Verified EPDs are deciding which products UK projects buy

“Supply chain decarbonisation is an essential part of the [net zero] journey, and we need to find ways to drive that demand to continue it.”

- Alistair Thomas, Associate Director and head of the UK LCA team at Buro Happold

Where the demand for product-specific data comes from

Four UK developments are converting product carbon data into a market requirement:

1. The RICS Whole Life Carbon Assessment standard v2, which underpins most UK carbon reporting, prioritises product-specific EPD data over generic values.

2. BREEAM Version 7 rewrote its Mat 01 issue to require embodied carbon reporting at concept, technical design, and post-construction stages, benchmarked against performance scales, with an exemplary credit for public data disclosure.

3. The UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard sets embodied carbon limits that push project teams towards the best-performing products they can evidence.

4. Trade policy adds a fourth driver. From January 1, 2027, the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) places a carbon price on imported iron, steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser, and hydrogen, with importers above a £50,000 annual threshold required to report embodied emissions. UK manufacturers exporting to the EU already face the EU’s own CBAM. In both directions, robust product-level emissions data is becoming a condition of trade.

Verification is the differentiator

Alistair Thomas was clear that the industry needs higher-quality data and well-defined standards for verification.

“There’s got to be specific evidence requirements for key elements. So for concrete, pour logs that are mapped to an EPD; for steel, mill certificates.”

- Alistair Thomas, Associate Director and head of the UK LCA team at Buro Happold

The growing demand for verified product data presents a commercial opportunity for manufacturers. A third-party verified EPD to BS EN 15804 gives specifiers data they can defend in planning submissions, BREEAM assessments, and net zero verification. Generic industry averages are typically conservative, but a manufacturer performing better than its sector average loses that advantage if they cannot prove it. Verification also protects buyers against a key risk Alistair Thomas highlighted from his own reviews: projects that win sustainability awards on carbon credentials that are not correctly calculated.

Without independent verification, a more thorough assessment often simply reports a higher number than a careless one, which rewards the wrong behaviour. And every miscalculated claim erodes confidence in carbon reporting itself; without confidence in the numbers, buyers will not act on them.

Innovation needs an evidence base

Novel low carbon materials do not always win a single-project comparison, and Alistair Thomas urged the industry to take a longer view: “If every project decision is optimised for the benefit of that single project alone, we never build the evidence base that we need.”

He cited calcined clay cements as a technology that may not outperform established cement replacements in one assessment today, yet forms part of the pathway to lower carbon concrete at scale. Manufacturers developing such products should publish verified performance data early. That is how new materials enter carbon databases, benchmarks, and, eventually, specifications.

What manufacturers should do now

1. Start with the products under the greatest specification pressure: structural materials, facades, and building services products all face growing data demands from RICS-based assessments.
2. Build a product-level emissions inventory that can serve EPD creation and CBAM reporting from the same primary data, so the work is done once.
3. Publish verified EPDs where demand is strongest, don’t keep environmental performance data as a pdf file in your desk.

Software such as One Click LCA’s EPD Generator creates pre-verified EPDs compliant with EN 15804 and ISO 14025, reducing the cost and time of getting products declared. Verified carbon data alone will not sell a poor product. Lacking this data, however, increasingly disqualifies a good one.

FAQ

What is an Environmental Product Declaration?

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is an independently verified document reporting a product’s environmental impacts across its life cycle, calculated in line with ISO 14025 and BS EN 15804. Manufacturers typically create EPDs with life cycle assessment software such as One Click LCA’s EPD Generator, which produces pre-verified declarations.

Are EPDs mandatory for construction products in the UK?

Not by law. Demand comes through project specifications, BREEAM Version 7, the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard, and buyer requirements, and the revised EU Construction Products Regulation will phase in mandatory declarations for products sold into the EU. One Click LCA supports compliant EPD creation for both markets.

How long does an EPD remain valid?

Typically five years. It must then be renewed, or updated sooner if the product or manufacturing process changes materially. One Click LCA stores the underlying life cycle model, so renewing an existing Environmental Product Declaration is much faster than creating one from scratch.

Does the UK CBAM require an EPD?

No. The UK CBAM requires embodied emissions data from importers of covered goods from January 2027. The same primary production data underpins EPDs, so manufacturers using One Click LCA can build one emissions inventory that serves both EPD creation and CBAM reporting.