Cardinal Glass: products and the EPD coverage gap

Who they are and what they sell

Cardinal is a diversified glass manufacturer serving residential and light commercial markets through five major product families. The lineup covers float glass, coated Low‑E glass (LoĒ‑180, LoĒ²‑272, LoĒ³‑366, LoĒ‑i89 and more), laminated safety glass, tempered glass, and insulating glass units.

Across those families, the practical SKU count runs into the hundreds once you factor colors, thicknesses, coatings, gas fills, and IGU pane counts. The company positions these products primarily for windows and doors, yet many end up in storefront and curtain wall packages too.

EPD track record and what changed in 2025

Cardinal published product‑specific EPDs with ASTM as program operator for flat glass, processed glass, laminated glass, and insulating glass. Those documents list issue dates in 2020 and five‑year validity. The flat glass and insulating glass EPDs reached their “Valid Until” date on May 27, 2025 (ASTM EPD for Flat Glass, 2020) (ASTM EPD for Flat Glass, 2020) (ASTM EPD for Insulating Glass, 2020) (ASTM EPD for Insulating Glass, 2020). The laminated glass EPD expired December 4, 2025 (ASTM EPD for Laminated Glass, 2020). The processed glass EPD shows the same 2020 issue and five‑year window (ASTM EPD for Processed Glass, 2020).

As of December 25, 2025, we could not locate renewed Cardinal EPDs on program‑operator registries or the company’s own EPD landing page. That means today’s coverage is low despite strong historical scope.

Why that matters for specs and submittals

Many owners and GCs now score products using embodied‑carbon accounting and give preference to current, product‑specific EPDs. Under LEED v5’s direction of travel, teams expect transparent, third‑party verified data. When an EPD is missing or out of date, estimators often apply conservative defaults that effectively add a “carbon penalty,” which can push a product out of contention even if price and performance are solid.

Cardinal’s product map, simplified

Think of Cardinal’s offer as a toolkit rather than a single hero SKUs. Float feeds coated lines, coated feeds tempering and lamination, and all of the above feed IGUs. That integrated model is great for delivery and quality. It also means EPDs work best when they cover each link in the chain so a project can document the exact configuration it buys.

For a sense of the company’s sustainability resources, see its own overview of EPDs and references on the site (Cardinal EPDs and references).

Competitive context in 2024–2025

Several direct competitors kept their declarations current. Guardian Glass renewed North America EPDs in April 2024 and reports about 1102 kg CO2e per ton for unprocessed flat glass using TRACI 2.1, which many procurement teams now benchmark against (Guardian Glass, 2024) (Guardian Glass, 2024). Vitro Architectural Glass announced updated EPDs covering flat and processed glass in 2024, positioning core Solarban and related products with current documentation (Vitro, 2024). NSG Pilkington North America lists an active flat glass EPD in The International EPD System with validity into August 2030 (EPD International NSG Pilkington, 2025).

Net effect. On projects that prefer product‑specific EPDs, Cardinal is battling peers who can submit current documents at bid time. That is avoidably costly.

A likely gap that shows up in bids

LoĒ³‑366 and LoĒ²‑272 are workhorse coatings for energy code compliance in many climates. They sit under Cardinal’s processed glass scope, yet the processed glass EPD window closed in 2025 (ASTM EPD for Processed Glass, 2020). In contrast, Guardian’s processed glass set and Vitro’s Solarban series sit under current EPDs, which can tip shortlists for schools, healthcare, and office projects that pre‑screen submittals by EPD status (Guardian Glass, 2024) (Vitro, 2024).

Who Cardinal tends to face in the room

Typical head‑to‑head names include:

• Guardian Glass (SunGuard for architectural, ClimaGuard for residential) (Guardian Glass, 2024)
• Vitro Architectural Glass (Solarban family) (Vitro, 2024)
• NSG Pilkington North America (flat and coated lines) (EPD International NSG Pilkington, 2025)
• AGC in select specifications, especially on larger curtain wall programs in North America and globally (AGC, 2025)

These brands all emphasize current EPDs across flat and processed categories. That alone does not win a job, but it removes barriers so performance and price can actually compete.

What a refresh could look like

If Cardinal chooses to re‑up coverage, the practical move is a synchronized renewal across flat, processed, laminated, and IGUs so the supply chain can document any stackup. Matching the PCR choices used by competitors helps comparability in reviews. The heaviest lift is data collection across plants and product families, not the LCA math. Teams that make enviromental reporting painless inside the factory usually ship faster because engineers and plant managers are not stuck hunting utility bills and scrap logs.

The takeaway for manufacturers watching this space

Breadth without current EPDs leaves value on the table. In glass, that shows up when a submittal gets screened for documentation before anyone reads the optical specs. Keeping category‑level EPDs current protects revenue, and product‑specific EPDs for best‑sellers turn that protection into a competitive edge.