Dormakaba: access solutions with broad EPD coverage

Who they are

dormakaba is a global access solutions manufacturer spanning mechanical hardware and electronic systems. The portfolio reaches from door closers, locks, and exit devices to automatic sliding and revolving doors, interior glass walls, turnstiles, cylinders, and connected access control components. They serve commercial offices, healthcare, education, hospitality, public buildings, and high security applications.

What they sell, at a glance

This is not a pure play. dormakaba competes across a dozen‑plus categories touching Division 08 and adjacent specialties. The SKU count runs into the hundreds across regional brands like BEST, Precision, and Crane revolving doors. That breadth helps them supply full openings packages or point solutions depending on the project.

EPD coverage today

Coverage is strong across core hardware and entrances. You’ll find product‑specific, third‑party verified EPDs for multiple families of door closers, floor springs, mortise and cylindrical locks, exit devices, electronic cylinders and readers, automatic sliding and swing door operators, revolving doors, optical turnstiles, and interior glass systems. Many of these declarations are published with reputable European program operators and remain valid well into the late 2020s and early 2030s. For most bids, that checks the box for product‑specific EPD under common rating frameworks like LEED v5 Materials credits.

Where they’re strongest

Entrance systems and hardware staples stand out. Recurrent EPDs cover TS‑series door closers and concealed closers, ED and ES automatic operators, KTV and Crane revolving doors, ST FLEX sliding systems, precision exit devices, BEST mechanical hardware, and a growing set of electronic access components. For specifiers, this simplifies apples‑to‑apples comparisons in high‑traffic lobbies, healthcare corridors, and campus buildings.

Likely gaps worth watching

No global portfolio is perfectly mapped one‑to‑one with EPDs. Two areas typically show thinner coverage across the market and often require a plan. First, accessory hardware like certain hinges, kick plates, thresholds, and seals in specific regional assortments may not all have individual EPDs even if the flagship devices do. Second, complex options and custom configurations within automatic entrances sometimes fall outside a published model range. If a must‑win project hinges on a particular accessory or option, confirm the exact model’s declaration early to avoid last‑minute substitutions.

Competitive pressure on EPDs

ASSA ABLOY publishes EPDs across popular categories including hinges, exit devices, door closers, thresholds, and trims, which gives them easy footing on EPD‑required specs. Allegion also lists EPDs for doors and hardware families common in education and healthcare. In revolving doors and secured entries, Boon Edam and others are frequent alternates even when their documentation mix varies by market. The net effect is simple. If a dormakaba SKU is missing an EPD in a hotly contested opening, there is usually an EPD‑backed alternative in a competitor catalog ready to slot in. That can quietly decide who wins the line on a LEED‑aspiring office tower.

How manufacturers should think about filling gaps

Treat EPDs like a product‑line enablement project, not a one‑off. Prioritize by volume and by spec sensitivity. Start with the top three sellers per category that appear most often in schedules for offices, hospitals, and higher‑ed. Bundle near‑identical SKUs under one declaration where standards allow to expand coverage efficiently. Pick the same PCR families competitors use so submittals move fast and reviewers don’t ask for re‑work. Then set a renewal calendar so nothing lapses just before a big RFP. The heavy lift is the data collection. Teams that streamline utility and materials pulls across plants definately move faster.

Sustainability commitments you can point to

dormakaba maintains public targets on climate and circularity, plus an annual sustainability report that maps progress and product initiatives. See their overview here: dormakaba Sustainability.

What this means for spec wins

When a building team must report embodied carbon, products without a product‑specific EPD often carry a conservative penalty in calculations. That pushes buyers toward options with verified declarations, even when performance is equivalent. A broad, up‑to‑date EPD set across the workhorse SKUs lets sales compete on performance and availability, not exemptions and edge cases. The cost and effort to publish is routinely offset by landing even one mid‑sized project where the alternative would be disqualified on documentation.

Bottom line for busy teams

dormakaba brings a wide access portfolio with robust EPD coverage in the categories that drive most specifications. The smartest next moves are to lock in any missing accessory hardware and region‑specific options, align PCR choices to the competitive set, and make data collection easy for plants and product managers. That’s how you keep your opening on the schedule and your brand at the top of the submittal stack.