The European Union's new regulatory frameworks – the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)[¹] and the Construction Products Regulation (CPR)[²] – bring product sustainability and environmental impacts to the forefront.
Companies will be required to provide more precise and verified information on how their products impact the environment throughout their entire lifecycle. This makes Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) essential tools for anyone who wants to maintain their competitiveness and meet upcoming regulatory requirements.
Read our practical tips for creating an Environmental Product Declaration at the end.
The new standard for sustainable products: Ecodesign Regulation (ESPR)
The Ecodesign Regulation for sustainable products came into force in July 2024 and compared to the previous Ecodesign Directive, it now covers almost all physical products. The goals include improving products’:
- Circular economy features
- Energy and resource efficiency
- Repairability and recyclability
- Carbon footprint transparency.
A key part of the new ESPR regulation is the Digital Product Passport (DPP).
The product passport compiles essential information about the product and makes it easily accessible. It also includes information on the product’s environmental impacts based on the Life Cycle Assessment.
Environmental regulation of construction products is being updated
The EU’s new Construction Products Regulation (CPR) was updated in 2024 and came into force in January 2025. It requires manufacturers of construction products to report, among other things, the following environmental information about their products:
- The product’s carbon footprint, Global Warming Potential (GWP)
- The energy consumption of production
- By 2029, other environmental indicators according to the EN 15804 standard.
The digital product passport will also become a digital database for construction products, containing technical and environmental information about the product. The digital product passport will facilitate product traceability and enable customers to make more informed purchasing decisions.
Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Product Declaration – the backbone of environmental impact information for products
With the Construction Products Regulation, the Environmental Product Declaration is becoming a mandatory part of construction product information.
The environmental information presented with the product must be based on researched and verifiable data. For this purpose, a life cycle assessment is carried out, providing a comprehensive analysis of the product’s environmental impacts throughout its entire lifecycle.
The EPD is a standardized and third-party verified document based on this life cycle assessment, allowing reliable comparison of information between different products.
In summary, the Environmental Product Declaration for a construction product:
- Enables comparability and transparency of environmental information,
- supports market position and sustainability communication, and
- is essential for fulfilling the digital product passport and regulatory requirements.
Tips for a successful Environmental Product Declaration Project:
- Consider whether you need product-specific or product group-specific calculations
- Allocate time for data collection
- Contact an external verifier early in the process
- Consider the costs of preparing the EPD, its verification, and the publication costs defined by the EPD registry in your budget planning.
How can Nordic Impact help?
Nordic Impact’s proficient climate responsibility experts offer professional support in conducting life cycle assessments and preparing EPD documentation.
Contact us to ensure your company is ready to meet future sustainability challenges!
References
[1] European Commission. Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, ESPR.
[2] European Commission. Construction Products Regulation, CPR.