How an EPD Works: Turning Life Cycle Data Into Transparent Sustainability
Understanding the real impact of a product requires more than a sustainability claim, it needs measurable proof. That is exactly what an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) provides. An EPD turns complex life cycle data into verified facts, showing how a product affects the environment from raw materials to recycling.
As the demand for transparency grows, more architects, manufacturers, and clients rely on EPDs to guide responsible design choices. An EPD makes sustainability measurable, comparable, and credible allowing decisions based on data, not assumptions.
At Ecolution Design, this approach is at the heart of how we create our acoustic Pods. Each model comes with a third-party verified EPD, ensuring that every material choice and design decision is backed by clear environmental data.
This article explains how an EPD works from the first step of data collection to third-party verification and how this process helps make sustainable design both transparent and accountable.
From Life Cycle Assessment to Environmental Declaration
Every Environmental Product Declaration begins with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) the scientific foundation that measures the full environmental impact of a product. The goal of an LCA is to quantify how much energy, material, and emissions are involved in creating, using, and eventually recycling a product.
The process starts by mapping the entire life cycle of the product:
Extraction and sourcing of raw materials
Transport to production facilities
Manufacturing and assembly
Product use and maintenance
End-of-life recycling, reuse, or disposal
All this data is collected in what’s known as a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI). This inventory is then analyzed to calculate measurable impacts such as carbon footprint, energy consumption, water use, and waste generation.
Once the data is complete, the results are organized according to international standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 which ensure that every EPD follows the same scientific framework. The outcome is a transparent and consistent overview of a product’s environmental performance, ready for independent review.
At Ecolution Design, each EPD starts here. Our LCAs capture every step in a Pod’s journey from locally sourced materials and precision manufacturing to reusability and recyclability so the results reflect the full story of sustainability.
The Key Stages of an EPD
Once the life cycle data has been collected, the information is divided into standardized stages that represent every step in a product’s life. These stages are defined in EN 15804, the European framework that makes EPDs comparable across industries.
Each stage is grouped into modules labeled A through D:
A1–A3: Product Stage – Includes the extraction of raw materials, transport to production, and the manufacturing process itself.
A4–A5: Construction Stage – Covers transport to the installation site and the impacts during setup or assembly.
B: Use Stage – Reflects maintenance, cleaning, energy use, and potential repairs during the product’s lifetime.
C1–C4: End-of-Life Stage – Measures impacts from deconstruction, waste transport, processing, and final disposal.
D: Benefits and Loads Beyond the System Boundary – Captures the environmental benefits of recycling, reuse, or energy recovery after the product’s life.
This modular structure allows EPDs to clearly show where the greatest environmental impacts occur. For most furniture or building products, the A1–A3 phase raw material extraction and manufacturing contributes the largest share of total emissions.
At Ecolution Design, understanding these stages helps us take targeted action. By selecting materials with high recycled content, sourcing locally, and designing Pods for disassembly and reuse, we significantly lower the environmental load in both early and end-of-life stages.
Data Verification and Registration
An Environmental Product Declaration is only credible when its data is independently verified. After the Life Cycle Assessment and calculations are completed, the results are reviewed by an approved third-party verifier. This step ensures that every figure, method, and assumption meets the requirements of international standards.
Verification is carried out according to ISO 14025, which defines how environmental data must be validated and communicated. The verifier checks the LCA model, data quality, and alignment with the relevant Product Category Rules (PCRs) the rules that determine how similar products should be assessed.
Once verified, the EPD is registered and published within a recognized program such as:
ECO Platform – The European umbrella organization that harmonizes EPD verification.
MRPI (Milieu Relevante Product Informatie) – The official Dutch database for environmental product data.
EPD International – The global system for registering verified declarations across product categories.
Registration makes the EPD publicly accessible, allowing architects, contractors, and clients to compare verified environmental data directly.
For Ecolution Design, verification is more than a formality, it’s proof of accountability. Each EPD we publish has been reviewed by independent experts and listed in recognized databases. This transparency guarantees that our sustainability claims are measurable, trustworthy, and aligned with international standards.
Understanding the Results
Once an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is verified, the results are presented through environmental indicators , standardized metrics that quantify a product’s impact on the planet. These indicators turn complex life cycle data into clear, measurable values that can be compared across products.
The most common indicators include:
Global Warming Potential (GWP): Measures total CO₂ emissions across all life cycle stages.
Abiotic Depletion Potential (ADP-Fossil): Represents fossil fuel consumption.
Water deprivation potential (WDP): Measuring how much your product contributes to global water scarcity.
Use of Secondary Materials (SM): Shows how much recycled content is used in production.
Recycling Potential (MFR): Indicates how much of the product can be recycled at the end of its life.
Waste Disposed (WD): Quantifies the total waste generated across all life cycle stages.
These indicators are presented in tables inside the EPD, usually broken down per life cycle module (A–D). This structure makes it easy to see where the biggest environmental impacts occur, often already in the early material and production stages (A1–A3).
At Ecolution Design, these results guide our design improvements.
More than twice the reduction in CO₂ emissions than comparable products.
The highest share of secondary (recycled) materials used in production, due to our smart material choices.
A third less total waste generated across the entire product life cycle on average.
By using these measurable results, we continuously refine our designs to reduce environmental impact and support circular innovation.
Why the EPD Process Matters for Architects and Manufacturers
For architects, designers, and manufacturers, an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is much more than a technical document it’s a foundation for responsible decision-making. It provides verified data that helps professionals select products based on measurable environmental performance rather than assumptions or marketing claims.
EPDs make sustainability quantifiable and comparable, which is essential for:
Public procurement: Many tenders and construction projects now demand products with verified EPDs to meet sustainability targets.
Corporate transparency: EPDs support sustainability reporting and ESG goals by providing traceable, verifiable impact data.
For Ecolution Design, the EPD process influences how we design, source, and build every product. Our acoustic Pods are developed to perform efficiently throughout their life cycle from production to reuse. By focusing on local materials, modular construction, and high recycling potential, we minimize emissions while maintaining quality and comfort.
When clients choose a product with an EPD, they gain more than a workspace solution they choose measurable sustainability. Every verified number reflects a genuine commitment to reducing environmental impact, supported by transparent and credible data.
Verified Sustainability as the New Standard
The Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) represents the future of sustainability, defined by data, not declarations. As environmental transparency becomes essential in every industry, EPDs set the benchmark for how responsible products are measured and compared.
By transforming life cycle data into verified results, EPDs create a shared language between manufacturers, architects, and clients. They make it possible to choose products that align with both performance and environmental responsibility, ensuring sustainability is built on measurable proof rather than promises.
At Ecolution Design, EPDs are part of our foundation. Every Pod we create is supported by verified life cycle data, demonstrating our commitment to lower CO₂ emissions, high reused content, and transparent production practices. This approach allows our partners to design and build with confidence knowing that every detail contributes to a more sustainable workspace.
EPDs are more than documents; they are instruments of accountability. By embracing them, we turn sustainability into a measurable, comparable, and continual process of improvement that defines the next generation of thoughtful, responsible design.
