Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) are Type III environmental declarations, according to ISO 14025 (2006). They are a type of life cycle assessment conducted using a defined set of Product Category Rules (PCR) that define how life cycle impact data is collected, validated, and reported. EN 15804 defines the product category rules for EPDs of building and construction products.
In 2019, a new version of EN 15804 was introduced: EN 15804 + A2.
In 2022, the +A2 standard became mandatory for all new EPDs.
In this article, we highlight the updates in EN 15804 + A2.
Jump to the following sections in this post:
- What’s new?
- What does this mean?
- How is eTool dealing with this?
- What if my LCA includes EPDs to both the +A1 and +A2 standards?
- What is the ISC doing about this?
- What are the GBCA (Green Star) doing about this?
What’s new?
Several things have changed under the +A2 version, including:
1) More Modules Reported
Previously only module A was mandatory for reporting (with one exception), but under the +A2 version, reporting of end-of-life impacts in modules C1-C4 and end-of-life benefits in module D is now mandatory (with minor exceptions).
2) More Indicators Must be Reported
Under the previous (+A1) version of EN 15804, there were 7 reportable environmental impact categories plus an additional 17 reporting categories covering resource use, waste generation and output flows.
Under EN 15804 +A2 there are 13 mandatory environmental impact categories reportable, plus 6 optional reporting categories related to human health and land use. The differences are summarised in Table 1, below.
Table 1. Reporting Category Comparison for +A1 and +A2 versions of EN15804
EN15804 +A1 |
EN15804 +A2 |
|
Environmental Impact Categories |
Mandatory Indicators |
|
Global Warming Potential |
Global Warming Potential – Total |
|
Ozone Depletion |
Global Warming Potential – Fossil |
|
Photochemical Ozone Formation |
Global Warming Potential – Biogenic |
|
Acidification |
Global Warming Potential – Land Use and Land Use Change |
|
Eutrophication |
Ozone Depletion |
|
Abiotic Resource Depletion (Elements) |
Acidification |
|
Abiotic Resource Depletion (Fossil Fuels) |
Eutrophication – Aquatic Freshwater |
| Resource Use Indicators | Eutrophication – Aquatic Marine |
| PERE | Eutrophication – Terrestrial |
| PERM | Photochemical Ozone Formation |
| PERT | Abiotic Resource Depletion (Minerals and Metals) |
| PENRE | Abiotic Resource Depletion (Fossil Fuels) |
| PENRM | Water Use |
| PENRT | Optional Reporting Categories |
| SM | Particulate Matter Emissions |
| RSF | Ionizing Radiation, Human Health |
| NRSF | Eco-Toxicity |
| FW | Human Toxicity, Cancer Effects |
| HWD | Human Toxicity, Non-Cancer Effects |
| NHWD | Land Use Related Impacts/Soil Quality |
| RWD | |
| CRU | |
| MFR | |
| MER | |
| EEE | |
| EET |
3) Notable changes include:
- Global Warming Potential (GWP) is now split into 3 categories:
- GWP Fossil
- GWP Biogenic
- GWP Land Use and Land Use Change.
GWP Total is the sum of these 3 GWP categories.
- Eutrophication (EP) is also split into 3 categories:
- Eutrophication Aquatic Freshwater
- Eutrophication Aquatic Marine
- Eutrophication Terrestrial.
4) New units for some indicators
Along with the changes to the reporting indicators, some indicators have also changed the units of reporting. This change has been made to better align EPDs with the European Commission’s new ‘Product Environmental Footprint’ (PEF) methodology/standard. The changes are summarised in Table 2, below.
Table 2. Category Reporting Units Changes from +A1 to +A2
| Indicator | EN15804 +A1 Units | EN15804 +A2 Units |
|
Photochemical Ozone Formation |
kg C2H4e |
kg NMVOCe |
|
Eutrophication |
kg PO43-e |
|
|
Eutrophication – Aquatic Freshwater |
|
kg PO4e |
|
Eutrophication – Aquatic Marine |
|
kg Ne |
|
Eutrophication – Terrestrial |
|
Mol Ne |
|
Acidification |
kg SO2e |
Mol H+e |
5) Biogenic Carbon Reporting
EN15804+A2 is putting more emphasis on reporting of biogenic carbon. Under the new version of the standard biogenic carbon in both the product, and its packaging must be reported separately.
What does this mean?
The changes in the PCRs, the new reporting categories, and the changed reporting units mean that EPDs created under the +A1 standard are not generally comparable to EPDs created under the +A2 standard. One exception is GWP-GHG, which under PCR 2019:14 (used for EN15804 +A2) is the same GWP indicator used in EN15804 +A1.
For whole building LCAs – depending on the purpose of the study – it may not be advisable to include EPDs to both the +A1 standard and +A2 standard in the same assessment.
How is eTool dealing with this?
First of all, eTool will allow EPDs created according to both the +A1 standard and +A2 standard to be entered into the EPD library. The additional GWP indicators have been available in eTool for some time, and the other indicators are to be added. Indicators that have changed reporting units will appear twice.
New LCI datasets will include all of the +A2 reporting categories and units. The +A1 reporting categories (and units) will remain available for at least as long as +A1 EPDs are still valid (up to 5 years from the end of 2022 when the +A2 standard became mandatory).
Functionally, +A1 and +A2 EPDs can be added into any building or infrastructure LCA in eTool.
What if my LCA includes EPDs to both the +A1 and +A2 standards?
As noted under ‘what does this mean?’, including both +A1 and +A2 EPDs in the same study can mean those materials are not directly comparable. If one intention of your study is to specifically assess environmental impact in one of the categories affected by the new +A2 standard, then mixing of +A1 and +A2 EPDs is not advisable. If your intent is to only assess GWP, or if minor changes in some indicators is not likely to materially affect the outcome of your study then eTool suggests using a proxy material or product to fill the data gaps. Select the closest material or product in the default database to use as a proxy, or (if no appropriate material exists) use an EPD from a very similar material or product. Add in impacts for at least the core indicators under the +A1 standard and the mandatory indicators under the +A2 standard.
eTool plans to introduce a feature to automate using a similar material to act as a proxy for any missing indicators. The idea is that the software would automatically detect whether there are any data gaps for certain indicators and/or modules and allow software users to select a proxy material (or EPD) to fill those gaps. For now this process will need to be done manually.
What is the ISC doing about this?
Because life cycle impacts are aggregated into Enviropoints (through normalisation and weighting) in the ISC scheme, the change in indicators, PCRs and units has significant implications. Normalisation factors for +A1 indicators are not appropriate for +A2 indicators. ISC is still determining the best way to incorporate EN15804 +A2 EPDs under the Mat-1 and RSO-6 credits. We expect them to release interim guidance on this soon.
What are the GBCA (Green Star) doing about this?
The GBCA have not published any guidance on how they intend to handle +A2 EPDs under the Green Star Upfront Carbon or LCA credits. Currently +A2 EPDs cannot be used in Green Star assessments. The GBCA provided this feedback to us: “The GBCA will review the reporting of the Life Cycle Assessment impact categories and units for future versions of the tools in alignment with the transition phase of the standard.”.
