The buildings of the future need EPDs

With over 250 Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) across the group, ASSA ABLOY UK is continuing on its journey to create and promote product-specific EPDs, which assist in designing genuinely sustainable buildings.

As a group ASSA ABLOY, the global leader in door opening solutions, has made significant investment into product-specific EPDs, with over 250 published, covering mechanical locksets, cylinders, door closers, floor springs, multi-point locks, doors, handles, hinges, and mechatronic as well as many other access control solutions.

All EPDs are independently researched by a third party, and then verified by the Institut Bauen und Umwelt (IBU) in Germany. They adhere to the comprehensive standards of ISO 14025 and EN 15804, which are recognised internationally, including by LEED and BREEAM.

On their journey to becoming an industry leader in this area, ASSA ABLOY has made serious investment into product-specific EPDs, as they believe that EPDs will become critical to aiding sustainable building design. The level of detail included in these documents, which can be used to accurately reflect a product environmental performance, will become critical for understanding long-term environmental impact and credentials.

In the recently published EPD for SMARTair wireless escutcheon, everything from the embodied carbon of the complete product and impact of carton and foam packaging, to the recycling potential of its steel and zinc content have been detailed.

Andy Stolworthy, BIM Manager, for ASSA ABLOY UK Specification, discusses the importance of EPDs: “Sustainability is a key issue for ASSA ABLOY, as reflected in the advancement of our 2020 sustainability targets and our investment in EPDs is one way in which we are demonstrating this.

"In an industry as vast and complex as construction, EPDs are still yet to be established. We hope that through our own development of EPDs we can engage with architects and contractors about the benefits and added value they can deliver to projects.”