Prysmian Group: where EPDs are strong, and what’s next
Prysmian Group sits at the center of modern electrification. From medium and high voltage power links to everyday building wire and telecoms, the catalog is deep and global. The question specifiers care about is simple: how well are these products covered by verifiable Environmental Product Declarations, and where could more coverage unlock easier wins on projects that prefer or require them?
Who they are and what they sell
Prysmian Group unites the Prysmian, Draka and General Cable brands across energy and telecom cables. Think building wire, tray and metal‑clad, utility overhead conductors, MV and HV grid cables, subsea transmission links, fiber optic and copper data cables, and accessories. Their sustainability hub outlines site certifications and targets, useful context for procurement teams (Prysmian, Environmental Responsibility, 2025).
How broad is the construction portfolio
For the built environment, Prysmian competes across more than a dozen cable families, with individual SKUs in the hundreds. That spans low voltage branch circuit wire for interiors, feeders, service entrance, PV wire, instrumentation and control, MV distribution, and specialty fire resistant lines, plus fiber and copper data cabling.
EPD coverage at a glance
Publicly registered EPDs exist for multiple Prysmian entities and brands, across European and North American program operators. In the US market, product‑specific EPDs cover mainstream building wire families such as THHN and XHHW, metal‑clad and tray cables, PV wire, and utility conductors, which maps well to common Division 26 and 33 specs. In Northern Europe, many LV and MV power and installation cables carry EPDs under regional operators, often grouped by cable family with size ranges included.
That said, telecom categories like certain fiber cable families and some connectivity items appear with fewer publicly listed EPDs in some markets than power products. Accessories and cable management hardware are also spottier, which is common across the sector rather than unique to one manufacturer.
Why this coverage matters on bids
LEED v4.1 awards credit for using products with compliant, program‑operator verified EPDs, which directly affects materials submittals and how fast a package clears review (USGBC LEED v4.1 MR EPD credit, 2024). If your spec set relies on generic declarations or lacks them altogether, project teams often substitute toward comparable SKUs with product‑specific EPDs to reduce documentation risk.
Competitive pressure you will feel
Several frequent rivals publish aggressively in cables. Examples include:
- Southwire, which states it has 100 plus independently verified EPDs that represent over 90 percent of wire and cable product sales (Southwire, 2025).
- Nexans, whose Nordic unit reports EPD or PEP coverage for more than 80 percent of sales in Norway, with third‑party verification and digital data distribution to the EFO database (Nexans Norway, 2024).
When a project team can choose functionally equivalent cable with an EPD from a competitor, your product may still win on performance or cost, but it starts the race with a documentation handicap. That is avoidable.
Where Prysmian looks strong today
For US commercial buildings and industrial campuses, the coverage of low voltage building wire, tray, MC, SER and PV wire is generally solid and current. On utility work, overhead and distribution conductors are also well represented. In Nordics and parts of the EU, installation and MV distribution families show broad coverage, including many halogen‑free lines. This is the heart of day‑to‑day specifications, which helps keep submittals clean and fast.
Likely gaps worth closing
If you sell into healthcare, data centers, education and transit, expect requests for telecom cable EPDs to increase. Expanding public, product‑specific EPDs for key fiber families and commonly bundled accessories reduces the chance that a low‑risk substitution sneaks in late. Another high‑ROI move is harmonizing EPD families across regions, so global accounts can standardize without re‑vetting documentation every time the job crosses a border.
Smart playbook to accelerate the next EPDs
Pick the prevalent PCR for electrical cables in your target market, align on the operator early, then make data collection painless for plants. The best partners will shoulder utility pulls, BOM reconciliation and allocation logic, and will publish with your preferred operator so your teams are not stuck in week‑long email loops. For new or fast‑moving SKUs, a prospective EPD based on an initial production window can open doors now, then be refreshed once a full year of data is available. That cadence keeps sales moving while quality stays tight.
The spec game, simplified
Prysmian’s portfolio already checks many EPD boxes where most construction spend happens. Closing the visible gaps in telecom and accessory families would make the catalog harder to swap out on LEED‑targeted projects and corporate frameworks that give preference to product‑specific EPDs (USGBC, 2024). The cost of getting a few more families over the line is often dwarfed by one mid‑sized project win. Let’s keep that momentum going, and make the paperwork as easy as flipping a breaker. It is kind of a no‑brainer, isnt it?
Frequently Asked Questions
Which product families from Prysmian typically have published EPDs in the US market?
Building wire like THHN and XHHW, metal‑clad and tray cables, PV wire, and overhead or distribution conductors are commonly covered by product‑specific EPDs with major operators. Coverage in these families tends to be current and aligns with Division 26 and 33 demand.
Do EPDs for cable families apply to all sizes and variants?
Often yes. Many cable EPDs are published at the family level with defined size ranges, so a single declaration can support many SKUs. Always check the declared scope and the appendix listing of included cross sections.
Where is Prysmian’s EPD coverage thinner, and why does it matter commercially?
Telecom fiber families and certain accessories appear less consistently in public registries. On projects that prefer or require EPDs, gaps invite substitutions toward competitors whose catalogs have product‑specific EPDs, which can impact win rates.
Which competitors are most likely to show up on the same spec?
Southwire, Nexans, NKT, Encore Wire, and LS Cable frequently compete in similar applications. Some publish broad sets of EPDs, which can sway documentation‑sensitive buyers (Southwire, 2025, Nexans Norway, 2024).
Where can we read Prysmian’s sustainability posture to brief our sales team?
Start with the company’s environmental responsibility page, which summarizes site certifications and management systems across the network (Prysmian, 2025).
About the Author
With a passion for sustainability and a love for complex data, Toby helps manufacturers efficiently collect data from across their organization and get their EPDs done right. He’s especially interested in how AI can support human expertise, helping R&D and factory teams work faster, smarter, and with less friction.
