What are the requirements for an EPD?
Requirements for EPDs are defined in ISO 14025 Environmental labels and declarations — Type III environmental declarations — Principles and procedures. It sets requirements for the Program Operator (that’s us) to create General Programme Instructions (GPI) and Product Category Rules (PCR). You can read ours here:
The most important requirement for EPDs is that they must be third-party verified for LCA (life-cycle assessment), LCI (life-cycle inventory), and the information it contains. This ensures the accuracy and reliability of the EPD and that it conforms to the requirements of the relevant PCR.
Third-party verification for EPDs
ISO 14025 requires the verifier to be an independent person or body, without conflicts of interest resulting from their position. At EPD Hub we ensure the complete independence of verifiers by being the sole verification body. We use our approved in-house verifiers or consultants for the work involved but retain responsibility as EPD Hub Limited.
This means that your submitted EPD and background data will be inspected by a verifier we appoint. They will review your submission, and for any issues identified will create a verification dialogue report, to which you will be given opportunity to respond. The verification dialogue is automated on EPD Hub platform. You will also directly receive the verifier’s feedback , which you can answer.
EPD Hub verifiers have access to your full digital background data, including LCI and LCA, in a machine-readable form. This omits the need for editing tedious background reports covering dozens of pages and enables the verifier to use automated tools to inspect your submission in more detail. As a customer, you will benefit from both faster and more efficient verification as well as less editorial time spent.
Once an EPD is published in EPD Hub, it remains public for five years without any maintenance fees (exceptions: project EPDs are valid 36 months and design phase EPDs are valid 18 months).
EPD Hub issues a verification statement for all the EPDs we have inspected. The statement outlines the content of the verification and brings clarity and transparency to the process. Verification statements can be found at the end of the EPDs, alongside the ‘Verified by EPD Hub’ logo, and is illustrated below.
