable choices in building design.
Challenges of developing an EPD
Developing an EPD is a technical process and requires a lot of time to collect the data. The first step is defining the correct Product Category Rules (PCRs) relevant to your product. PCRs ensure that the EPD is comparable to others within the same category by standardising the approach and data requirements.
The process typically spans:
- Identifying and applying the appropriate PCR
- Defining system boundaries and data collection from production and supply chain
- Conducting the LCA
- Producing the EPD background report
- Third-party verification
- Registration and publication
This process can take anywhere between 6 to 12 months, and costs for verification can be thousands of dollars per EPD, not including renewal every five years.
EPDs are most common in the construction sector, but they are increasingly relevant in other industries such as packaging, textiles, and manufacturing, where transparency and sustainability credentials are becoming essential for market access.
How Zevero can help
Zevero simplifies the complexity of creating and publishing an EPD. Our team of sustainability experts works with you across the entire process: from defining product boundaries and system methodologies, to conducting the LCA, preparing the EPD documentation, and managing submission with program operators like EPD International.
We help businesses fast-track the EPD process, cutting down time from months to weeks and the verification costs involved. Our approach ensures that your EPD is robust, market-ready, and aligned with industry standards.
Beyond compliance, we help you use EPDs strategically to access new tenders, support with certifications like LEED and BREEAM, and support wider ESG reporting needs. Whether you’re creating your first EPD or scaling across product ranges, Zevero provides the tools, expertise, and guidance to deliver credible, impactful results.
Conclusion
Environmental Product Declarations are becoming a crucial tool for transparency, compliance and competitive advantage. As industries face growing pressure to quantify and disclose environmental impact, EPDs offer a credible, standardised way to showcase performance.
With the right approach and expert support, businesses can turn EPDs from a reporting requirement into a strategic asset - enabling better decision-making, stronger stakeholder relationships and measurable climate impact.
Get in touch with Zevero to explore how we can support your EPD journey.
