Client demand for environmental product data is outstripping manufacturers' ability to provide it. Fortunately, a new approach is making Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) creation accessible for all.
Buildings and construction account for 25% of the UK's total greenhouse gas emissions, a quarter of which comes from new materials. Pressure is growing for the construction sector to reduce emissions. In response, developers are favouring products that transparently document their environmental footprint, via an EPD.
Unfortunately, the UK is falling behind Europe in terms of EPD availability. The parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee reported in May 2022 that British firms are losing business as developers choose European products with EPDs over UK equivalents without one. Fortunately, new approaches are making EPDs more accessible for all.
What is an EPD?
EPD is a document which transparently communicates the environmental performance of a product over its lifetime: from raw material extraction to end-of-life. EPDs support emission reduction by enabling architects, designers and specifiers to choose the most sustainable option for their project. They also enable manufacturers to market their carbon transparency.
The demand for EPDs has accelerated with the rise of legislation setting lifecycle carbon limits for buildings. National legislation is now in place in France, Sweden and Finland, while in the UK, the updated London Plan, mandates whole lifecycle carbon assessments for major developments within the capital. In practice, this means that project owners need to calculate the lifetime impact of every element of their project, from foundation to facade, via a building lifecycle assessment. As a result, they prioritise products with EPDs. EPDs also support green building credits and certification, for example within the industry leading schemes, LEED and BREEAM.
Driving down the costs and complexity of EPDs
EPDs have the potential to accelerate industry-wide embodied carbon reduction, but to do so the barriers to take up need to be reduced. One Click LCA, one of the world's most widely used construction LCA platforms, is driving down the costs of EPDs via a streamlined but fully verified process that slashes the cost and time involved in developing an EPD.
One Click LCA's Pre-verified EPD Generator offers an end-to-end EPD publishing solution, removing the need to co-ordinate complex third-party verification and publishing. It is designed for LCA and EPD newcomers to make EPDs accessible for all.
Supporting the rise of low carbon concrete
One Click LCA's new turnkey Concrete EPD Generator offers seamless EPD publishing, allowing users to create project or tender-based EPDs quickly and flexibly. Concrete is estimated to cause four gigatons of carbon emissions a year. Buyers know this and are looking for ways to reduce their impact. One Click LCA Concrete EPD Generator enables manufacturers to demonstrate their solution's decarbonisation potential at the click of a button.
For more information visit: www.oneclicklca.com/pre-verified-epd-generator and www.oneclicklca.com/concrete-epd-generator You can also speak to us at Futurebuild 2023 on Stand F50 and see a live demo.
Source: Offsite Magazine
