Product Transparency

EPDs/HPDs

Environmental Product Declarations, or EPDs, are documents that summarize the results of a life cycle assessment (LCA) for specific products. These declarations have been compared to the nutrition label on food packaging because they present concise information to help consumers make better-informed product decisions. EPDs describe the potential environmental impacts of a product across a specified list of environmental impact categories. The latest USGBC green building ratings program-LEED v4-includes credits for buildings that use products for which EPDs have been developed.

Health declarations-such as Health Product Declarations, or HPDs-and Cradle-to-Cradle’s Material Health Certificates were developed to expose the potential human health impacts of products used in building construction. They attempt to provide a transparent path to divulging all of the ingredients used in products and their related health hazards. LEED v4 includes additional credits for buildings that use products for which specific health declarations have been developed. Furthermore, ASTM is in the process of developing an alternative health declaration, called a Product Transparency Declaration (PTD).

The following EPDs are the most current. They are available for free download:

• Cold-Formed Steel Framing – from the Steel Framing Industry Association 
• Open Web Steel Joists and Joist Girders – from the Steel Joist Institute
• Steel Roof Deck and Steel Floor Deck – from the Steel Deck Institute 
• Fabricated Steel Plate – from the American Institute of Steel Construction
• Fabricated Hot-Rolled Structural Sections – from the American Institute of Steel Construction
• Fabricated Hollow Structural Sections – from the American Institute of Steel Construction and Steel Tube Institute
• Roll-Formed Cladding: Wall and Roof Cladding Systems – from the Metal Construction Association
• Insulated Metal Panels – from the Metal Construction Association
• Primary Structural Steel Frame Components – from the Metal Building Manufacturers Association
• Secondary Structural Steel Frame Components – from the Metal Building Manufacturers Association
• Roll-Formed Metal Wall and Roof Panels – from the Metal Building Manufacturers Association
• Hot-Dip Galvanized Steel After Fabrication: Galvanized Hot-Rolled Sections, Plate and Hollow Structural Sections – from the American Galvanizers Association
• Hollow Structural Sections – from the Steel Tube Institute

Canadian EPDs that include the use of U.S.-produced steel:

• Fabricated Structural Steel Plates (Unpainted) – from the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction
• Fabricated Hollow Structural Steel Sections (Unpainted) – from the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction
• Fabricated Hot-Rolled Structural Steel Sections (Unpainted) – from the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction
• Cold-Formed Steel Sections and Panels – from the Canadian Sheet Steel Building Institute
• Corrugated Steel Conduit (Canada) – from the Corrugated Steel Pipe Institute