Safway Group and EPDs: what really matters
Safway Group sits in a different lane from most building product manufacturers. Their core is scaffolding, suspended access, and site services that are rented, reused, and removed before handover. That makes their EPD picture look unusual at first glance and very normal once you zoom in on how LEED v5 style projects count materials.
Who they are and what they offer
Safway Group, now part of the broader BrandSafway family, focuses on access solutions and industrial services. Think system scaffolding, tube and clamp, suspended platforms, mast climbers, material hoists, and project services such as design, erection, and dismantling. In some regions they also provide shoring and forming solutions plus field services like insulation, coatings, and fireproofing.
Product breadth at a glance
The portfolio spans several categories of temporary works along with service offerings. Individual components and accessories likely run into the hundreds of SKUs across rails, ledgers, decks, connectors, casters, and safety gear. Most of that is standardized kit designed for repeated rental cycles rather than one-off sale.
EPD coverage today
We could not find product-specific EPDs published under the Safway or BrandSafway names as of December 20, 2025. That is not a red flag. EPD credits on green building projects typically apply to permanently installed products. Temporary works like scaffolding are removed and therefore usually fall outside the materials accounting that earns EPD-related credit.
Why this matters for bids anyway
Even if access gear does not earn EPD credit, jobs still require clean documentation and fast approvals. When Safway installs materials that do remain in the building such as fireproofing, thermal insulation, or protective coatings, the presence or absence of a product-specific EPD can influence selection because design teams prefer products with third party verified declarations under ISO 14025 and EN 15804.
Competitors and where EPDs show up
Safway typically competes with Layher, PERI, Altrad, and regional scaffolding providers for access scopes. In shoring and formwork, project teams also compare against PERI and Doka. For owner-furnished permanent materials installed by Safway’s industrial services, the spec stack often includes brands like Carboline, Sherwin-Williams, PPG, Isolatek, and others. Many of those manufacturers publish EPDs for intumescent fireproofing, cementitious fireproofing, and select industrial coatings through established program operators. That can tilt preference when EPDs are requested by the project team.
Missed opportunities if EPDs are ignored
Picture a hospital addition with tight carbon targets. If two equal fireproofing systems are on the table and only one has a product-specific EPD, the product with the declaration often moves forward because it removes the penalty of using conservative default factors in the carbon tally. Without the EPD, the installer’s preferred system may be swapped, which quietly erodes win rate and margin. Specifers notice this gap fast.
A practical EPD playbook for an access and services business
Start with the permanent materials your teams install, not the rental equipment.
- Build a living EPD library for fireproofing, insulation, and protective coatings used most often. Keep current PDFs and summary sheets in the submittal kit folder by product line.
- Add an EPD requirement into vendor POs for those materials. If an EPD is missing, ask for timeline and push for a product-specific Type III version rather than a generic.
- Train estimators and project managers to flag RFPs that mention LEED v5 materials criteria. Early identification prevents last week scrambles.
- For scaffolding components, explore a pilot EPD for a standard steel or aluminum ledger to quantify reuse benefits. Clients pursuing whole life carbon accounting increasingly ask about temporary works footprints in their internal reporting, even if credits do not count them directly.
What owners and GCs expect right now
Procurement teams favor suppliers who show up with clean, verifiable paperwork. A tidy EPD package alongside safety, QA, and schedule data shortens review cycles and removes excuses for substitutions. Teams that standardize this workflow win more often because they reduce friction at exactly the moment decisions get made.
Quick takeaways
Safway’s core products are temporary and reused, so an empty EPD roster under their own name is normal. The commercial upside sits in curating EPDs for the permanent materials they install and, where strategic, piloting a product-specific EPD for a common scaffold component to showcase circular use. Do that and the access scope becomes easier to award on complex, low carbon projects, without turning every bid into a price-only contest.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does scaffolding usually count toward EPD credits on LEED projects?
No. Credits focus on permanently installed products, while scaffolding is temporary and removed before handover.
Roughly how many product categories does Safway operate in?
Several, including scaffolding and suspended access, with shoring or forming in some markets, plus industrial services like insulation and coatings.
If Safway has few or no EPDs, what should they do first?
Prioritize the EPDs of permanent materials they install. Build a current EPD library and require EPDs in upstream purchasing.
Who are the recurring competitors?
Layher, PERI, Altrad, and regional providers for access. PERI and Doka in formwork. Major coating and fireproofing brands for installed materials.
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.
