EN15804+A1, the standard for construction product Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), was updated one year ago to a new version EN15804+A2, with the expectation that the standard for building level LCA EN15978 would also be updated shortly after. This has not happened yet meaning data produced for the revised version still can’t be used in building LCA.
How does this impact manufacturers like you?
If you want to see your product data integrated into building LCA, beyond just declaring the impact of your product, you should continue to also declare the impacts according to EN15804+A1. EPD Ireland facilitates this process, with our template featuring a dedicated section. The decision to publish data also in this format, in addition to EN15804+A2 datasets, lies with the manufacturer.
Why is this happening?
EN 15804+A2, the standard for construction product Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), has been in effect for a year now. It was revised from EN 15804+A1 in November 2019 due to a mandate from the European Commission. EPD Ireland immediately updated the Product Category Rules (PCR) and General Programme Instruction (GPI) to reflect the new mandatory requirements of the updated standards. Our Programme has been successfully producing +A2-compliant EPDs since September 2021.
Transitioning from EN 15804+A1 to EN 15804+A2 has been challenging because the two versions calculate environmental impacts differently.
You can have a look here at the main differences.
EN 15978 is the building LCA equivalent to 15804. A revision of EN 15978 which aligns the building LCA indicators to the EPD ones was circulated for enquiry by CEN in late 2021. However, it has not yet been approved.
In simple words, this means that the standard for Building LCA is not currently aligned with the standard for EPD as they use different impact indicators.
Green certifications which use EN 15978 standard for LCA calculations, don’t allow +A2 data. Some of the tools are frequently used to certify buildings in Ireland such as:
- Home Performance Index
- LEED v4.1
- BREEAM UK
- BREEAM International
If you have any questions, get in touch.