The choice of sustainable products is increasing

In the construction sector alone there are more than 5,000 EPDs published. Also for EPDItaly, the Italian Program Operator active since 2015, the number of EPDs published has grown. To date there are more than 60 published EPDs.

In Europe there are 740 EPDs with the Eco Epd logo, a positive trend that highlights the added value of the Eco Epd brand which, when affixed to the Environmental Product Declaration, highlights its compliance with the requirements of the EN 15804 standard “Building sustainability – Environmental declarations of product – Key development rules by product category ”, and makes its recognition easier by other countries, whose Program Operators belong to the Eco Platform circuit.

The use of new EPD generation tools, such as the LCA Tool, driven by the Decree on Minimum Environmental Criteria, has led manufacturers in the last year to meet the needs of public procurement with a day-by-day production process that is suitable for market needs, increasing the number of EPDs issued.

At Remtech an event that rewards the most sustainable companies

As part of Remtech, the permanent international event specializing in reclamation, environmental and natural risks, safety, maintenance, redevelopment, regeneration of the territory, climate change and circular economy, within the “EPDItaly: an Italian project to enhance the sustainable products ”the work of EPDItaly and the opportunities offered by the Italian Program Operator were presented.

The aim of the meeting was to highlight the advantages in terms of image and marketing for those who decide to certify their products using the EPD, through the voices of the protagonists: from those who created it to those who chose and supported it. Alongside the Program Operator, Emanuela Scimia, Managing Director of Thinkstep Italia, intervened and illustrated how to best benefit from the potential of the EPD: those who ignore this instrument risk not only falling behind competitors, but also being excluded from public procurement and from green building projects. Instead, those who choose the EPD have the opportunity not only to differentiate themselves from the competition and to value their brand towards consumers and customers, but also improve their efficiency both in the manufacturing process and in the design of their products.

During the conference the numerous advantages deriving from the certification for the producers emerged: first of all the fact that they have a powerful communication and marketing tool at their disposal. In addition, with EPD it is possible to predict and plan both the useful life of the product and its final destination and through EPDItaly and its mutual recognition agreements you have access to the databases of other countries, from which the designers can draw to choose the products.

The experience of Buzzi Unicem – Unical was also presented by Stefano Rossi of Life Cycle Engineering, with a focus on strategy and tools for green products. The company wanted an LCA Tool for the preparation of its own EPD; a tool that allows the company not only to independently monitor the environmental impacts of the products, for the purpose of an annual verification of the data declared in the EPD, but also to quickly draw up an EPD for each specific product or at the request of the clients, or to carry out appropriate evaluations on the impacts of new mixtures.