Environmental product declarations, or EPDs, provide transparent data on construction products to help designers choose building materials with lower environmental impacts. To ensure comparability across different products, the methodology to be used is set out by international standards such as the European standard for EPDs, EN 15804, and the complementary product category rules for concrete, EN 16757.
An EPD is based on a life cycle assessment (LCA) over the full product value chain using indicators for climate change and other less commonly used, but still important, environmental impacts. For each indicator, the construction product life cycle is broken down into stages and sub-stages: material extraction, manufacturing and construction (modules A1-5); use (B1-7); end of life of the building (C1-4); and finally, potential for recovery and reuse (D). The assessment and resulting EPD data must be independently verified by an accredited third-party.
EPDs are referenced in project-level carbon tools and assessments and are increasingly required to achieve green building certifications, and to drive lower-carbon public procurement. The UK concrete industry is committed to transparently disclosing the most accurate and up to date environmental information about its products. Importantly this should be done on a whole life basis to ensure fair comparison and avoid carbon emission savings upfront leading to higher carbon emissions over the full lifecycle of a building.
As part of our sustainability strategy, the concrete industry has been producing EPDs for close to a decade. The latest set of sector EPDs are in the process of being published. Sector EPDs draw on data from our membership and KPI data collections. Coverage varies from product to product but are representative of the majority of the UK market.
Sector EPDs for Cement
In 2022, MPA Cement published two new sector (previously referred to as generic) EPDs for cement, which align with the amended standard EN 15804:2012 + A2:2019.
The new MPA sector EPDs for CEM I and average Portland Cement cover 100% of all cement produced in the UK. The EPDs were created by modelling aggregated data from all MPA member cement manufacturing sites, using the GCCA EPD tool. They have been independently verified and published through the Environdec programme.
Sector EPD for ready-mixed concrete
In 2024 five new MPA sector EPDs for ready-mixed concrete were developed, updating the benchmark, but also to help designers understand and quantify the impacts of their mix design choices. They represent frequently specified mixes at strength class C28/35, based on representative mix designs for CEM I, CIIB-V+SR, CIIC-SL+SR, CIIIA+SR and CIIIB+SR. The EPDs cover the whole concrete life cycle: product manufacturing, construction, use, end of life, and recovery and reuse. Technically, this is described as cradle-to-gate, with additional modules A4-A5, B1, C1–C4, and D.
Each EPD uses the MPA UK average CEM I sector EPD for the CEM I component. Data for other raw materials (module A1) comes from the widely used Ecoinvent LCA database and verified EPDs. The transport of raw materials (A2), manufacturing of ready-mixed concrete (A3) and its transport to the construction site (A4) are based on data supplied by MPA members, averaged over their production sites. The later life cycle stages assume typical scenarios based on current practice. The construction (A5) and use (B1) stages are based on use of readymix concrete in the superstructure of a six-storey concrete frame building. The end-of-life (C) and recovery and reuse (D) stages are based on typical UK practice for demolition, recovery and reuse, as described by the National Federation of Demolition Contractors. This states that all superstructure concrete is recycled at end of life, with 95% being crushed and reused in groundworks on or off-site. Recarbonation of concrete is included in modules B1, C1, C3 and D. This collection of five EPDs highlights the range of options available to designers to specify lower carbon concretes, such as the new multi-component cements in BS 8500:2023.