Nystrom: Product Range and EPD Readiness
Nystrom is a go‑to for the unglamorous gear that keeps buildings safe and moving, from roof hatches to entrance flooring. Their portfolio spans many openings and protection products. Their EPD footprint, however, appears thin today. That gap matters wherever project teams model embodied carbon or prefer products with verified declarations. Here is a plain‑spoken snapshot for spec‑driven teams weighing where EPDs would pay back fastest.
Nystrom at a glance
Nystrom manufactures specialty building components used across commercial projects in North America. Think access doors, roof hatches, smoke vents, floor doors, entrance mats and grilles, expansion joint systems, fire cabinets, luminous egress, stair treads and nosings, and vision lites and louvers. Their site also speaks to environmental and social responsibility in a culture page that touches sustainability, ethics, and workplace safety (Nystrom Culture).
What they actually sell
This is a multi‑category manufacturer rather than a pure play. The catalog covers roughly ten product families that show up in hospitals, schools, data centers, airports, and offices. SKU depth looks to be in the hundreds when you count sizes, materials, load ratings, and finishes. That variety is great for cross‑selling, and it also means EPDs should be prioritized where they influence specs most.
EPD coverage today
As of December 19, 2025, we did not find product‑specific EPDs published by Nystrom across major public registries or their site. If something exists privately, it is not easy for specifiers to discover or model. For bid cycles where teams must document embodied carbon, a missing EPD often pushes modelers to use conservative defaults that make a product less attractive on paper.
A fast win: louvers and openings
Louvers are a visible Nystrom category. Greenheck, a frequent competitor in airflow products, publishes EPDs for select louvers, including the ESD‑635D hurricane louver, which gives them an immediate advantage on projects that request declarations. See Greenheck’s product page for the ESD‑635D to get a feel for how the documentation is surfaced to spec teams. When a comparable Nystrom louver shows up without a declaration, it can be swapped out even if performance is otherwise similar.
Entrance flooring and floor doors
Entrance mats and grilles affect cleanliness, slip resistance, and operations. On large public or healthcare projects, teams increasingly bundle these with broader low‑carbon goals. Floor doors and hatches ride the same submittal wave. Neither category is inherently hard to model, which is why they are smart candidates for first EPDs. Start where volume and margin intersect.
Competitive set you will meet on specs
Roof hatches and smoke vents often compete with Bilco, Milcor, and Acudor. Access doors overlap with Acudor and Babcock‑Davis. Louvers and vision lites show up against Greenheck and Ruskin. Expansion joint covers are frequently compared with Construction Specialties, Balco, and Sika Emseal. Luminous egress competes with Ecoglo and American PERMALIGHT. Stair treads and nosings are often benchmarked against Wooster Products. The names vary by region and distributor, but these are the usual suspects.
Why EPDs matter commercially in 2026 bids
Two signals stand out. First, the International EPD System reports 18,076 EPDs published to date, which shows how common verified declarations have become in procurement and design tools (EPD International, 2025) (EPD International, 2025). Second, Caltrans now requires EPD submittals for asphalt and concrete on projects with bid openings on or after February 1, 2025, which illustrates how public owners are formalizing embodied‑carbon workflows that rely on product‑specific data rather than estimates (Caltrans, 2025) (Caltrans, 2025). Even when a project is outside transportation, owners and GCs carry those same expectations into vertical building work.
What to publish first, and how
Pick three to five high‑runner SKUs from two categories that face the toughest competition or highest revenue stakes. Louvers and entrance flooring often qualify. Use the PCR most common among competitors, confirm it aligns with EN 15804 or ISO 21930, and check its sunset date so your fresh EPD does not sit on a soon‑to‑expire rule. Treat the reference year like an audit window. Pull utilities, production volumes, and scrap for the full year where possible, or create a prospective EPD if a product is new, then true it up after a full year of data.
Make data collection painless for your team
Strong LCA partners do the heavy lifting. They coordinate facility contacts, extract bills of materials, reconcile utilities, and manage verifier questions. They also publish with the operator your buyers prefer. In the US that is often Smart EPD, in Europe frequently IBU. The result is credible, comparable declarations in weeks rather than quarters, without pulling engineers off core work. No one wants another spreadsheet marathon, so dont sign up for one.
Bottom line for Nystrom watchers
Nystrom’s portfolio breadth is a gift. It lets them concentrate EPD investment where it will move the most specs, then expand coverage category by category. A focused wave for louvers and entrance flooring would close a visible gap against competitors that already surface enviromental declarations, while giving sales a clean story for LEED v5 oriented projects and public owners who prefer verified data over assumptions. That is how paperwork turns into pipeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Nystrom currently publish product-specific EPDs for its core categories like roof hatches, access doors, or louvers?
As of December 19, 2025, we did not find publicly available, product-specific EPDs for Nystrom in major registries or on their website. If internal declarations exist, they are not easily discoverable by specifiers.
Which Nystrom categories are most likely to benefit first from EPDs?
Louvers and entrance flooring are strong starting points because competitors already surface EPDs in airflow products, and entrance systems show up in many public and healthcare specs. High-volume floor doors are another candidate.
What external signals prove EPDs are now expected on projects?
The International EPD System lists 18,076 published EPDs as of late 2025, showing broad adoption in procurement and modeling tools (EPD International, 2025). Caltrans requires EPDs for asphalt and concrete on projects with bid openings on or after February 1, 2025, a clear public-sector precedent (Caltrans, 2025).
If we start with a small subset of SKUs, will older EPDs disadvantage us later?
Within the validity window, older EPDs do not typically hurt specs unless they are close to expiring. Publish now on priority SKUs, then refresh on a normal cycle aligned to PCR updates.
Which program operator should we choose for U.S. and European visibility?
Pick the operator your buyers recognize and the tools they use pull from. In the U.S., Smart EPD is common. In Europe, IBU and The International EPD System are widely used. Many operators accept mutual recognition or dual registration, so one verified core can be cross‑listed where needed.
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.
