The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology is becoming increasingly prevalent in the quantification of the environmental status in the building sector following new legislative frameworks. Countries need to quantify and assess their environmental impacts as a previous step to regulation and decision-making. In this context, based on a consensus with manufacturers, standardized national data sets are being developed, referred to as sectoral environmental product declarations (EPDs). This study assesses these EPDs with the aim of providing relevant information for global decision-making, focusing on their consistency and shortcomings. An assessment was carried out at both the national level, considering all sectoral EPDs and declared products, and at the international level, with three common building materials (brick, steel, and concrete). The results highlight the lack of traceability in the development and assessment of uncertainty, resulting in substantial discrepancies in reported impacts, especially in the later stages of the life cycle (up to 90% difference). Meanwhile, impacts such as global warming potential or total renewable and non-renewable primary energy use show homogeneous values in the cradle-to-gate stages, with differences generally being under 10%. The analysis of sectoral EPDs should act as a guideline for designing buildings with environmental sustainability criteria, as the last section of this study attempts to highlight.

The construction sector is achieving its goal of decarbonization. Bioproducts are known to reduce the environmental footprint of the building process, but it is necessary that we determine their exact environmental value. However, assessing the environmental impact relating to buildings is challenging due to a lack of data. The objective of this study was to generate background datasets contextualized to Pinus sylvestrys, L. glulam manufacturing in Spain and apply those datasets to a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate both embodied energy (EE) and carbon (EC), as well as biogenic carbon and emissions to air. The corresponding raw materials and energy flows required to apply the LCA methodology were gathered and processed from information from the Spanish forest and wood industry. The resulting background datasets include 27 vehicles and machines, which allowed the quantification of four impact category indicators: renewable primary energy (resources), non-renewable primary energy (resources), use of renewable secondary fuels and global warming potential. Biogenic carbon was also calculated. Based on those five values, the embodied energy and carbon of Pinus sylvestris, L. glulam were quantified: EE = 1401 MJ/UD and EC = −724 kg_CO2-eq/UD. The generation of background datasets and environmental information is innovative and of great interest, and it is a powerful tool for prescribers and technicians.

With the aim of facilitating sustainability assessment through Life Cycle Assessment, the Eduardo Torroja Institute of Construction Sciences. CSIC is developing a public database of environmental information: OpenDAP. One of the objectives of this database is to be compatible with other European databases but to be fully open, public and free of charge. With the participation in the project “Wood for Sustainable Construction Task Force”, whose coordinator was the University of Cordoba, 10 EPDs have been developed for different wood products and species, with a detailed study of each stage, using a spreadsheet and field studies for data collection. In this article we aim to demonstrate the need for environmental quantification of services and products in the construction sector, due to the importance of the global impact of this sector. With common procedures that allow us to obtain comparable and useful results for the final client who selects them. Both for generic and specific products, being stable and exportable. Allowing us to compare, reduce and improve our sustainability.

Purpose: The ILCD+EPD format provides a solid foundation for EPD digitalisation and is evolving to enhance interoperability and automation. This study analyses the current version’s limitations in digitising Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), assessing its capacity to ensure traceability, interoperability, and machine readability of environmental data. It also identifies key areas for improvement and proposes enhancements to facilitate integration into digital environments such as BIM and the forthcoming Digital Product Passport (DPP) under the European framework. Methods: The research is based on a review of EPD digitisation, with a special focus on the ILCD+EPD original format developed by InData. Fifty EPDs representative of the Spanish market, belonging to three Programme Operators (POs), were selected and digitised using the EPD Editor and Soda4LCA tools. The information was structured in accordance with the CPEN 2020 version of the ILCD+EPD format (version 1.2) and standardised using a ‘data matrix’, ensuring that the fields corresponded to the standard schema. The results were visualised and validated on the OpenDAP platform and also compared with European experiences (ÖKOBAUDAT, IBU, EPD Norge) to assess the consistency, interoperability and replicability of the process. Results: The results identify critical aspects in the practical use of the ILCD+EPD format, such as clarifying ambiguous fields, incorporating unique identifiers to reduce errors, and enabling automatic interpretation of key information to support full automation of data exchange. The proposed matrix enhances the homogeneity and comparability of digitised EPDs, allowing partial automatic reading and more efficient information management. However, the continued reliance on original PDF formats and heterogeneity among operators still limit interoperability. The discussion also addresses regulatory developments (CPR, EPBD, ISO 22057) and their anticipated impact on the new version 1.3 of the ILCD+EPD format, which has undergone a review and is moving towards European harmonisation. Conclusions: This study analyses whether it would be interesting to harmonise the ILCD+EPD, ISO 22057 and DPP formats by adopting standardised templates and specific data dictionaries for each product category. In addition, it considers the potential development of automatic validation tools and parametric approaches to reduce manual intervention, increase comparability between databases and facilitate the direct incorporation of environmental information into BIM models and life cycle analysis platforms.

In the framework of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) [1], Member States develop their roadmaps based on two methodological pillars: life cycle assessment (LCA) and integration of environmental data of construction products. UNE-EN 15978:2012 [2] defines the environmental assessment criteria at building level, while UNE-EN 15804:2012+A2:2020/AC: 2021 [3] establishes the product category rules (PCR) for environmental product declarations (EPD). At the product level, the new version of the standard expands the number of impact categories that the EPD can provide some basic (which must be included in the EPD) and others additional (not mandatory). This research focused on the analysis of the EPD of mass concrete, due to its significant influence on the overall result of the analysis, attributed to its high relative weight in the set of materials used in buildings. EPDs from different sources were analysed according to the two versions of the standard, as well as the stability of the indicators. The study shows a convergence in GWP-total stages A1-A3, which reinforces its reliability as the first mandatory parameter towards decarbonisation in 2050. A comparison of thirteen DAPs shows emissions for stage A1-3 of 270.9 Kg CO ₂ eq. /m ³ . In contrast, the remaining impacts show high variability, with increases in many cases exceeding 100%, suggesting that their stability requires further parameterisation.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is increasingly prevalent in the quantification of environmental status in the building sector, following new legislative frameworks. Countries need to quantify and assess their environmental impacts as a previous base for regulation and decision making. In this context, standardised national data sets are being developed, based on consensus with manufacturers: sectoral Environmental Product Declarations. This study focuses on assessing these EPDs with the aim of providing relevant information for global decision-making, focusing on consistency and pointing out shortcomings. An assessment has been carried out both at national level, considering all sectoral EPDs and declared products, and at international level, with three common building materials (brick, steel and concrete). The results highlight the lack of traceability in the development and assessment of uncertainty, resulting in substantial discrepancies in reported impacts, especially in the later stages of the life cycle (up to 90% difference). Meanwhile, impacts such as Global Warming Potential or total renewable and non-renewable primary energy use show homogeneous values in the cradle-to-gate stages with differences generally less than 10%. The analysis of sectoral EPDs should be a design guide with environmental sustainability criteria, as the last section of this study attempts to focus on.