Hi,
'Way back in 2013, there was an announcement of a joint GBCI/UL EPD program, from which some of my colleagues understand that UL Certified EPDs are automatically accepted from LEED v4.
We often get EPDs bearing the UL Certified seal, and indicating that they were prepared per ISO 14025, but remaining silent on compliance with EN 15804 or ISO 21930, or only mentioning them in the "References" section.
So does the UL Certified EPD seal automatically mean this is a LEED v4.1 acceptable EPD (assuming it's not out of date)?
If so, is this because UL's role is to determine if the proper PCR has been applied, and that's what EN 15804 and ISO 21930 address as well?
Or does this comply because UL is an “other USGBC approved environmental product declaration frameworks”?
AMANDA THOMPSON
LEED Certification ReviewerCatalyst Partners
6 thumbs up
October 12, 2020 - 6:12 pm
Hi Susan, this is the information we go on as LEED Reviewers re: UL
• We were able to confirm that all building and construction product EPDs
published under the UL program conform with ISO 14040, 14044, 14025
and either EN 15804 or ISO 21930.
• All UL EPDs have been verified against a PCR that conforms with either EN
15804 or ISO 21930; explicit conformance to either standard isn’t always
directly stated but it’s implicit by stating conformance with the PCR.
Susan Di Giulio
Senior Project ManagerZinner Consultants
153 thumbs up
October 12, 2020 - 6:47 pm
Great to hear from you and thanks!
Gregory Mason
1 thumbs up
January 12, 2021 - 1:10 am
Hi Amanda,
We are working on a LEED project in Australia, and using the v4.1 version of this credit. I am trying to understand the difference between 1.0 products for an internally reviewed EPD, and externally reviewed EPD. All the EPDs that we have tracked down for a project are through a 3rd party EPD program (UL Environmental, GreenTag Global, Australasian EPD program, etc). Do they all meet the v4.1 requirements of externally reviewed and are 1.5 products each?
I have never come across an EPD that has only been reviewed internally by the manufacturer, and has no 3rd party external review by a 3rd party EPD program.
Bipin Karki
Sustainability Project Manager87 thumbs up
January 22, 2021 - 8:17 am
Hello Mason,
Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) which conform to ISO 14025 and EN 15804 or ISO 21930 and have at least a cradle to gate scope, and meet the following requirement of Type III: Product-specific Type III EPD -- Products with third-party certification (Type III), including external verification and external critical review are valued as 1.5 products for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.
Product-specific Type III EPD -- Internally Reviewed. Products with an internally critically reviewed LCA in accordance with ISO 14071. Products with product-specific internal EPDs which conform to ISO 14025, and EN 15804 or ISO 21930 and have at least a cradle to gate scope are valued as 1.0 products for the purposes of credit achievement calculation.
The EPD will specifically mention whether it has been internally or externally reviewed. The above requirement will help you to distinguish whether the EPDs are internally or externally reviewed. Thanks!