“At Norra Timber we take a positive view of everything that contributes to a better understanding of the climate impact of timber products. It becomes easier for our customers to choose sustainably, and it gives us extra motivation to streamline and improve our processes,” says Patrik Rådin, Product Specialist at Norra Timber.
What is an EPD?
An EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) is a third-party verified environmental declaration that describes how a product impacts the environment throughout its entire life cycle. It includes everything from raw material extraction and manufacturing to transportation and waste management.
Since the introduction of the European standard EN 15804 in 2012, it has become important to declare the environmental impact of all building materials – especially timber products. Architects, developers and contractors increasingly demand detailed environmental data in order to comply with certifications such as the Nordic Ecolabel, LEED and BREEAM.
“EPDs make it easier to compare different products in a fair way, which is a great advantage for both customers and producers,” says Patrik Rådin.
In the past many producers have used general EPDs developed by Svenskt Trä, but customers increasingly expect every company to create product-specific environmental declarations in order to stand out from the crowd.
“Developing an EPD is both time and resource intensive, as we have to include everything from forestry resource utilization to sawmill processes and transport. But it is also an important step towards creating greater transparency and comparability,” says Patrik Rådin.
Norra Timber has been working intensively for some time to complete its own EPDs for both its sawn and planed timber products. Next up is impregnated and painted timber.
“Soon our customers will have access to detailed and quality-assured information about the climate impact of most of our products,” says Patrik Rådin.
Digital Product Passports are the future
In addition to EPDs, Digital Product Passports (DPPs) are poised to become the next big thing in the timber industry. These passports, which the EU plans to introduce guidelines for within a few years, will gather all the information about a product’s environmental performance and material content into a digital database.
“Digital Product Passports will provide even better opportunities to track the impact of products and open up more circular business models. It is a very exciting area where we see great potential to contribute to climate-positive construction,” says Patrik Rådin.
