Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) have become increasingly important in the construction industry, due to both legislative initiatives from Public Administrations and public and private purchasing requirements
EPD's are a communication and transparency tool for building material manufacturers, which AENOR publishes in the GlobalEPD Programme.
This programme employs the .Environmental product declarations. Core rules for the product category of construction products, published by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), for verification of EPD of construction products and services.
EPD are quoted in legal texts such as European Regulation 305/2011 on construction products, or Royal Decree 187/2011, regarding the establishment of ecodesign requirements applicable to energy-related products, as transposed in Directive 2009/125/EC.
The PCR establishes the conditions for the CE mark of building products according to some basic requirements that the works must meet, including the BR 3 hygiene, health and environment; BR 6 energy economy and heat retention and BR 7 sustainable use of natural resources.
The EPDs are cited explicitly in recital 56 of the Regulation (EU) 305/2011 on construction products, which establishes: "For the assessment of the sustainable use of resources and of the impact of construction works on the environment Environmental Product Declarations should be used when available."
The Technical Building Code is the normative and statutory framework that sets out the requirements regarding basic safety and habitability with which buildings must comply, established under the Law on Building Planning (LOE). The General Registration CTE allows for inclusion of environmental certifications, as indicated in article 2 Organisation of Order VIV/1744/2008:
2. In the General Register of CTE, in accordance with the provisions in article 4 of the CTE, the following will be entered: c.3 The environmental certifications analysing the life-cycle of products and other environmental evaluations of buildings.
2. In the General Register of CTE, in accordance with the provisions in article 4 of the CTE, the following will be entered:
c.3 The environmental certifications analysing the life-cycle of products and other environmental evaluations of buildings.
This register included environmental certifications for the first time in September 2015 the GlobalEPD declarations verified by AENOR for long steel products and cement.
In the private sector, EPDs are recognised in building certification schemes that are widely disseminated, such as the American scheme LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design), the British scheme BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) or the Spanish scheme VERDE.
The information contained in the EPDs is also used in the life-cycle analyses (LCA) of buildings that require these types of environmental seals.
The product category rules (PCR) used in construction in Europe are based on , developed in CEN/TC 350 on sustainable construction, which are developed in the Technical Standardisation Committee corresponding to each family of products, or in Programmes such asGlobalEPD.
Several product families have developed their own PCR as a European Standard, such as: EN 16485 for sawn timber and round timber, EN 16783 for thermal insulation, EN 16908 for cement and lime and EN 16757 for concrete and concrete elements.
The PCR developed by AENOR's GlobalEPD Programme can be found in the industry panel correspondiente.
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International agreements
Mutual Recognition Agreements with the main EPD verification programmes
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ECO Platform
AENOR is a founding member of the European Association ECO Platform and is authorised to issue Environmental Declarations with the ECO Platform EPD EN 15804 VERIFIED™
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