Griesser’s sun‑shading portfolio and its EPD footing

Griesser in one glance

Founded in 1882 and headquartered in Switzerland, Griesser focuses on exterior sun‑shading for windows and facades. Production runs across Switzerland, France, and Austria, with clear specialization by plant for blinds, facade awnings, rolling shutters, and window shutters. Their sustainability portal tracks ongoing material and manufacturing changes, worth bookmarking for spec work (Griesser Sustainability).

Product lineup and depth

Griesser is a sun‑shading pure play. Core families include external venetian blinds, facade awnings and textile screens, rolling shutters, and window shutters in aluminum or wood, plus controls and automation. Across sizes, fabrics, slat geometries, hardware finishes, and motorization options, the commercial catalog reaches dozens of model variants and easily into the hundreds of SKUs when configurations are counted.

What already has EPDs

Griesser has multiple product‑specific EPDs covering marquee ranges. Publicly named lines include Solozip and Soloscreen textile screens, external venetian blinds such as Lamisol, Grinotex, Aluflex, Solomatic, and sliding shutters in aluminum and wood. That means many typical office, education and healthcare facade shading scenarios can already be documented with verified data rather than generic defaults.

Likely gaps that matter on bids

Rolling shutters and some patio or balcony awnings appear less consistently covered by published EPDs. On projects that prefer or require product‑specific declarations, teams without an EPD get pushed to generic database values with safety factors, which can be significant in France’s RE2020. Default data in INIES can include safety factors of about +30% to +100% depending on the case, which hurts a building LCA and can block compliance when multiplied across a facade package (INIES FAQ, 2025).

Competitive context on specifications

In continental Europe, Griesser is commonly evaluated alongside ROMA, WAREMA, HELLA, and Renson for external blinds, screens, and shutters. ROMA, for example, publicly highlights EPDs across roller shutters, external venetian blinds, and textile screens with a broad refresh in 2024 and industry messaging through 2025 [ROMA, 2025]. WAREMA publishes category EPD documentation for external venetian blinds, roller shutters and window awnings, signaling spec‑readiness within German‑speaking markets (WAREMA, 2025). If a Griesser best‑seller in a given package lacks an EPD while a direct alternative lists one, the path of least resistance for design teams tilts away from Griesser.

LEED v5 and the commercial incentive

LEED v5, ratified by USGBC members on March 28, 2025, keeps procurement pressure on product‑specific EPDs through the BPDO credit. Exemplary performance requires 40 qualifying products from five manufacturers or 75% by cost of compliant products, numbers that push teams to prefer documented options (USGBC, 2025 and USGBC BPDO Guide, 2025). For European work, RE2020 modeling reads INIES data directly; a missing FDES means conservative defaults that raise whole‑building impacts and complicate compliance.

Where Griesser is moving on sustainability inputs

Material choices are trending in the right direction. Griesser reports switching window‑shutter production in Nenzing to low‑carbon aluminum, reaching roughly 95% adoption by September 2025, and citing about 3.3 kg CO2 per kg of aluminum used for that range, which is a meaningful cut versus conventional supply profiles (Griesser France News, 2025). Shifting Solozip manufacturing closer to demand in Switzerland also shortens transport routes, which helps logistics emissions over time [Griesser, 2025].

Practical playbook to close coverage gaps fast

• Prioritize by revenue and spec frequency. Start with the 3 to 5 highest‑volume SKUs per uncovered family, not the boutique options.
• Align PCR selection with the competitive set. The smartest move is to publish under the same EN 15804 framework and operator where peers are most visible, often IBU for DACH and INIES for France.
• Make data collection painless. The bottleneck is usually plant‑level utilities, scrap, packaging, and transport granularity. A partner that handles internal stakeholder wrangling and templates will cut months without compromising quality.
• Publish product‑specific first, widen later. One EPD in the family wins more bids than a perfect family‑wide plan that slips. Teams can expand to more variants in the next update cycle.

Strategy snapshot for sales and bid teams

For offices, schools, and healthcare where occupant comfort and energy loads drive design, external venetian blinds and screens with EPDs reduce risk for the specifier. Where rolling shutters or certain awnings are proposed, confirm current EPD availability early. If missing, present an EPD‑covered alternative in the same family to keep the project on track. No one likes surprises at tender. This sounds simple, but it’s how specs are actually won or lost in practice.

What we’ll watch next

Two signals will show up first in specs: fresh EPD listings for any uncovered Griesser families and broader use of low‑carbon aluminum across ranges. If both trend upward, Griesser’s “specability” improves noticeably in markets leaning on LEED v5 and RE2020. Minor note, keep an eye on expiry windows so valid declarations don’t go dark just before a bid cycle. That timing miss can be expensve.