EPD (Environmental Product Declaration): a type III environmental declaration (ISO 14025), based on an LCA and verified by a third party. A generic term: several programmes issue EPDs (PEP, International EPD System, IBU, etc.).
PEP (Profil Environnemental Produit): the EPD of the electrical, electronic and HVAC sector, drafted according to PEP Ecopassport rules. All PEPs are EPDs, but not all EPDs are PEPs.
FDES (Fiche de Déclaration Environnementale et Sanitaire): the EPD of the construction materials sector, drafted according to INIES rules.
IBU (Institut Bauen und Umwelt): [value to be filled in]
Programme operator (PO): the body that sets the methodological rules of a market, accredits the verifiers and hosts the EPD register (PEP Ecopassport, International EPD System, EPD Global/Norge, IBU, EPD Italy, EPD Denmark, etc.).
PCR (Product Category Rules): the general methodological rules of a large product family, set by each programme.
PSR (Product Specific Rules): the rules specific to a product category, in the vocabulary of PEP Ecopassport.
c-PCR (complementary Product Category Rules): the rules specific to a product category, in the vocabulary of International EPD System.
NPCR Part-B (Norwegian Product Category Rules, part B): the rules specific to a product category, in the vocabulary of EPD Norge.
Sub-PCR: the rules specific to a product category, in the vocabulary of EPD Italy.
PCR Part-B (Product Category Rules, part B): the rules specific to a product category, in the vocabulary of IBU.
INIES: the French reference database of environmental declarations, used for the RE2020.
MRA (Mutual Recognition Agreement): an agreement between two programmes recognising each other’s rules and/or EPDs. Three levels: Type 1 (rules), Type 2 (EPDs), Type 3 (rules and EPDs, the strongest).
Publication fees: the amount charged by the programme operator to register and host a published EPD.
Individual EPD: a declaration that covers a single product reference.
Collective (or representative) EPD: a declaration that covers a whole family of products sharing the same materials, processes and functions. It greatly reduces the number of EPDs, and therefore the cost, for a large catalogue.
Homogeneous environmental family: a group of products (same raw materials, same processes, same functional unit) coverable by a single EPD.
SKU (product reference): a product variant identified by a unique code. A single EPD can cover several SKUs of the same family.
LCA (Life Cycle Assessment): a standardised method (ISO 14040/14044) that quantifies the environmental impacts of a product across its entire life cycle, from raw materials to end of life.
LCI (Life Cycle Inventory): the compilation of all incoming and outgoing flows (materials, energy, emissions) at each stage. It is the data table that feeds the calculations.
Bill of materials (BOM): the structured list of a product’s components, materials and packaging. It is the first input of any LCA.
Collection file: the standardised spreadsheet, adapted to each product category, used to gather the data before starting the LCA.
Functional unit (FU): the quantified function used as a reference for comparison (e.g. "1 luminaire providing 1,000 lm for 25,000 h").
RSL (Reference Service Life): the standard assumed service life in the LCA, defined by the programme rules.
Modules A1-A3 / A4-A5 / B / C / D: the life cycle stages (production, transport-site, use, end of life, beyond) defined by the EN 15804 standard.
Specific data: data specific to your product, more reliable and generally more favourable than a default value.
Generic (or default) data: an industry average figure, used when specific data is not available.
Ecoinvent: the reference database that provides default environmental data (electricity, transport, materials).
Verification: a mandatory check before publication, carried out by an accredited verifier independent of the person who performed the LCA. The manufacturer cannot self-certify. It may be internal (an accredited verifier from the same organisation, distinct from the one who produced the study) or external (a fully independent body, required by certain regulations).
RE2020 (Réglementation Environnementale 2020): the French regulation for new buildings that incorporates the impact of equipment, and the main driver of demand for PEP.
ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation): the European framework regulation on eco-design, which introduces the DPP.
DPP (Digital Product Passport): the digital environmental identity card, mandatory by category from 2027 to 2030. EPD data feeds directly into it.
CPR (Construction Products Regulation): progressively incorporates environmental declaration requirements for construction products.
CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive): the sustainability reporting directive; Scope 3 relies on the EPD data of suppliers.
Scope 3: the indirect emissions of the value chain (including purchases), which EPDs help document.
WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment): the European directive on the take-back and recycling of EEE at end of life.
EEE (Electrical and Electronic Equipment) and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning): Qweeko’s two core specialities.
An EPD describes the environmental impact of a product, based on an LCA covering its entire life cycle, from raw materials to end of life. Once verified, it is the document you share with your clients to prove your product’s impact.
"EPD" is the generic term; several programmes exist in Europe, each with its own framework. PEP Ecopassport is the one dedicated to electrical, electronic and HVAC products: a PEP is therefore an EPD built according to the rules of our sector, the reference best suited to your products.
Yes, an independent verifier accredited by the programme checks the calculations and the data before publication. We have accredited verifiers in-house, and we call on external verifiers when a regulation requires it.
It depends on your needs and the plan. With Qweeko Start (we do it for you), the cost combines support and an amount per product family: the price stays the same whether the family has 1 or 100 references, plus verification. With Qweeko Pro (you produce them yourself), it is an annual licence per user, independent of the number of EPDs: the more your catalogue grows, the lower the cost per EPD. Added to this are the publication fees specific to each programme. The simplest way to get a precise figure: let us scope your catalogue together.
Once your data has been collected, generation takes a few hours; verification and publication then take a few days. The main delay factor is upstream: the time to collect the data, which depends on your suppliers. This is where our experts and our solutions save you the most time.
Rarely one per reference. We group products into homogeneous environmental families (same materials, same processes, same functions), coverable by a single EPD. Send us your catalogue: we carry out a grouping study.
No, prioritise the references where there is real client demand. There is no point declaring products that no one asks for.
Yes. French in origin, it has an international reach thanks to compliance with the ISO 14021 and EN 15804+A2 standards.
The programme or programmes you need depend on several factors: distribution markets, type of clients and product type. The good news: with the same data set, you can address any programme.
We send a collection file adapted to your type of product.
Several options:
An EPD goes further than a simple carbon footprint figure and requires a different data collection. It is possible to start from your existing study, but it will need to be completed.
Yes: the data collected at the LCA level can be reused. If the methodology differs, we check the gap. You do not start from scratch.
Yes. Many clients start with Qweeko Start, build up their skills, then move to Qweeko Pro.
2 minutes to find out which regulations concern you and which programme to target on your markets.
Get started