EPD vs PCF

Clear and transparent reporting is essential for businesses looking to demonstrate the environmental impact of their products and their operations. Two key tools for this are Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and Product Carbon Footprints (PCF). While both contribute to organisational sustainability goals, they serve different purposes and follow distinct methodologies. EPDs deliver standardised, third-party verified documentation that tracks multiple environmental impacts like energy use, water consumption and resource depletion. On the other hand, PCF assessments focus only on greenhouse gas emissions and measure them as carbon dioxide equivalents. They typically focus on the product lifecycle or operational emissions.

What is an Environmental Product Declaration?

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a standardised document that provides third-party verified, transparent information about the environmental impact of a product throughout its lifecycle. It follows internationally recognised standards, primarily ISO 14025 and EN 15804 (for construction products). A third party must verify them before publication to ensure credible and accurate analysis methodologies that follow the product category rules.

Key Characteristics of an EPD:

• Based on a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which evaluates environmental impact from raw material extraction to disposal.
• Governed by Product Category Rules (PCRs) that ensure consistency within product groups.
• Covers multiple environmental indicators, including carbon footprint, water use, acidification and resource depletion.
• Verified by third-part experts based on plausibility of data, completeness of assessment and consistency in methodology.
• Used for product comparisons, green building certifications (g., BREEAM, LEED and DGNB) and regulatory compliance.
• There are numerous product-specific standards that must be followed for EPDs, ensuring highly detailed reporting.
• Construction product EPDs report on 31 different environmental metrics, although at least five of these are typically zero. Scientists may include six supplementary indicators, examining elements such as particulate matter concentrations and human toxicity levels.

An EPD assessment is primarily used in industries such as construction, manufacturing and materials production, where transparency in environmental performance is prioritised. The UK Net Zero standard for the built environment and PAS 2080 demonstrate the increasing reliance on EPDs for carbon data in construction projects.

Read More: EPDs Explained | Tunley Environmental

What is a Product Carbon Footprint Assessment?

A product carbon footprint assessment measures the total greenhouse gas emissions associated with a product or service. It evaluates emissions from a product’s lifecycle, and can be varied in its scope, one example being from raw material extraction to disposal. It utilises the same underpinning lifecycle assessment standards ISO 14040 & ISO 14044.

The assessment converts Kyoto greenhouse gases over their 100-year timescales into carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) units to provide a standard measure of climate change. This assessment follows the additional methodologies outlined in ISO 14067.

Other types of Carbon Footprint assessments:

• Corporate Carbon Footprint: Measures emissions across a business’s operations, including Scope 1 (direct), Scope 2 (indirect, and Scope 3 (supply chain) emissions.
• Event or Service Carbon Footprint: Assesses emissions from events, services or processes.

Read More: What are Scope 1, 2, and 3 Emissions?

Differences between an EPD and a PCF Assessment

The main difference lies in their scope and coverage. EPDs provide a complete environmental assessment of a product, while PCF calculations focus only on greenhouse gas emissions of a product. EPDs ensure product comparability within the same category by applying more stringent guidelines. Although the sensitive data of the organisation stays private between them and the verifier, users will still find it credible.

Both assessment types require some form of verification. EPD verification ensures compliance with PCRs and relevant ISO standards while PCF verification improves accuracy and strengthens adherence to reporting frameworks.

Choosing Between an EPD and PCF

Some of the factors when deciding what assessment to go with includes:

Choose an EPD if:

• You manufacture construction materials or industrial products.
• Your clients require EPDs for procurement.
• Your clients aim to achieve green building certifications (BREEAM, LEED, DGNB).
• You want third-party verified sustainability claims.
• Your clients need data for whole lifecycle assessments as required under PAS 2080.

Choose a PCF if:

• You want to calculate, track and reduce GHG emissions from a product or service.
• Your supply chain wants to quantify purchased goods emissions for your products or services.
• Your business is working towards Net Zero or carbon neutrality.
• You want to assess carbon emissions more specifically and rapidly.
• You need insights for emission reduction strategies and process optimisation.

The Bottom Line

EPDs and PCF assessments play different roles. Time and resources play a big part in choosing between these methods. The biggest decider on whether an organisation will need to complete an EPD often comes down to industry, and the regulations within that industry. Whether your organisation produces a product, or whether there are pressures from clients or supply chains to complete an EPD assessment on your product. Construction companies, particularly in the European Union, now just need EPDs for public contracts. Norway and Belgium are great examples - Norway wants EPDs for major public projects, while Belgium requires them for any environmental marketing claims. On the other hand, PCF assessments are applicable to most organisations around the world who want/need to understand the carbon emissions from a specific product or service and work towards Net Zero; receiving third-party verification for their efforts. Tunley Environmental provides specialist consultancy for both EPD and PCF assessments.