Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)
Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) have become a key tool across the Nordic countries, supporting transparent, comparable, and verified environmental data for construction products and sustainable building design.
Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) have become a key tool across the Nordic countries for demonstrating the environmental impacts of construction products, and their importance continues to grow year by year. This development is clearly reflected in the field of acoustic products, as they form an essential part of the indoor environment and contribute to a building’s overall carbon footprint. Across the Nordics, EPDs are widely used to support low-carbon construction, environmentally certified projects, and transparent product comparisons, providing acoustic professionals with a concrete and reliable means of assessing the environmental performance of materials.
EPDs are based on life cycle assessment (LCA) and follow internationally recognised standards such as EN 15804 + A2 and ISO 14025. This makes them a credible and comparable way to describe a product’s environmental impacts throughout its life cycle—from raw material extraction and manufacturing to use, recycling, or final disposal. In the case of acoustic products, life cycle assessments involve specific considerations related to different fibre and panel materials, particularly regarding energy consumption, recyclability, and service life.
In the Nordic countries, EPD requirements are shaped by both national climate targets and EU-level regulations. Increasing regulation of building carbon footprints has made the provision of verified environmental data practically essential in many projects. At the same time, national EPD frameworks and international EPD registries provide a solid and transparent data foundation that is readily accessible to designers, developers, and contractors. Within building environmental certification schemes, EPDs are no longer merely an added benefit but are often a prerequisite—this applies equally to interior products such as acoustic solutions.
For acoustic products, EPDs place particular emphasis on material composition and recyclability. Products may be based on mineral wool, wood fibre, polyester fibre, or natural materials, and these material choices have a significant impact on the product’s carbon footprint. Indoor air quality is also closely linked to acoustic products, and while VOC emissions are not covered by EPDs themselves, they form important complementary information through classifications such as M1 or similar Nordic indoor air quality labels. Declared service life is another key factor, as it directly influences the climate impact results of the life cycle assessment.
Industry professionals play a crucial role in interpreting and applying EPD data. They must understand what the values presented in environmental declarations represent and how impacts differ between life cycle stages. Professionals are often required to compare products and assess how environmental performance relates to acoustic performance. High sound absorption does not necessarily imply a high environmental burden, nor does the most environmentally benign material always meet the required acoustic performance criteria.
In today’s market, EPDs represent a clear competitive advantage. They increase product transparency, support credible sustainability communication, and facilitate product approval in demanding projects. For designers, EPDs provide a practical tool for justifying material choices with increasing precision—not only from an acoustic perspective, but also in terms of environmental impact. Across the Nordic countries, EPDs have thus become an established part of the construction industry’s knowledge base, and their importance in acoustic products continues to grow as design increasingly prioritises both acoustic quality and environmental responsibility.
Sources
EN 15804 + A2:2019 – Sustainability of construction works – Environmental product declarations
ISO 14025:2006 – Environmental labels and declarations – Type III environmental declarations
National EPD programmes and building information foundations in the Nordic countries
Nordic ministries and authorities: guidance on low-carbon construction and carbon footprint assessment
EPDs are based on life cycle assessment (LCA) and follow internationally recognised standards such as EN 15804 + A2 and ISO 14025. This makes them a credible and comparable way to describe a product’s environmental impacts throughout its life cycle—from raw material extraction and manufacturing to use, recycling, or final disposal. In the case of acoustic products, life cycle assessments involve specific considerations related to different fibre and panel materials, particularly regarding energy consumption, recyclability, and service life.
In the Nordic countries, EPD requirements are shaped by both national climate targets and EU-level regulations. Increasing regulation of building carbon footprints has made the provision of verified environmental data practically essential in many projects. At the same time, national EPD frameworks and international EPD registries provide a solid and transparent data foundation that is readily accessible to designers, developers, and contractors. Within building environmental certification schemes, EPDs are no longer merely an added benefit but are often a prerequisite—this applies equally to interior products such as acoustic solutions.
For acoustic products, EPDs place particular emphasis on material composition and recyclability. Products may be based on mineral wool, wood fibre, polyester fibre, or natural materials, and these material choices have a significant impact on the product’s carbon footprint. Indoor air quality is also closely linked to acoustic products, and while VOC emissions are not covered by EPDs themselves, they form important complementary information through classifications such as M1 or similar Nordic indoor air quality labels. Declared service life is another key factor, as it directly influences the climate impact results of the life cycle assessment.
Industry professionals play a crucial role in interpreting and applying EPD data. They must understand what the values presented in environmental declarations represent and how impacts differ between life cycle stages. Professionals are often required to compare products and assess how environmental performance relates to acoustic performance. High sound absorption does not necessarily imply a high environmental burden, nor does the most environmentally benign material always meet the required acoustic performance criteria.
In today’s market, EPDs represent a clear competitive advantage. They increase product transparency, support credible sustainability communication, and facilitate product approval in demanding projects. For designers, EPDs provide a practical tool for justifying material choices with increasing precision—not only from an acoustic perspective, but also in terms of environmental impact. Across the Nordic countries, EPDs have thus become an established part of the construction industry’s knowledge base, and their importance in acoustic products continues to grow as design increasingly prioritises both acoustic quality and environmental responsibility.
Sources
EN 15804 + A2:2019 – Sustainability of construction works – Environmental product declarations
ISO 14025:2006 – Environmental labels and declarations – Type III environmental declarations
National EPD programmes and building information foundations in the Nordic countries
Nordic ministries and authorities: guidance on low-carbon construction and carbon footprint assessment