KSB: pumps, valves, and their EPD coverage
KSB is a global heavyweight in pumps and valves with deep roots in building services, water, wastewater, and industry. That scale shows up in sales and headcount, yet their product‑level environmental reporting is harder to spot than some rivals. If your bids depend on product‑specific EPDs, that gap can quietly cost specs. Here is a crisp read on where KSB plays, how broad the portfolio runs, and how their EPD coverage compares to peers that already publish widely.
Who KSB is, at a glance
KSB designs and manufactures pumps, valves, and service solutions across building services, water and wastewater, energy, mining, and general industry. The group reported €3.114 billion in order intake and €2.965 billion in sales revenue in 2024, with EBIT of €244.2 million, signaling serious market presence (KSB press release, 2024) (KSB press release, 2024). Their sustainability pages highlight plant‑level footprint cuts and energy‑saving product lines, and note that pumps account for around 30% of industrial electricity use (KSB environmental responsibility, 2025) (KSB environmental responsibility, 2025).
What they sell, in construction terms
Expect a wide pump portfolio, from inline circulators for HVAC to end‑suction and multistage units for pressure boosting and chilled water, plus wastewater submersibles. Valves span butterfly, gate, globe, check, control, and automation. Product families number in the dozens, and total SKU variants likely run in the hundreds once sizes, materials, impellers, motors, and controls are counted.
Two examples that often show up on plans. Etanorm, a workhorse end‑suction EN 733 pump series used across HVAC and industrial water. Etaline, a space‑saving inline option for mechanical rooms, often paired with variable speed drives. KSB also fields Calio circulators for building services, including Calio Pro and CalioTherm for domestic hot water loops (KSB product pages, 2022–2025).
The EPD picture today
KSB cover a lot of ground on corporate sustainability and energy‑efficient operation, including factory solar builds and verified reductions at its Shanghai site, but product‑specific EPDs are not prominently listed on ksb.com as of December 19, 2025. We also did not find publicly available EPDs for common building‑focused lines like Etanorm, Etaline, or Calio in major European operator catalogs that are viewable without a login. If such EPDs exist behind portals or region‑specific registries, they are hard to locate for specifiers at the moment (KSB Shanghai plant update, 2024).
Why this matters. On projects targeting LEED v5 or corporate carbon purchasing rules, the absence of a product EPD can force teams to use conservative defaults in their accounting, which can ding a bid. EPDs do not make a product greener by themselves, but they remove ambiguity and keep the product in the running on data‑driven shortlists.
Competitors and the EPD bar
Direct competitors that commonly appear on pump and valve schedules include:
- Grundfos for circulators and inline pumps, particularly in commercial HVAC. Grundfos has communicated product EPDs for its MAGNA3 series through IBU and has expanded coverage over time (Grundfos, 2019) (Grundfos, 2019).
- Wilo for circulators and inline pumps in similar applications as above.
- Xylem brands such as Bell & Gossett in North America, plus Armstrong and Taco on many mechanical plans.
This is the practical takeaway. Where a peer brand offers an EPD on a close substitute, the spec door opens faster for them, especially in healthcare and education where owner policies are prescriptive about disclosures.
A likely best‑seller without a visible EPD
If we had to pick one line to prioritize, Etanorm is a strong candidate. It is widely used, appears in many duty points, and is commonly paired with high‑efficiency motors and drives. We could not locate a publicly available product EPD for Etanorm as of today. In parallel, specifiers comparing inline circulators can quickly find MAGNA3 EPDs, so a Calio or Etaline spec can lose ground simply becuase the paperwork is ready for the alternative (Grundfos, 2019).
How many categories and SKUs are in play
KSB participates in several construction‑relevant categories. HVAC circulators, inline HVAC pumps, end‑suction pumps, multistage pressure‑boosting, wastewater and sewage pumps, and a broad valve range for shutoff and control. Roughly, this is half a dozen major categories and, when fully enumerated by size and materials, hundreds of individual SKUs.
What good EPD coverage would look like
Start where volume is concentrated. One EPD for a representative inline circulator family and one for an end‑suction family can cover a surprising share of projects. Pick the PCR and operator peers use to make comparisons apples‑to‑apples, for pumps that is typically EN 15804 with IBU’s Part B for Pumps for liquids. Aim for a clean data story that matches how the products are actually made and shipped, then roll coverage across nearby variants with the same bill of materials.
Speed matters. The real blocker is internal data wrangling across plants, motors, and electronics, not the LCA math. A partner that takes over cross‑plant data collection and shepherds reviews will shorten the calendar and protect engineering time. The ROI usually shows up with the first mid‑sized win where an EPD keeps the product in the spec rather than on the bench.
Sustainability efforts, briefly
KSB reports site‑level cuts and on‑site renewables growth, for example more than 6 million kWh of annual PV generation and about 2,000 tonnes of CO₂ avoided per year at the Shanghai plant by late 2024, alongside a 52% reduction in emissions from electricity, water, and gas since 2018 at that site (KSB Shanghai plant update, 2024). Those are strong operational moves. Translating that credibility into product EPDs would make it easier for specifiers to credit the benefits in scoring tools.
Bottom line for specability
KSB’s portfolio breadth fits many building and infrastructure needs. The commercial unlock now is product‑level EPD visibility on the marquee lines that show up in HVAC rooms and pump skids. Publish where specifiers already look, align to the same PCRs competitors use, and make finding the declarations a one‑click step from the product page. That is how the brand’s engineering strengths turn into more first‑pass approvals and fewer last‑minute substitutions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does KSB publicly list product EPDs for its building services pumps and valves?
As of December 19, 2025, we did not find publicly available KSB EPDs for common lines like Etanorm, Etaline, or Calio on ksb.com or in major operator catalogs accessible without login. If such EPDs exist in regional portals, they are not easy for specifiers to locate.
How large is KSB in financial terms and why does that matter for EPDs?
KSB reported €3.114 billion in order intake and €2.965 billion in sales revenue in 2024, indicating broad market penetration that could benefit from product‑level transparency to defend specs where disclosures are preferred or required (KSB press release, 2024) (KSB press release, 2024).
Which competitor EPDs are easiest to point to in HVAC?
Grundfos has communicated product EPDs for its MAGNA3 circulators via the IBU program, and these are commonly cited by specifiers in Europe and projects referencing EN 15804 (Grundfos, 2019) (Grundfos, 2019).
Where can I read KSB’s sustainability stance?
KSB hosts a sustainability section that outlines goals and claims, including the 30% of industrial electricity figure attributed to pumps and efficiency targets. See the environmental responsibility page (KSB environmental responsibility, 2025) (KSB environmental responsibility, 2025).
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.
