How to market an EPD so architects specify your product

Why EPDs now decide specifications

Architects and engineers increasingly choose products with verified environmental data. In One Click LCA's 2026 Carbon Experts Report, 90% of architecture, engineering and construction respondents said they prefer materials with Environmental Product Declarations, and 97% of construction professionals expect demand for EPDs to increase within three years.¹ A 2026 BIMobject survey of 1,012 building professionals found 72% use EPDs on most or many projects when selecting products.²

Supply has not caught up. The same One Click LCA study found only 22% of manufacturers have EPDs for more than half of their portfolio.¹ Both studies come from companies that sell EPD and product data services, so treat the exact percentages as directional. The direction is consistent: a manufacturer with a published EPD holds an advantage, and the work is making sure specifiers see it and understand it.

Public procurement points the same way. States including California, Colorado, Minnesota and Oregon have Buy Clean policies that use EPDs to procure construction materials with lower embodied emissions.³

What specifiers need from your EPD

An EPD is a verified technical document written for transparency and comparability, not persuasion. A specifier is usually answering one question: which product meets the project's carbon and performance requirements with the least risk?

They look for comparable, quantified data: a carbon figure benchmarked against a stated baseline.⁴ In practice that means the global warming potential (GWP-total, in kg CO2e) for the product stage, modules A1 to A3, per declared or functional unit, together with the standard the EPD follows (EN 15804+A2 or ISO 21930), the product category rules and the program operator.

A five-step method to market your EPD

1. 01

   Lead with the product-stage figure

   Open with GWP-total for modules A1 to A3 per declared unit, the EPD standard and the registration number. If your EPD declares further modules, say which ones, because a specifier modelling the whole building will need them.

2. 02

   Benchmark against a like-for-like baseline

   Compare against an industry-wide EPD or a published Buy Clean limit for the same product category, using the same declared unit, modules and product category rules. Name the baseline every time you make a comparison.

3. 03

   Show the building-level picture

   Give designers the figures they need to drop your product into a whole-building life cycle assessment, and where you can, show a worked example for a typical assembly. Building context is where construction product comparisons belong.⁵

4. 04

   Footnote every figure

   Link each number to the EPD section, table and page it came from, and include validity dates. Specifiers and sustainability consultants trust what they can check quickly.

5. 05

   Publish where specifiers already look

   Add the summary to spec sheets, product pages and BIM objects, list the EPD in databases specifiers search, such as Building Transparency's EC3, and bring it into continuing education presentations.

How to make EPD comparisons that hold up

EN 15804 states that a comparison of construction products using EPDs should be based on the product's use in, and impacts on, the building, and should consider the complete life cycle.⁵ ISO 14025 adds that comparable EPDs belong to the same product category and use identical or equivalent LCA rules.⁶

A direct product-to-product comparison is reasonable when the products are functionally equivalent and their EPDs share the same core standard, product category rules, declared unit and modules. When they differ in service life, installation or use-stage performance, make the comparison inside a building-level LCA instead.⁷

Under EN 15804+A2, global warming potential is reported as GWP-total with separate fossil, biogenic and land-use components. State which indicator you are quoting, especially for bio-based products, so the figure is read correctly.

Specific, measured claims also travel well across markets with green claims rules, including the EU's Empowering Consumers Directive and Canada's Competition Act. Our free Green Claims Checklist covers the main points.

One-page EPD summary checklist

• Product name, declared unit, EPD registration number and program operator
• Standard (EN 15804+A2 or ISO 21930) and product category rules
• GWP-total for modules A1 to A3, plus any further modules declared
• A named, like-for-like baseline and the comparison result
• A worked example in a typical assembly or building context
• Verification type and validity dates
• A link to the full EPD and a footnote for every figure

Frequently asked questions

What is EPD marketing?

EPD marketing turns the verified data in an Environmental Product Declaration into short, comparable materials that architects, specifiers and contractors can act on during product selection, with every figure traceable to the EPD.

Where should a manufacturer publish EPD information?

On product pages, spec sheets and BIM objects, in EPD databases such as EC3, and in continuing education sessions, so specifiers find it at the moment they choose products.

Can I compare my EPD with a competitor's?

Direct comparison is reasonable when both products are functionally equivalent and their EPDs follow the same core standard, product category rules, declared unit and modules. Otherwise, EN 15804 places the comparison in a building-level assessment that covers the complete life cycle.