Forterra: product breadth and EPD coverage snapshot

Forterra at a glance

Forterra plc manufactures clay bricks and specials under brands like Ecostock, Butterley and London Brick, plus Thermalite aircrete blocks, Conbloc aggregate blocks, SureBrick brick‑slip façades, Formpave hardscapes and Bison Precast structural components. The official site and materials live at forterra.co.uk, not forterra.co.

What they sell, in plain English

Think full‑stack masonry. Face bricks for housebuilding and commercial work, brick slips for lighter façades, blocks for walls and floors, and precast panels and floors for speed and consistency. Counting colorways, sizes and plant variants puts the SKU range in the hundreds.

EPD footprint today

We find a small handful of product‑group EPDs covering select brick bodies with validity running into 2030 via a major program operator. Good start, but it does not yet reflect the breadth of the brick catalog, nor the other categories where Forterra competes.

Where coverage looks thin

Aircrete and aggregate blocks appear uncovered by product‑specific EPDs in public directories as of January 16, 2026. So do façade systems and many precast elements. That leaves architects to rely on generic or industry‑average data, which can trigger conservative accounting and fewer shortlists when owners prefer product‑specific declarations under evolving LEED v5 aligned policies.

A likely best seller without a public EPD

London Brick Fletton units are a staple for RMI and new build. We could not locate a product‑specific, third‑party verified EPD for that line in program‑operator libraries as of January 16, 2026. Meanwhile, Ibstock publishes multiple clay brick and brick‑slip EPDs with EPD Hub, for example Chesterton Product Group (published March 19, 2025, valid to November 10, 2028) (EPD Hub, 2025). On jobs that request product‑specific EPDs, that difference can decide who gets written into Division 04.

Signals from peers in adjacent categories

Aircrete blocks are moving faster. H+H UK lists several EN 15804+A2 EPDs, including Standard and High Strength grades published December 11, 2024 and valid to December 11, 2029 on EPD Hub, with an additional aircrete EPD registered in April 2025 at EPD International valid to April 2, 2030 (EPD Hub, 2024, EPD International, 2025). For blockwork packages on education or healthcare, that documentation often keeps products in play.

Who Forterra meets in the spec arena

• Clay brick and brick slips: Ibstock, Wienerberger, Michelmersh are frequent head‑to‑heads. Wienerberger’s UK site links out to clay brick EPDs, giving spec teams a quick path to paperwork when timelines are tight (Wienerberger, 2024).
• Aircrete blocks: H+H UK.
• Precast floors and panels: FP McCann and others on major works.
• Permeable paving and SuDS: Marshalls and Aggregate Industries in many schemes.

Sustainability story on their site

Forterra communicates progress on renewable electricity and decarbonisation trials, and maintains a central sustainability hub for policies, targets and reports. Worth bookmarking for bidder Q&As and corporate disclosures (Forterra Sustainability).

What closing the EPD gap would take

Catalog mapping first. Group SKUs by body mix, plant and forming route, then target product‑group EPDs that mirror how customers buy brick families. Extend to Thermalite and Conbloc next. For Bison Precast, start with high‑volume elements such as hollowcore and standard wall panels. Pick the same operator peers already use to smooth comparability and review cycles. The key is a partner who can wrangle plant data with minimal disruption and keep renewals on autopilot so sales never stalls while paperwork catches up.

Why the ROI is real

On projects that value whole‑life carbon outcomes, product‑specific EPDs reduce uncertainty penalties. That means fewer substitutions and fewer races to the bottom on price. Teams that streamline data collection and verification often roll out multiple declarations in one wave, which pays back quickly once even a single mid‑sized package lands.