What is an EPD?

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a standardised, verified document that reports the environmental footprint of a product from the stage of raw materials extraction to the point it leaves the factory gate (and often beyond).

Environmental Product Declarations are based on the ISO 14025 standard and are developed using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies. They do not claim that a product is ‘green’, instead, they present verified environmental data, allowing users to make informed decisions.

Related Read: From Carbon to Environmental Product Declarations: The Last-Mile Challenge

The Building Block: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

It is important to understand what sits beneath it, the Life Cycle Assessment. An LCA quantifies the environmental impacts of a product across each stage of its life: raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, installation, use, maintenance, and finally, disposal or recycling. In other words, the LCA is the engine, and the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is the report card.

Why Are Environmental Product Declarations Becoming So Important?

The built environment is responsible for approximately 37% of global energy-related carbon emissions (Zhang et al., 2024; Zhong et al., 2021). With global building areas expected to double by 2060, there is mounting urgency to understand and reduce the environmental burden of building materials, and Environmental Product Declarations, which are one of the effective tools for achieving this.

And it is not just economics but momentum. In 2025, the International Environmental Product Declaration System (IES) surpassed 18,000 valid and registered Environmental Product Declarations, reflecting the growing global demand for transparent, credible, and verified environmental data across value chains indicating clear market shifts.

What Does an EPD or Environmental Product Declaration Contain?

Reading an EPD for the first time can feel like deciphering a technical manual.

A typical Environmental Product Declaration includes:

  • Product description: What the product is, its declared unit (e.g., per kg, per square metre), and its intended use 
  • System boundaries: Which life cycle stages are covered (cradle-to-gate, cradle-to-grave, etc.)
  • Environmental impact indicators: Global Warming Potential (GWP), which measures carbon emissions; Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP); Acidification Potential (AP); Eutrophication Potential (EP), etc.
  • Resource use and waste data, energy consumed, water used, and waste generated
  • Third-party verification details, who verified the data and when

The specific scope of an Environmental Product Declaration depends on the Product Category Rule (PCR). It defines the calculation methodology, declared unit, and reporting boundaries, ensuring EPDs for similar products remain comparable.

Related Read: EcoVadis Gold Rating: Why the Bar Keeps Rising and How to Achieve It

Types of EPDs

Not all EPDs are the same. There are broadly two types:

  1. Product-specific: EPDs are created for a single manufacturer’s product. It uses primary manufacturing data for a specific product, providing the most accurate environmental information.
  2. Industry-average: EPDs pool data from multiple manufacturers within a sector. It uses averaged data from multiple manufacturers and is useful during early-stage design when suppliers have not yet been selected.

EPDs and Green Building Certifications

For construction or real estate, EPDs have a very direct impact on the projects, particularly those seeking green building certification.

EPDs contribute significantly to green building certifications like LEED and BREEAM. LEED has raised its bar in recent years. LEED v5 was ratified by USGBC members on March 28, 2025, and centers decarbonisation, which elevates the role of product-level embodied carbon data in design and procurement. This means EPDs are no longer just a nice-to-have for LEED projects, but they are increasingly central to how projects score.

The Business Case for EPDs

EPDs aren’t only for architects and sustainability consultants. Manufacturers, developers, and procurement teams all have a vested interest.

For manufacturers, having an Environmental Product Declaration for product signals transparency and builds trust. It opens doors to public tenders and green procurement frameworks. Manufacturers benefit through increased transparency and improved access to green procurement opportunities.

For buyers, whether that is a developer for sourcing cladding or a government agency procuring road materials, Environmental Product Declarations provide the data needed to make informed, defensible decisions. By identifying which materials contribute most significantly to embodied carbon, teams can strategically choose sustainable alternatives and significantly lower the overall carbon footprint of building projects.

Governments, including the U.S. EPA, are increasingly incorporating EPDs into sustainable public procurement policies.

Common Misconceptions About EPD Reports, Clarified

“An Environmental Product Declaration means the product is eco-friendly.”

An EPD report is a neutral document. It reports environmental data without labelling a product as good or bad. A product with a high Global Warming Potential score still has an EPD report, it just reveals an area where improvement is needed.

“Environmental Product Declarations are only for the construction industry.”

While construction is the dominant sector, EPD reports are used across manufacturing, electronics, consumer goods, and more. The construction industry simply adopted them earliest and most visibly.

“All Environmental Product Declarations are the same.”

Given the different PCRs, declared units, and system boundaries, EPD reports can vary significantly in scope. Comparing two EPD reports without checking whether they’re built on the same rules is like comparing apples and oranges.

Related Read: Voluntary to Mandatory: ESG’s New Era in Hong Kong

What’s Next for EPD Reports?

The trajectory is clear: EPD reports are moving from optional to expected. Digital integration is changing the landscape. EPD data is increasingly being embedded into Building Information Modelling (BIM) software, making it possible for designers to assess embodied carbon impacts in real time as they specify materials, before a single brick is laid.

As databases expand and automation improves, the cost and time involved in producing EPD reports will continue to fall, making them more accessible for smaller manufacturers and regional suppliers.

Why Choose Ascentium India?

At Ascentium India, we provide end-to-end support to help organizations successfully develop and publish internationally recognized Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). Our team works closely with clients throughout the entire EPD journey, from conducting ISO 14040/14044-compliant Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and identifying the appropriate Product Category Rules (PCRs) to preparing robust EPD documentation that aligns with ISO 14025 requirements. To learn more about our services, please email us at in-info@ascentium.com or reach out to us via WhatsApp at (+91) 77380 66622.

Authored by:
Shreyash Khadse | Sustainability & ESG

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