IBU offers the following types of EPD to ensure that the appropriate EPD is created for each application:

For individual companies

  • Project EPD
    – Declaration of a product from a company’s plant for a specific (construction) project (usually created with an EPD tool)
  • Specific EPD
    – Declaration of a specific product from a company’s plant
    – Declaration of a specific product from several plants of a company
  • Average EPD
    – Declaration of an average product from a plant of a company
    – Declaration of an average product from several plants of a company

For industry solutions (e.g. associations)

  • Specific EPD
    – Declaration of a specific product as the average of several manufacturing plants
  • Average EPD
    – Declaration of an average product as the average of several manufacturing plants
  • Worst case EPD
    – Declaration of the effects of a product on the basis of a manufacturer survey for a product group
  • Model EPD
    – For products with essentially the same material composition, the product with the greatest potential environmental impacts (worst case product) may be selected and declared as representative of any other product in the same class or group.
  • Individualization of manufacturer group declarations
    – Limited individualization. The declaration ownership remains with the association and is indicated in the EPD
    – Advanced customization of model EPDs (worst case EPDs) of a manufacturer group for a specific product under their own name

Verified tool solutions

  • LCA tools are partially automated and require manual data entry of the product system’s inputs and outputs to create an EPD. After the tool has automatically calculated the EPD environmental indicators, the tool operator must enter them and other product-specific information into the EPD form on the IBU EPD Platform. Each EPD generated in this way is subject to an individual, simplified verification.
  • 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, together with other required product-relevant information, are automatically entered into a defined EPD form. EPDs created by the tool operator using an EPD tool no longer require individual verification before publication