EPDs Gain Ground as Sustainability Standards Tighten
Date: 13.08.26
EPDs document the environmental impact of construction products, and they're fast becoming a procurement requirement rather than a differentiator. Mishra Koushik Kumar, Business Unit Director – Technology and Innovation, explains how Trelleborg builds them, what they reveal about our own operations, and why quality varies widely across the market.
Driven largely by federal and state sustainability initiatives, contractors and owners are increasingly tasked with procuring materials that have Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). EPDs document the environmental impact or embodied carbon of construction products.
“EPDs enhance transparency and enable informed decision-making based on verified, comparable data,” says Mishra Kumar, Business Unit Director, Technology and Innovation for Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure. “They support sustainable procurement practices, help demonstrate regulatory compliance, and provide confidence in long-term value and durability.”
While still emerging on the U.S. construction scene, EPDs are well known throughout the world, especially in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
“Additional EPD requirements have also emerged in Australia, from the Port of Newcastle,” Kumar says. “These examples reflect growing demand across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, driven by both regulation and sustainability-led procurement practices.”
Suppliers are responding to demand by increasingly offering EPDs for supplies. Trelleborg has created EPDs for many products, including its Gina and Omega seals, SCN fender system, and Tee and Horn bollards.
“The Gina gasket EPD was our first and marked an important milestone, providing full lifecycle transparency for a critical infrastructure component that is widely specified in major tunnel projects, as well as in port modernization initiatives,” Kumar says.
Trelleborg created EPDs for the Gina and Omega seals because they were used during the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel that links Denmark and Germany. That project required comprehensive lifecycle documentation for all major components. Trelleborg also created EPDs for the fender system, which was used on the NEOM Exagon development in Saudi Arabia.
As project requirements continue to raise sustainability expectations, the process of creating EPDs offers manufacturers operational and competitive benefits.
“Mapping the full product lifecycle helps identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, supply chain risks, and environmental hotspots. This insight supports better design decisions, process improvements, and long-term performance optimization,” Kumar says. “It also ensures regulatory readiness and strengthens our ability to support customers operating in markets with tightening sustainability requirements.”
To create the EPDs, Trelleborg collects primary data, conducts lifecycle assessments in line with SO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards, and combines the environmental metrics across the product lifecycle. Next, third-party verifiers assess the data and methodology. Once approved, the EPD is published through an EPD program operator in accordance with ISO 14025.
EPDs have long been used around the globe, and an increasing number of U.S. projects include EPD requirements as regulations tighten and transparency requirements increase.
“Beyond environmental disclosure, EPDs are increasingly viewed as an indicator of organizational readiness, supply chain responsibility and innovation capability,” Kumar says.
With the use of EPDs on the rise, many stakeholders are calling for full lifecycle reviews and methodology standardization for complex projects.
“As these become more commonly used in maritime infrastructure projects, it is important to recognize that all EPDs are not created equally. Their quality can be inconsistent,” Kumar says. “For example, some EPDs rely heavily on secondary datasets or automated tools that lack robust third-party verification. Others are narrowly focused, often measuring only embodied carbon or partial lifecycle phases, without accounting for wider environmental impacts such as resource depletion, ecotoxicity, and end-of-life performance.”
“EPDs enhance transparency and enable informed decision-making based on verified, comparable data,” says Mishra Kumar, Business Unit Director, Technology and Innovation for Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure. “They support sustainable procurement practices, help demonstrate regulatory compliance, and provide confidence in long-term value and durability.”
While still emerging on the U.S. construction scene, EPDs are well known throughout the world, especially in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
“Additional EPD requirements have also emerged in Australia, from the Port of Newcastle,” Kumar says. “These examples reflect growing demand across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, driven by both regulation and sustainability-led procurement practices.”
Suppliers are responding to demand by increasingly offering EPDs for supplies. Trelleborg has created EPDs for many products, including its Gina and Omega seals, SCN fender system, and Tee and Horn bollards.
“The Gina gasket EPD was our first and marked an important milestone, providing full lifecycle transparency for a critical infrastructure component that is widely specified in major tunnel projects, as well as in port modernization initiatives,” Kumar says.
Trelleborg created EPDs for the Gina and Omega seals because they were used during the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel that links Denmark and Germany. That project required comprehensive lifecycle documentation for all major components. Trelleborg also created EPDs for the fender system, which was used on the NEOM Exagon development in Saudi Arabia.
As project requirements continue to raise sustainability expectations, the process of creating EPDs offers manufacturers operational and competitive benefits.
“Mapping the full product lifecycle helps identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, supply chain risks, and environmental hotspots. This insight supports better design decisions, process improvements, and long-term performance optimization,” Kumar says. “It also ensures regulatory readiness and strengthens our ability to support customers operating in markets with tightening sustainability requirements.”
To create the EPDs, Trelleborg collects primary data, conducts lifecycle assessments in line with SO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards, and combines the environmental metrics across the product lifecycle. Next, third-party verifiers assess the data and methodology. Once approved, the EPD is published through an EPD program operator in accordance with ISO 14025.
EPDs have long been used around the globe, and an increasing number of U.S. projects include EPD requirements as regulations tighten and transparency requirements increase.
“Beyond environmental disclosure, EPDs are increasingly viewed as an indicator of organizational readiness, supply chain responsibility and innovation capability,” Kumar says.
With the use of EPDs on the rise, many stakeholders are calling for full lifecycle reviews and methodology standardization for complex projects.
“As these become more commonly used in maritime infrastructure projects, it is important to recognize that all EPDs are not created equally. Their quality can be inconsistent,” Kumar says. “For example, some EPDs rely heavily on secondary datasets or automated tools that lack robust third-party verification. Others are narrowly focused, often measuring only embodied carbon or partial lifecycle phases, without accounting for wider environmental impacts such as resource depletion, ecotoxicity, and end-of-life performance.”