Overview
An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) report tells the life cycle story of a product in a single, comprehensive report. The EPD provides information about a product’s impact upon the environment, such as global warming potential, smog creation, ozone depletion and water pollution. An EPD from UL can also include other product impacts, such as land use changes, potential toxicity risks or corporate environmental initiatives that are of particular interest to the discloser.
EPDs do not rank products, and the existence of an EPD for a product does not indicate that environmental performance criteria have been met. EPDs are a disclosure tool that helps purchasers better understand a product’s sustainable qualities and environmental repercussions, so they can make more informed product selections.
Benefits
EPDs can be developed after a product life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted and are based on applicable product category rules (PCRs).
As an EPD program operator, we help manufacturers create or locate PCRs. We then certify that all the information in a manufacturer’s LCA and finished EPD is accurate. We also provide Transparency Summary documents to make key information included in the EPD more assessable.
EPDs can be developed after an LCA is conducted and are based on applicable PCRs.
Why UL
UL is a global leader in PCR creation and EPD certification. Our Transparency Summaries provide an easily digestible overview of the EPD. This helps enable buyers, and building specifications and purchasing organizations, to quickly review the content and utilize it in their projects. With more than a century of trusted product certification experience, you can rest assured that the information in your EPD report from UL has been thoroughly investigated and Verified to meet our scientific criteria.
