In May, the Eco Platform Board Meeting took place in Brussels. During the meeting some technical issues were examined, aimed at harmonizing the EPD verification methods (both single and generated by the LCA-tool), and evaluated the strategy to be adopted for the coming years.
The latter is mainly based on the advantages of EPD digitization. This process represents an important innovation that EPDItaly is working on, to provide companies that have the EPDs published on www.epditaly.it the opportunity to share environmental data in a machine-readable format. The advantages of digitization are also evident in the design process of a building, during which the designer can already draw on the values of the indicators of the impacts of a product. In addition to the technical characteristics, it can therefore immediately have available also the environmental ones deriving from an EPD.
During the meeting, one of the topics discussed was the spread of Eco Epd.
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.
It must be said that in the construction sector alone there are more than 5,000 EPDs published. Also EPDItaly, Italian Program Operator, has increased the number of published EPDs. To date there are more than 50 published EPDs.
In fact, the use of new EPD generation tools, such as the LCA-TOOL, and the thrust of the Minimum Environmental Criteria Decree, the last year saw producers meet the needs of public procurement with a day by day production process day that adapts to the needs of the market, increasing the number of EPDs issued.
EPDItaly technicians are available to illustrate the advantages of digitalisation and the use of a powerful tool such as LCA-TOOL, to enhance their products and investments in the field of sustainability.