Briefing Papers

Environmental Product Declarations and Embodied Carbon: How do EPD account for embodied carbon?

Environmental Product Declarations and Embodied Carbon: How do EPD account for embodied carbon?

Information about the embodied carbon of a construction product can be found in an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD); indeed an EPD is the principal source of embodied carbon information about a construction product. The data from an EPD is used in building level assessment often called Whole Life Carbon Assessment (WLCA) which measures embodied and operational carbon of a structure. Architects, designers and others are beginning to realise they must carry out Whole Life Carbon Assessments (WLCA) of buildings and structures if we are to reach net zero targets. The information they require about the embodied carbon of construction products comes from an EPD.