PABCO in focus: products and EPD coverage

Who PABCO is, and what they sell

PABCO Building Products sits under Pacific Coast Building Products with three divisions serving construction: PABCO Gypsum, PABCO Roofing Products, and PABCO Paper. Gypsum covers standard and specialty drywall families like FLAME CURB Type X, PABCO GLASS sheathing, abuse and impact boards, and the QuietRock line for sound control. Roofing is residential‑leaning asphalt shingles with signature profiles like Cascade, plus starter and ridge components. Paper supplies gypsum liner and packaging grades.

They operate across several product categories and, by our read, offer dozens of gypsum SKUs and dozens of shingle SKUs. That gives specifiers breadth, though breadth only helps where documentation keeps up.

EPD snapshot at a glance

PABCO Gypsum publicly states that all QuietRock panels have third‑party verified Type III EPDs and that 5/8" FLAME CURB Type X and PABCO GLASS sheathing participated in the Gypsum Association industry‑wide EPDs. See their sustainability page for the source documents and links to declarations and HPDs (PABCO Gypsum sustainability). Industry‑wide EPDs are valid and useful. In many bids, however, product‑specific EPDs are the fast lane to acceptance because they avoid conservative default assumptions in owner policies.

Coverage across the full gypsum catalog appears partial. QuietRock looks strong on documentation. Everyday workhorse boards like Regular, some abuse or impact boards, or various specialty SKUs are less clear from public listings. If a project team asks for board‑by‑board EPDs, that ambiguity can slow a submittal or push a spec in another direction.

Roofing: what is covered and what is not

PABCO Roofing points to the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association’s industry‑wide EPD for asphalt shingle roofing systems, and positions it as the transparency vehicle for shingles. You can reach their overview and the ARMA reference link on the PABCO Roofing sustainability page (PABCO Roofing sustainability). Shingles remain a giant residential category, with 172 million squares shipped in the U.S. in 2024, so an accepted industry‑wide EPD matters commercially (Roofing Contractor using ARMA data, 2025) (Roofing Contractor, 2025).

Some owners and jurisdictions increasingly prefer product‑specific EPDs when they are available. UL’s Part B PCR for Asphalt Roofing Products remains current to May 31, 2026, so the rulebook exists for brand‑level asphalt shingle EPDs if a manufacturer wants to claim product‑specific performance (UL Solutions, 2025) (UL Solutions, 2025).

Where PABCO looks strongest on documentation

• QuietRock sound‑damping panels. The brand’s own resources and document library show Type III product‑specific EPDs, plus HPDs and VOC certificates. It is a clean fit for healthcare, hospitality, and multifamily programs where acoustics and paperwork meet. Their sustainability hub is here, with direct links to EPDs and HPDs (PABCO Gypsum sustainability).

• Participation in gyspum industry‑wide EPDs for select boards. That keeps basic drywall in the conversation on projects that allow industry averages.

Likely gaps that could cost specs

• Bread‑and‑butter gypsum boards. If a submittal needs a product‑specific EPD for standard Type X or mold‑ and abuse‑resistant boards at the plant level, PABCO’s public materials do not clearly list those today. Sales teams then face the classic stall. They either pivot SKUs or argue that industry‑wide is acceptable, which works on some jobs but not on owner policies that prefer product‑specific.

• Asphalt shingles. Leaning only on ARMA’s industry‑wide EPD can be enough for many residential jobs. It is less persuasive on owner‑driven programs that score product‑specific documents higher. In a spec review, that opens the door to material substitutions with product‑specific EPDs, including alternate roofing systems if the application allows it.

The competitive picture PABCO meets most often

Gypsum competitors with deep EPD benches include USG and National Gypsum. USG maintains multiple product‑specific EPDs for gypsum panels within the ASTM EPD program, which spec teams can pull straight into submittals (ASTM EPD listings, 2025) (ASTM, 2025). National Gypsum publishes plant‑level board EPDs and assemblies on its site, often used on education and healthcare work (National Gypsum EPDs). CertainTeed routinely refreshes drywall EPDs and is a frequent alternate in West Coast bids.

On steep‑slope roofing, core shingle rivals include GAF, Owens Corning, and CertainTeed Roofing. Many specifiers treat the ARMA industry‑wide EPD as the minimum bar for shingles. Where a project tilts toward product‑specific transparency, alternatives sometimes jump categories to single‑ply or other systems that carry brand EPDs. That is not apples to apples, but it does happen in owner reviews.

Why this matters for sales, not just sustainability

For LEED v5‑oriented clients and corporates with embodied‑carbon policies, not having a product‑specific EPD carries a scoring penalty. That means the product gets modeled with conservative defaults, so it must win on price or relationships. A current, verified EPD reduces friction in the submittal and lifts the chance to stay in the base spec rather than becoming an easy swap.

A practical roadmap PABCO could run now

• Prioritize high‑velocity gypsum SKUs for product‑specific EPDs, starting with standard Type X and moisture or abuse lines. Use the PCR already common in competitor sets to keep comparability simple.
• Confirm data system boundaries match how specifiers model assemblies, then publish through a widely recognized operator. Keep renewal dates visible in the document library so submittals do not stall late in a bid cycle.
• For shingles, decide whether key channels or owner accounts would reward a brand‑specific EPD. The PCR infrastructure exists, and publishing one for the top sellers could defend against substitution on transparency grounds (UL Solutions, 2025) (UL Solutions, 2025).

We always advise teams to capture utility and production data once, then let a partner do the heavy lifting across plants and SKUs. That keeps engineers and ops focused on production, not paperwork.

Where to find PABCO’s sustainability materials

Start with the gypsum sustainability page for EPDs, HPDs, and VOC documents, plus program notes on QuietRock and Gypsum Association participation (PABCO Gypsum sustainability). For shingles, the PABCO Roofing sustainability page aggregates ARMA EPD references and cool‑roof information (PABCO Roofing sustainability). Their corporate products overview is useful when mapping categories to documentation needs (PABCO Building Products – Products).

Bottom line

PABCO is definately a multi‑category manufacturer, not a pure play. Documentation is strongest on QuietRock, adequate where industry‑wide EPDs suffice, and thinner for everyday gypsum boards where many bids now prefer product‑specific proof. Roofing leans on ARMA’s industry‑wide EPD, which keeps them in the game but leaves room for rivals to out‑document them. Tighten those pieces and they will remove avoidable friction from specs and submittals, which is the simplest way to win back time and close more of the projects they already have a shot at.