Holcim believes that environmental product declarations (EPDs) are essential to making progress towards national net zero targets and should be a legal requirement in the construction industry.
The call comes from Alastair Meyers, managing director of Holcim UK鈥檚 readymix concrete division. He argues that EPDs, which are independently verified declarations that detail a product鈥檚 environmental impact, should be written into regulations and legislation. Doing so would eliminate greenwashing and support smarter, data-driven decision-making across the built environment.
鈥淓PDs have become the benchmark for sustainability across Europe, but the UK still lags behind,鈥� Meyers said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 vital that every material choice is backed by live, verifiable data.鈥澛�
An EPD can include up to 37 indicators, from carbon footprint to energy and waste.
Meyers said: 鈥淎 net zero future must not be built on assumptions and guesswork. There is a vast amount of construction happening, but it鈥檚 imperative we get the foundations for sustainability right, otherwise it will be another wave of buildings and infrastructure that will fail the next generation, from a sustainability standpoint.
鈥淗aving EPDs written into regulation and legislation will create a level playing field and a common standard that all construction professionals will know and understand. For contractors, they can make like-for-like comparisons. Architects and specifiers can use the data to make informed specification choices, developers can have confidence their buildings meet their sustainability agenda, and there is a clear framework to regulate and assess against. Holcim is ready to lead that change, with EPDs that can be generated digitally and on-demand already in use across our UK operations.鈥�