In life cycle assessment, an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a standardized way of quantifying the environmental impact of a product or system. Declarations include information on the environmental impact of raw material acquisition, energy use and efficiency, content of materials and chemical substances, emissions to air, soil and water and waste generation. Product and company information is also included.
An EPD is created and verified in accordance with the International Standard ISO 14025, developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). EPDs are based on a Life-cycle assessment according to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.
While EPDs do educate consumers about the product and its environmental impact, consumers should know that it is for disclosure purposes only, and does not mean that the product meets any environmental performance standards.
EPD in Europe
In Europe, the European Committee for Standardization has published EN 15804, a common Product Category Rules (PCR) for EPD development in the construction sector. Other complementary standards, for example for environmental building assessment (EN 15978) were also published by this Technical Committee.
In order to enhance harmonization, the main Programme Operators for EPD verification in the construction sector has created the Association ECO Platform, with members from different European countries.
The Programme Operators approved to issue EPD with the ECO Platform verified logo are:
ECO Platform also include Associations, for example:
Some of these Programme Operators are under bilateral mutual recognition agreements like IBU (Germany), EPD International (Sweden) and AENOR GlobalEPD (Spain).