An EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) is a standardized, third-party verified environmental declaration that describes a product's environmental impact throughout all or part of its life cycle. EPDs are increasingly used in construction, industry, and procurement to enable comparable, fact-based, and verifiable sustainability information.
This guide explains what an EPD is, what it contains, and how it is used in practice.
What does EPD mean?
EPD stands for Environmental Product Declaration and is a so-called Type III environmental declaration according to international standards. Unlike eco-labels, an EPD does not contain any ratings, reviews, or approvals. Instead, it presents objective data on the product's environmental impact.
The aim is transparency: to enable different products within the same category to be compared on equal terms.
What does an EPD contain?
An EPD is based on a life cycle assessment (LCA) and reports environmental impact in several indicators, usually:
- Climate impact (CO₂e / Global Warming Potential)
- Energy and resource use
- Water consumption
- Waste and emissions to air, land, and water
The results are reported per defined functional unit, for example:
- 1 kg of product
- 1 m² building product
- 1 component
Which life cycle stages are covered?
An EPD can cover all or part of the product's life cycle, for example:
- Raw material extraction and production
- Transport
- Use phase
- End-of-life (recycling, waste, energy recovery)
For building products, modules such as A1–A3, A4–A5, B, C, and D are often used, enabling detailed climate calculations at the project level.
How are EPDs used in practice?
EPDs are used, among other things, to:
- Meet requirements in public and private procurement
- Performing climate calculations for buildings and products
- Deliver reliable Scope 3 data to customers
- Compare products from an environmental perspective
- Strengthen credible sustainability communication
They are often a prerequisite for products to be eligible for selection in larger projects.
What standards govern EPDs?
EPDs are developed in accordance with international standards, including:
- ISO 14025 – the basic standard for Type III environmental declarations
- EN 15804 – specific standard for construction products
- PCR (Product Category Rules) – product-specific rules governing method and scope
These ensure comparability and quality.
Summary
An EPD is a fact-based, verified, and internationally accepted way of reporting a product's environmental impact. It is neither marketing nor eco-labeling—rather, it is a basis for decision-making used by customers, purchasers, and authorities.
👉 Want to understand why more and more companies need EPDs? Read the next article: Why do companies need EPDs?