Environmental Product Declaration – EPD
In Spain, EDP is required by the contribution index to structural sustainability (ICES) of the Structural Code, the European LEVELs system of the European Commission for sustainable buildings and is a fundamental part of the Construction Products Regulation.
An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a type III ecolabel, that is, it is a standard declaration through which companies can accredit and communicate the environmental excellence of their products and services. .
Being a standardized document, we have to comply with a series of technical standards, the most important being UNE-EN ISO 14025:2010. This standard indicates the requirements that the EPD Program Administrator (AENOR, Environdec, CATEEB,…) must meet, the declaration or verification requirements.
The EPD contains quantified environmental data of our company’s product/service, parameterized according to impact categories. In the process, we must comply with the PCR (Product Category Rule) Product Category Rules indicated to us by the Program Administrator. In many cases, there are already UNE-EN standards that establish common PCR for all EDP programs.
Phase I : Elaboration:
- Definition of the objective and scope of EDP.
- Analysis of the product/service and of processes and activities.
- Determination of Product Category Rules (RCP / PCR).
- Analysis of the life cycle inventory (LCI).
- Impact Assessment (LCIA).
- Project report.
- Draft the EPD.
Phase II : Process checking:
- Documentary review.
- External verification (support).
Phase III : Certification y registration:
- Review by the technical committee
- Issuance of the certificate.
Image 01: Summary of the EPD development and verification process
Source: IHOBE Environmental Product Declaration.
Currently, companies face a certain degree of complexity when it comes to reflecting and communicating their environmental commitment. Thanks to EPDs, the company can report in a scientific, credible and understandable way on the environmental aspects of its products/services, always verified by a third party.
Another main and beneficial characteristic of EPDs is that, through their development, it is possible to find out the environmental impacts generated by our activity and establish improvement programs, if desired.
We Provide Solutions
At OAK; Our consulting services combine our knowledge regarding the standardization of construction products with our experience in environmental management projects. Our EDP projects are intended to provide the best possible solution to our clients, the most viable.
More information can be found at the following links: