ÖKOBAUDAT: Your Passport to German Green Specs
German public projects worth roughly €25 billion a year will not touch a construction product unless its LCA data lives inside ÖKOBAUDAT. Miss the upload and you miss the bid—simple as that.
Database 101: what it holds
More than 1,400 product-specific and generic datasets sit in ÖKOBAUDAT today, all delivered in both German and English (DIBt, 2025). The 2024-I release alone added over 15,000 fresh emission factors that fill gaps in transport and machinery stages (Climatiq, 2025). Public access is free, yet every record has passed a quality gate run by the German Federal Institute for Research on Building (BBSR, 2024).
Why ÖKOBAUDAT matters beyond Germany
BNB, DGNB, LEED and even several Nordic schemes reference ÖKOBAUDAT as an approved data source. If your insulation board or fastener shows up in the database, specifiers can drop it straight into whole-building calculators without manual tweaking, shrinking “can we model this?” email chains to nil. Non-German teams that crack ÖKOBAUDAT often notice German export sales climbing within one tender cycle, according to trade-body surveys from late 2024.
A1 vs A2: avoid the mixing bowl
Since October 2022, datasets based on EN 15804+A1 stopped being accepted. The database now separates A1 and A2 tabs so users do not mix impact indicators that are no longer comparable (BBSR, 2024). If your last EPD still runs on A1, plan for an update or accept that it will never reach new German federal jobs.
Getting your EPD inside: the three gatekeepers
- An accepted program operator (think IBU or EPD Norge) must forward your XML file.
- A BBSR auditor spot-checks format, units, and cross-module consistency.
- The XML is signed and pushed to the live API at the next annual release.
When data packages arrive complete and error-free, gatekeeping takes roughly four weeks. If background datasets are missing or cut sheets contradict plant utility bills, the queue can stretch past three months. Choosing a partner that handles the grunt work means your R&D team stays focused on product tweaks rather than XML hand-wrangling.
Data quality bar: higher than EN 15804
ÖKOBAUDAT slaps a 10-to-30 percent conservative markup on generic figures to keep comparisons fair (Springer Open, 2022). That handicap rewards manufacturers who publish fully verified EPDs because their numbers land closer to reality and often score better in building benchmarks.
Time and money: the hidden ROI
Germany exported €73 billion in construction materials last year, and federal procurement rules give preference to in-database products (Statistik Bund, 2024). Even a mid-tier façade supplier saw bids jump 8 percent after listing its EPD, internal association polls show. The upfront LCA cost is quickly dwarfed by the share of projects you simply would have been locked out of.
Choose partners who sweat the details
Data collection is still the pain point. A maufacturer that tries DIY will chase energy bills, resin recipes and transport legs across five departments. A partner that runs structured questionnaires, automatic plausibility checks and live dashboards can slash that chase to days and cut the ÖKOBAUDAT upload cycle from quarters to weeks. Speed here equals earlier bid eligibility and faster payback.
Key takeaways
ÖKOBAUDAT is not just another database. It is the go-or-no-go gate for federal German projects and an increasingly trusted source across Europe. Publish a clean, A2-compliant EPD, get it into ÖKOBAUDAT swiftly, and you unlock a procurement channel others are still fumbling with.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a German program operator to enter ÖKOBAUDAT?
No. Any operator on ÖKOBAUDAT’s accepted list can submit your EPD as long as the XML meets the extra formatting rules (BBSR, 2024).
How often does ÖKOBAUDAT publish new releases?
A full database refresh lands roughly once per year, usually in Q3 or early Q4, with smaller corrections posted continuously (BBSR, 2024).
Can I use EN 15804+A1 data for projects after 2022?
Only if the project team explicitly allows legacy data. Federal BNB projects now demand A2 datasets, and mixing indicators across versions is discouraged (BBSR, 2024).
Is there a fee for listing my EPD in ÖKOBAUDAT?
ÖKOBAUDAT itself charges nothing, but your program operator may bill for the XML handoff and sign-off.
About the Author
With a passion for sustainability and a love for complex data, Toby helps manufacturers efficiently collect data from across their organization and get their EPDs done right. He’s especially interested in how AI can support human expertise, helping R&D and factory teams work faster, smarter, and with less friction.
