How is an EPD created?

• Where? EPD platform
• Who? Project participants
• How? The EPD process
• Costs
• EPD automation: LCA and EPD tools

Note:

• To participate in the IBU EPD programme, you currently need to be a member of IBU.
• To create an EPD and calculate the life cycle assessment, you will usually need an external life cycle assessment service provider (LCA practioner).
• IBU does not provide any life cycle assessment services or content-related consultancy in this regard.

Our FAQs provide a brief and concise answer to the most frequently asked questions about EPDs.

This makes your EPD data machine-readable and all parties involved have constant access to the latest data.

The platform also ensures that all EPDs have a standardised layout.

All relevant basic documents are provided in the EPD-Online tool.

Registration and use are free of charge; only when the EPD is submitted for verification does a chargeable order arise for the IBU.

IBU’s EPD programme offers companies and associations the opportunity to create Environmental Product Declarations for their products.

The stakeholders involved are the manufacturer (and its LCA practitioners), IBU as the EPD programme operator with its Advisory Board, independent verifiers and the interested public. This ensures objectivity and transparency.

1. Product Category Rules (PCR): the basis for creating EPDs

Every EPD is based on the Product Category Rules (PCR).

PCR Part A contains general calculation rules for the life cycle assessment and applies to all products. PCR Part B specifies the requirements for the content to be declared for individual product groups.

• All current PCR documents are available on the EPD online platform after free registration.
• If there is no PCR Part B guidance text for your product group, the first step is to create one together with the IBU. The IBU office is the point of contact for this: verification@ibu-epd.com.

2. Data collection, life cycle assessment and EPD creation:

First, a life cycle assessment (LCA) must be carried out for your product and the required data must be collected. This can be done by the company itself or by an external life cycle assessment service provider. Our network of LCA practitioners lists companies that have already created EPDs for the IBU EPD programme. The costs and duration vary depending on the product and service provider.

Once the calculation is complete, the data is transferred to the EPD online platform and a background report is created. Once all the data is complete, the EPD can be submitted for official verification, for which a fee is charged.

3. Independent verification and publication:

After submission for verification, an independent verifier is assigned to the EPD project to check the EPD and background report for completeness, plausibility and consistency of the calculations and data in accordance with the principles of ISO 14025, EN 15804 and the IBU programme rules.
The duration of the verification process varies depending on the complexity of the product, the quality of the data and the necessary corrections; as a rule, several weeks should be planned.

The verifiers are not allowed to offer any consulting services and the verification process will be terminated if the quality is insufficient.

After successful verification and a final approval process by the IBU, the EPD is published as a PDF and XML data set. It is valid for five years, after which an update is required.

All EPDs already published by the IBU are available:

• as a PDF for download: published EPDs
• as an XML file for digital use: IBU.data

Membership fee and EPD fees:

1. A Membership at IBU is required to participate in the EPD programme. The annual membership fee is based on the applicant’s turnover and is regulated in the membership dues regulation.
2. The costs for the verification and publication of the EPD in the IBU can be found in the fee schedule. They are divided into two parts:
   • one-off costs for verification and processing: €2,000 per EPD
   • an annual fee for the trade mark, which is graded according to the number of EPDs (€960 to €120)

If several EPDs are submitted at the same time and with the same background report, the office may set lower costs for the verification of further EPDs on a case-by-case basis.

The relevant documents can be found via membership.

In addition to the classic EPD creation, the IBU also offers the verification of software tools for EPD creation.

If you are interested in a tool solution, please contact us directly.

LCA Tool

LCA tools are partially automated and require manual data input of the inputs and outputs of the product system for EPD generation. After the automated calculation of the EPD environmental indicators by the tool, these and other product-specific information must be transferred by the tool operator to the EPD form of the IBU EPD platform. Each EPD generated in this way is subject to an individual, simplified verification.

EPD Tool

EPD tools generate EPDs fully automatically and independently of the IBU EPD platform. Typically, product-specific data (e.g. material lists) that is already available in a company’s software system, or product configurators, is linked to relevant life cycle assessment data.
The verified evaluation system of the EPD tool calculates the results of the EPD environmental indicators, which are automatically entered into a defined EPD form together with other required product-relevant information. EPDs created with an EPD tool by the tool operator no longer require individual verification before publication.