EPDs Win Specs and Tenders
Every week, bid managers lose hours hunting for proof that their product meets the carbon limits hidden deep inside tender documents. An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) drops that scramble. It pins down climate data in a format that owners, architects, and public buyers already trust. When the clock is ticking, the bid that arrives with a current EPD usually reaches the shortlist before one packed with promises but no numbers.
Why specifiers now chase carbon numbers
Five years ago, embodied-carbon metrics sat in the appendix. Today they headline RFPs. Ninety-eight percent of structural engineers and contractors already use EPDs on at least some jobs, and 63 percent say most of their clients explicitly ask for them (Dodge Construction Network, 2022). Architects feel that shift too: 79 percent want to specify more sustainable materials, yet half still struggle to find verified data (AIA, 2024). If your product lands on their desk with an EPD, it plugs that gap instantly.
Tender portals demand uploads, not promises
Public owners are codifying the trend. California will reject steel, glass, rebar, and insulation without a facility-specific EPD that beats its 2025 global-warming-potential caps (DGS, 2025). Forty-nine other US jurisdictions just received FHWA grants to build similar low-carbon purchasing rules (FHWA, 2025). Europe is close behind: the Net-Zero Industry Act will set minimum environmental criteria for public procurement by March 2025 (European Commission, 2024). These policies flip “nice to have” into pass-fail.
Stat sheet: how an EPD tilts the decision
- Faster pre-qualification. Bid reviewers can tick sustainability off their checklist in minutes instead of emailing back and forth.
- Points on the board. LEED and BREEAM both award credits for each product-specific EPD. One steel deck with a Type III EPD can move a project from Silver to Gold.
- Tie-breaker sway. When price and lead time match, buyers lean toward the lower-carbon option. In many agency scorecards, that swing is worth 5–10 percent of total points (exact weights vary by state).
No trustworthy cross-industry average exists for how often an EPD flips a loss into a win, but bid teams interviewed across three product segments report double-digit hit-rate jumps once their full catalog carried verified declarations. The plural of anecdote isn’t data, yet the pattern is hard to ignore.
First-mover advantage
Publishing an EPD ahead of the pack lifts you into the spec library months before competitors wake up. Specifiers rarely revisit those sections unless something fails. Beat them to print and you own that real estate for the life of the project manual, sometimes ten years for recurring build programs.
Cost is shrinking relative to upside
Yes, an EPD costs real money. A single school project can top four million dollars in gypsum board alone. Win just one medium-size specification that you would have missed and the declaration pays for itself many times over. Reliable cost benchmarks vary, but even conservative finance teams now tag an EPD as a marketing asset, not a compliance fee.
Choosing the right partner matters
Crunching site-level energy, waste, and supply-chain inputs is the heavy lift. Some consultants hand manufacturers a 100-row spreadsheet and wish them luck. Others run a white-glove data collection process that shields R&D and plant engineers from that admin load. Speed follows. The provider that can extract data quickly and iterate with the program operator often shaves months off time-to-specification. Missing that window risks letting rivals sneak in first.
Put the EPD in the pitch
Next time you open a tender portal, attach the PDF right alongside the technical datasheet. Highlight any declared global-warming-potential value below the category average. Keep the narrative tight: “Verified EPD, cradle-to-gate, third-party reviewed, valid through 2030.” Decision makers skim, so make their job effortless.
Winning specs is half science, half timing, and the clock rarely pauses for late paperwork. An up-to-date EPD moves your product from hopeful contestant to clear front-runner. Miss that step and you may never even hear why the phone stayed silent. Don’t let a missing declaration sink the bid at the final hurdle. One small document shifts the whole spefication game.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do EPDs add points to LEED, BREEAM, or similar rating systems?
Yes. LEED’s Building Product Disclosure and Optimization credit offers up to two points for product-specific Type III EPDs. BREEAM assigns material credits under Mat 05 for verified cradle-to-gate declarations. Exact thresholds differ, so always check the current manual.
Will a generic (industry-wide) EPD satisfy Buy Clean California tenders?
No. The state requires facility-specific manufacturer EPDs that disclose impacts for a single plant and verification per ISO 14025 (DGS, 2025).
How long does an EPD stay valid?
Most program operators set a five-year validity window. After that, you must update the underlying LCA and re-verify to keep the declaration active.
Is one EPD enough if I have multiple factories?
Usually not. Owners and agencies increasingly insist on facility-specific numbers. Plan to create a separate EPD or annex for each plant producing the product.
Can I reuse supply-chain data from my carbon disclosure project (CDP) report?
Sometimes. If the CDP data covers cradle-to-gate impacts in the same time frame and granularity, it can feed into the LCA, but it will still need formatting and third-party verification to meet ISO 14025 rules.
About the Author
John brings a clear, research-driven perspective on the EPD, LCA and HPD space and keeps a close pulse on environmental trends and standards in North America, helping clients understand where the industry is heading and how to get there.
