Environmental Product Declarations

In UK Construction, the term EPD is now short-hand for LCA (Life-cycle assessment) output compliant with EN 15804, the European standard which has been written to provide the rules for company and industry claims on environments credentials.

The driver for EN 15804 was the need for true comparison between manufacturers of the same product, but also between very different products. The need to compare apples with apples. To achieve this is a huge task and hence under EN 15804 are Product Category Rules (PCRs) which provide a further level of detail. EPDs can cover the whole life cycle of products: cradle to grave. In EN 15804 this is module A to C (and these have sub sets). When comparing EPDs designers must ensure that the EPDs they are using cover the same modules.

MPA Precast worked closely with Sustainability consultants thinkstep on developing a life cycle assessment tool for the purpose of producing verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) in accordance with BS EN 15804: 2012 +A1 (2013). The tool created is robust and accurate but also user friendly for manufacturers of any size. The tool has an extensive list of over 50 material inputs covering all the commonly used aggregates, cements, reinforcements and admixtures.

The tool has been externally verified by the Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V. (IBU) and a series of generic EPDs were published using the tool and data from product committee members. The following EPDs expired in July 2022:

• Aircrete Products Association (APA) - 1m³ Of Precast Aerated Concrete Blocks
• British Precast Drainage Association (BPDA) - 1m Of DN600 Precast Concrete Pipe With Class B Bedding
• Concrete Block Association (CBA) - 1m² Of Concrete Blocks
• Interpave - 1t Of Precast Concrete Paving Products
• Precast Flooring Federation (PFF) - 1m² Of 150mm Precast Concrete Hollowcore Flooring

The following EPDs are still current:

• British Precast Architectural and Structural (BPAS) - 1m² Of Single Leaf Precast Concrete Cladding
• British Precast Architectural and Structural (BPAS) - 1m² Of brick-faced Precast Concrete Cladding
• British Precast Architectural and Structural (BPAS) - 1m³ Of Precast Concrete Ground Beam
• Precast Flooring Federation (PFF) - 1m T-Beam

As part of MPA Precast’s on-going commitment to sustainability and transparency, we are partnering with OneClickLCA to generate new EPDs and are now encouraging members to generate their own; which is a work in progress.