Rothoblaas: timber solutions with room for EPDs

Who Rothoblaas is and what they sell

Rothoblaas is a global player in timber construction based in Northern Italy, active across Europe and North America. They design and distribute solutions for fastening, airtightness and waterproofing, sound control, passive fire protection, tools, and fall protection, serving both off‑site and site‑built timber. Their catalog runs to hundreds of SKUs across multiple ranges, not a single‑product pure play.

For a quick sense of scope, think through where timber touches hardware and envelope. Screws and connectors for structural work, membranes and tapes for the envelope, resilient profiles for acoustic separation, plus PPE and lifeline systems for installers. It is a full‑stack offer for wood buildings.

EPDs today, at a glance

As of January 28, 2026, we see two current product EPDs published with EPD Italy. One covers XYLOFON resilient soundproofing profiles for acoustic decoupling EPD Italy, 2022. The second covers an air and water barrier membrane in the BARRIER family EPD Italy, 2021.

The membrane EPD is approaching its renewal window, with an expiry listed for May 18, 2026. Teams working on long timelines should plan accordingly [EPD Italy, 2021].

Coverage vs catalog

Rothoblaas offers many product families, yet only a small slice is covered by EPDs. That creates uneven visibility in specs. Acoustic strips and one membrane are documented. Large commercial categories like structural screws, timber connectors, many tapes and sealants, and fall protection are not broadly represented by EPDs in the public domain. When sales chases complex projects, this gap can mean extra questions or a quiet swap to a documented alternative.

Where competitors show up with EPDs

Specifiers looking for envelope products will find rivals with published declarations for membranes and vapor control layers, such as SIGA on European program operators. In hardware, major brands publish EPDs for steel and stainless screws, and connector systems used with engineered timber. None of this makes products inherently better, it simply lowers friction in submittals and helps teams hit carbon accounting rules without penalties.

A likely best‑seller without an EPD

Structural wood screws are a Rothoblaas flagship and a workhorse in mass timber. Without a product‑specific EPD, these screws can be harder to defend in bids where owners or LEED v5 oriented teams prefer declared products. Competitors with screw EPDs can slot in as equivalent in the eyes of a GC or façade package lead, even if performance is comparable. That is avoidable margin leakage.

The spec risk in plain terms

On projects that tally embodied carbon, a product without a product‑specific EPD often carries a penalty factor in calculations. That pushes it behind declared alternatives. The result is more substitutions, more time spent arguing equivalence, and more pressure to discount. One well‑targeted EPD per high‑velocity line item can flip that dynamic.

Fast path to better coverage

A practical play is to group high‑volume screws by material and coating under a common PCR, then move to connectors manufactured at the same site, then sealants and tapes where chemistry aligns. Pick the PCRs competitors already use, watch renewal dates, and stage releases so sales always has a fresh declaration in hand. The data collection lift is the bottleneck for most manufacturers, so choose an LCA partner that handles internal wrangling instead of handing you spreadsheets.

Where to start this quarter

1. Lock scope for a screw family, define reference year data, and map bill of materials and coatings.
2. Queue the connector range that shares manufacturing footprints to reuse datasets efficiently.
3. Refresh the membrane EPD before expiry so envelope wins keep flowing.

Sustainability signals on their site

Rothoblaas highlights energy efficiency, airtightness, and acoustic comfort across product guidance, with technical content that points to lower‑impact timber builds. Their pages on energy efficiency and envelope details are a good entry point for sustainability minded specifiers (Rothoblaas energy efficiency).

What this means for sales

Two or three well chosen EPDs unlock more than a marketing line. They give estimators and consultants the paperwork to keep Rothoblaas in the running when carbon is tracked. The cost of creating them is often recovered with a single mid‑sized project win. Miss that window and you might keep hearing the frustrating phrase, we love the product, but we need an EPD.