Will EPD become mandatory in the near future?

The European Construction Products Regulation (CPR) is being updated – in December 2023, a provisional agreement on the CPR revisions has been reached by the European Parliament and European Council.

The CPR, which has been in place since 2011 (fully implemented since 2013), is responsible for setting the conditions for the technical performance of construction products on the European market. This includes the CE-marking standards (mandatory for many products, voluntary for some), which require the compilation of a declaration of performance (DoP). CPR was established to harmonise how the technical performance of construction products is reported, however, in 2022, a revision was proposed to also include some sustainability metrics. Following the December agreement, the revised CPR is expected to be published in March 2024. 🗓️

Among other things, the new CPR will require companies to declare the global warming potential (#GWP, in kgCO2eq 💨) of their products as a part of the DoP.

📌What does that mean?

This is a large push for companies to undertake #LCA, obtain EPDs and overall start perceiving sustainability as a key component of their product’s competitiveness.

Other indicators beyond GWP, modelled after the EN15804+A2 and the EPD System, are expected to be added gradually throughout the CPR’s grace period of 15 years.

📌Is this good enough?

Some organizations have criticised the CPR revisions as lacking ambition and specific guidance. 🛑

Only requiring the GWP to be declared does not preclude environmentally polluting products from being traded, which could enable the pollute-as-usual scenario. Additionally, since no other indicators will be mandatory anytime soon, this restricts the full overview of the environmental impacts of construction products. Finally, the long grace period does not accurately reflect the need for decarbonization in the construction sector and leaves too much space for industrial self-organization and vague interpretations of implementation requirements.

However, other EU legislations (such as the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, Green Public Procurement rules, Energy Performance of Buildings Directive) could strengthen the sustainability narrative. 💪

Within the EPD System, further harmonization and automation efforts are pursued, particularly through the ECO Platform of cooperating program operators.

The demand for EPDs is expected to increase with the mandatory reporting of LCA-based indicators and we at Xylo Sweden can help guide you on this journey.