Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)
Environmental product declarations, or EPDs, provide transparent data on construction products to help designers choose building materials with lower environmental impacts. To ensure comparability across different products, the methodology to be used is set out by international standards such as the European standard for EPDs, EN 15804, and the complementary product category rules for concrete, EN 16757. All EPDs must be independently verified by an accredited third-party verifier prior to registration and publication with an EPD programme operator.
An EPD is based on a life cycle assessment (LCA) over the full product value chain using indicators for climate change and other environmental impacts, as well as resource use. For each indicator, the construction product life cycle is broken down into stages and sub-stages: material extraction, manufacturing and construction (modules A1-5); use (B1-7); end of life of the building (C1 -4); and finally, potential for recovery and reuse (D).
EPDs are referenced in project-level carbon tools and assessments and are increasingly required to achieve green building certifications, and to drive lower-carbon public procurement.
All EPDs expire after five years. The underlying methodologies also undergo periodic review. Notably, the European standard for EPDs, EN 15804, was amended in 2019, introducing additional requirements and indicators.
Different kinds of EPD
The most accurate measure of as-built environmental impact is given by a manufacturer-specific EPD for production of a specific product or material at the plant from which it is supplied. However, this level of detail is not always available.
As an alternative, manufacturers may average data for a specific product over a number of their plants. They can also average data for different products produced at one or more plants to create an "average EPD".
Multiple manufacturers can pool their data to create a "collective EPD". Mineral Products Association (MPA),aggregates data from its members to create collective EPD's, this are known as "sector EPDs".
Sector EPDs have multiple benefits and uses. They set an industry baseline that is independently verified. They can be used by designers to inform early-stage design choices, before a specific product or manufacturer has been selected.
They enable individual manufacturers to benchmark the environmental performance of their own products. And, manufacturers without their own EPDs, who have provided MPA with appropriate manufacturing data, can reference them for procurement purposes.
Previously, sector association EPDs were often called "generic EPDs", but the guidance and terminology for different EPD and data types used in environmental assessment has recently been updated. The newEuropean data quality standard, EN 15941, says that this label should no longer be used.
Sector EPDs for Cement
In 2022, MPA Cement published two new sector (previously referred to as generic) EPDs for cement, which align with the amended standard EN 15804:2012 + A2:2019.
The new MPA sector EPDs for CEM I and average Portland Cement cover 100% of all cement producedin the UK. The EPDs were created by modelling aggregated data from all MPA member cementmanufacturing sites, using the GCCA EPD tool. They have been independently verified and publishedthrough the The International EPD System programme, operated by EPD International.
- MPA UK Average CEM I Sector EPD The Global Warming Potential (GWP), which measures the CO2 emissions, is 839.8 kg CO2e per tonne for UK Average CEM I
- MPA UK Average Portland Cement Sector EPD The Global Warming Potential (GWP), whichmeasures the CO2 emissions is 812.3 kg CO2e per tonne for the UK Average Portland Cement.
Both EPDs can be found in the EPD International Environdec Library and the Eco-Platform's Eco-Portal. Eco-Portal also includes machine readable versions.
Note: As cement is chemically bound into concrete, and cannot be physically separated, it is one of the few exceptions to the new EN 15804 requirement to assess product impacts over the whole life cycle. Instead,the EPDs only measure the impacts for the manufacturing stage up to when the cement leaves the factory (modules A1-A3).
Note: The GWP-fossil values reported in this EPD are based on 'gross' CO2e emissions, including combustion of both fossil and waste-derived fuels (also called 'alternative' or 'secondary' fuels). Some cement EPDs exclude the combustion of waste-derived fuels, and report GWP values based on 'net'CO2e emissions. This net data is available on the additional information tab of the EPD. When comparing EPDs, it is important to note that 'net' GWP values, which exclude CO2 emissions from the combustionof waste-derived fuels, will be lower than 'gross' GWP values which include them.
Note: If comparing cement EPDs for the UK to EPDs from other countries be aware that these are not directly comparable. In the UK, supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), such as fly ash or GGBS, are typically added after the cement has left the factory, at the concrete batching plant or precast factory.
Sector EPD for ready-mixed concrete
In 2018, the British Ready-Mixed Concrete Association (BRMCA) published its first EPD for UK manufactured ready-mixed concrete based on the average of all concrete mixes produced by MPA members. In 2024 five new MPA sector EPDs for ready-mixed concrete were developed, updating the benchmark, but also to help designers understand and quantify the impacts of their mix design choices.They represent frequently specified mixes at strength class C28/35, based on representative mix designsfor CEM I, CIIB-V+SR, CIIC-SL+SR, CIIIA+SR and CIIIB+SR. The EPDs cover the whole concrete lifecycle: product manufacturing, construction, use, end of life, and recovery and reuse. Technically, this is described as cradle-to-gate, with additional modules A4-A5, B1, C1 -C4, and D.
Each EPD uses the MPA UK average CEM I sector EPD for the CEM I component. Data for other raw materials (module A1) comes from the widely used Ecoinvent LCA database and verified EPDs. Thetransport of raw materials (A2), manufacturing of ready-mixed concrete (A3) and its transport to the construction site (A4) are based on data supplied by MPA members, averaged over their production sites.The later life cycle stages assume typical scenarios based on current practice. The construction (AS) anduse (B1) stages are based on use of readymix concrete in the superstructure of a six-storey concrete framebuilding. The end-of-life (C) and recovery and reuse (D) stages are based on typical UK practice for demolition, recovery and reuse, as described by the National Federation of Demolition Contractors. This states that all superstructure concrete is recycled at end of life, with 95% being crushed and reused in groundworks on or off-site. Recarbonation of concrete is included in modules B1, C1, C3 and D. Thiscollection of five EPDs highlights the range of options available to designers to specify lower carbon concretes, such as the new multi-component cements in BS 8500:2023.
A series of five sector EPDs from MPA for C28/35 ready-mixed concretes, based on representative concrete mix designs, specified in accordance with BS 8500-2 and BS EN 206 are linked below:
The 5 EPDs are published by EPD International. Machine-readable versions of these and the cementEPDs are also available on the Eco Platform Eco-Portal by searching for "Mineral Products Association" as the EPD owner.
Sector EPDs for precast concrete
MPA Precast and MPA Masonry (previously known as British Precast) were early adopters of EPDs andpublished 9 EPDs covering a wide range of precast products (see links below). In 2025, MPA Precast and MPA Masonry published six new sector EPDs, covering three different densities of concrete blocks, aircrete blocks, hollowcore flooring (200-225mm), and precast prestressed T-beams (150mm). MPA Precast is also working on five new sector EPDs for different types of precast concrete architectural cladding, in addition to sector EPDs for precast concrete crosswall and a sector-wide EPD for precast concrete (with and without reinforcement). All sector EPDs were developed using data representing well over 50% of production in the UK (100% in the case of aircrete blocks).
All MPA Precast and MPA Masonry new sector EPDs were developed using the One Click LCA tool. MPA has been working with One Click for well over three years to offer a platform for precast and masonry product manufacturers to generate their own products’ EPDs in accordance with EN 15804. All new EPDs are verified and published with the EPD International (Environdec) system or the EPD Hub scheme.
Old precast and masonry sector EPDs
The following EPDs have now expired and are in the process of being updated.