Improving the Data and Disclosure of the Environmental Impact of Building Materials

This guide by RMI explains the role of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) as 'nutrition labels' for building materials, detailing how they report life-cycle assessment (LCA) data to track embodied carbon. It outlines the current limitations of EPD standardization and proposes a vision for 'ideal' EPDs based on rigorous Product Category Rules (PCRs) to ensure fair and competitive carbon reduction policies.

• Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are independently verified documents based on life-cycle assessments (LCAs) that report various environmental impacts of building materials, most notably Global Warming Potential (GWP) expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent units (CO2e). They are used by building professionals to compare functionally equivalent products and by policymakers to implement 'Buy Clean' procurement policies, which set GWP thresholds for material suppliers.
• The development of EPDs is governed by Product Category Rules (PCRs), which define the LCA scope, system boundaries, and reporting requirements for specific material categories like structural steel and ready-mix concrete. To maintain relevance, ISO standards require PCRs to involve diverse stakeholders, include public review, and be updated every 3–5 years.
• RMI defines an 'ideal' EPD as one that minimizes uncertainty through harmonized universal background datasets and high data specificity. Specifically, PCRs should require facility-specific data rather than averages across multiple sites, supply-chain-specific primary data for significant upstream processes, and separate reporting for products with significantly different GWP per declared unit.
• Several barriers currently hinder EPD standardization, including prohibitive up-front costs for small businesses, a lack of a universal public database leading to inconsistent proprietary data, and a shortage of industry-wide EPDs for certain products. To mitigate these until standardization is achieved, RMI suggests requiring uncertainty calculations and standardized reporting of data specificity levels.
• Efforts to improve EPD quality are being supported by government funding and industry initiatives. The US Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 funds an EPD Assistance Program and an EPA 'eco-labeling' system. Additionally, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) has established a certification program, and the United Nations' Clean Energy Ministerial Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative is working to identify limitations in current PCRs.

APA

RMI (2023). Improving the Data and Disclosure of the Environmental Impact of Building Materials. https://rmi.org/resources/improving-the-data-and-disclosure-of-the-environmental-impact-of-building-materials/

Chicago

RMI. Improving the Data and Disclosure of the Environmental Impact of Building Materials. 2023. https://rmi.org/resources/improving-the-data-and-disclosure-of-the-environmental-impact-of-building-materials/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Improving the Data and Disclosure of the Environmental Impact of Building Materials |date=4 October 2023 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/improving-the-data-and-disclosure-of-the-environmental-impact-of-building-materials/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2023improving, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Improving the Data and Disclosure of the Environmental Impact of Building Materials}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2023}, month = oct, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/improving-the-data-and-disclosure-of-the-environmental-impact-of-building-materials/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }