The Most Used PCRs in 2025
Hundreds of rulebooks jostle for attention, yet a tiny handful soak up most of the traffic. Here is the scoreboard for 2025, no advice, just numbers.
Defining “widely adopted”
For this rundown, a Product Category Rule (PCR) qualifies as “widely adopted” once it is referenced by more than fifteen manufacturers and underpins at least one hundred valid Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). Only seventeen PCRs clear that bar in 2025, or nine percent of the 187 active PCRs on the market today.
The top five by manufacturer count
- NAPA PCR for Asphalt Mixtures — 209 manufacturers, 12 015 EPDs, seven countries (NAPA Registry, 2025)
- NF EN 15804+A2 Core Construction PCR — 248 manufacturers, 1 474 EPDs, twenty-three countries (IBU, 2025)
- EPD Hub Core PCR — 242 manufacturers, 1 001 EPDs, thirty-six countries (EPD Hub, 2025)
- Electrical, Electronic and HVAC-R Products (PEP Ecopassport) — 127 manufacturers, 4 068 EPDs, twenty-four countries (PEP Association, 2024)
- Designated Steel Construction Products (CSA Group) — 66 manufacturers, 332 EPDs, thirteen countries (CSA, 2025)
Volume tells a different story
Manufacturer head-counts hide another axis: EPD volume. Wide-use PCRs average 2 408 EPDs each. Asphalt again tops the chart with more than twelve thousand declarations, triple the next contender. The Electrical–HVAC rulebook punches above its weight too, serving thirty-two EPDs per participating brand, versus six for the generic EN 15804 path.
Geography widens the moat
The average large-market PCR crosses eleven countries; the EPD Hub Core PCR reaches three times that. Such reach matters when a specifier in Denmark expects the same framework a buyer in Chile already trusts. Regional outliers remain: North American asphalt and French-led PEP electronics dominate their home turfs but don't venture beyond.
Who operates the rulebooks?
Multiple program operators often co-host the busiest PCRs. NF EN 15804+A2 appears under IBU, BRE, AFNOR, and others. Asphalt EPDs stay largely within the National Asphalt Pavement Association registry. Hub-based rulebooks leverage a single global operator yet field local verifiers, trimming duplicated docuements.
A quick look at momentum
Valid EPDs issued under wide-use PCRs jumped from 756 in 2021 to 6 251 in 2025. The spike traces to accelerated asphalt and electronics filings in 2024, then a burst of EN 15804 updates this year when many earlier A1 editions hit renewal.
What this means for manufacturing teams
Narrow PCRs are not dead; forty-five percent still serve a single manufacturer. Yet if your product aligns to one of the seventeen rulebooks above, you are swimming in the mainstream and can avoid the development work for a brand-new PCR. Competitive benchmarking becomes easier, and verifiers know the templates by heart.
About the Author
Walker Ryan is a climate-tech entrepreneur focused on driving industrial decarbonization through better data. As the founder and CEO of Parq, he helps manufacturers generate high-quality, third-party–verified carbon disclosures at scale—accelerating a traditionally slow and expensive process. Before starting Parq, Walker led over $200 million in sustainability-focused investments as VP of Strategy & Growth at ReStream Solutions, following earlier experience in investment banking at Deutsche Bank. He brings a rare mix of capital markets expertise and hands-on sustainability knowledge to tackling the infrastructure of industrial emissions.
