Making EPDs count: Creating data for a greener future
Janneke Verkerk-Evers, Sustainability Lead for Permasteelisa Group in Europe, explores how Permasteelisa Group’s EPD approach is improving transparency and streamlining information flow for clients and other key stakeholders, driving better decision-making in the industry.
In recent years, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) have become a central tool in understanding and reducing environmental impact. In the EU, for high-profile projects, and projects aiming for LEED or BREEAM certification, EPDs play an essential role in allowing architects, engineers, and contractors to select low-carbon materials. As of this year, they are becoming increasingly mandated for all public-facing projects.
When it comes to sustainability, Permasteelisa Group works with some of the industry’s most ambitious architects and developers, and to this end, we have been producing EPDs for many years, and they form an embedded part of our data collection, and our data sharing. In this time, we have found that EPDs are not just a platform for improving transparency, but a way of enabling partnerships, and preparing for a greener future.
A joined-up picture
When it comes to producing EPDs for our clients, our approach rests on delivering clear and accessible information. Rather than passing contractual requirements down the supply chain and requesting individual declarations from each supplier we work with, we bring all relevant data together into a single, comprehensive report. This means we take full accountability for the environmental performance of the façade system as a whole – from design, procurement, and manufacturing, to logistics and installation, giving our partners a more realistic representation of environmental impact than a mixed set of supplier documents could offer.
Aligning with industry standards
Despite going beyond minimum reporting requirements, our EPD approach is fully aligned with established industry methodologies, including the CWCT embodied carbon framework. Our calculations follow recognised lifecycle assessment principles and reporting structures, ensuring that the data we provide can be directly understood and benchmarked by clients, consultants and other stakeholders.
Looking beyond the core lifecycle stages
While carbon emissions, particularly across lifecycle stages A1 – A5, remain a key focus for many EPDs, they do not give us the full story when it comes to environmental impact. Our EPDs are designed to capture a broader range of lifecycle stages, including early lifecycle analysis and end-of-life analysis. As the industry evolves, we expect these factors to play an increasingly important role in decision-making, and by embedding them into our assessments today, we hope to help clients to ensure readiness for future regulatory and industry developments.
Enabling better partnerships
A key aspect of our EPD approach is how it supports our supply chain. By taking responsibility for compiling and verifying environmental data, we reduce the administrative burden on our suppliers. This is particularly important for smaller, highly specialised partners who may not have the resources to produce standalone certifications.
This approach allows us to continue selecting the best supplier for each project, based on expertise, innovation and quality, rather than on their ability to produce documentation. It also protects our clients from unnecessary complexity, providing them with a single, clear and reliable source of information.
Driving better decision-making
The added information that goes into our EPDs means that they become a much more useful tool in terms of our own evaluation and R&D work. For example, our environmental reporting on bespoke façade systems has shown how different components contribute to overall carbon emissions, enabling us to carry out more targeted optimisation of our sustainability standards.
Preparing for a greener future
As sustainability ambitions and certifications continue to evolve, the industry will need to ensure that the data it shares remains meaningful, and reliable. By integrating supply chain data into a single and transparent framework, and building a more holistic picture around sustainability, our EPD approach promotes long-term value over short-term compliance, supports a diverse and responsible supply chain, and drives better decision-making, helping the industry move towards a greener built environment for the future.
To read more about how our façade designers and engineers are using early lifecycle analysis to drive sustainable decision-making, read more here.
Image: 8 Bishopsgate, photographed by Dirk Lindner