What Is an EPD and How to Use It in a Building Assessment?

17 June 2026

An EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) is a standardised, third-party verified document that quantifies the environmental impacts of a construction product across its life cycle, calculated in accordance with EN 15804. PNP XPS publishes an EPD for its XPS boards produced at the Várpalota plant, enabling architects, engineers and contractors to use verified environmental data in green building assessments, whole-building LCA calculations and procurement specifications.

What an EPD Is

An EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) is a standardised, independently verified document that discloses the quantified environmental performance of a product across some or all stages of its life cycle. EPDs for construction products are prepared in accordance with EN 15804 and are sometimes described as a "nutrition label" for buildings: they do not judge whether a product is good or bad, but provide comparable, audited data that a designer or assessor can use in calculations.

Under Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 (the Construction Products Regulation), a manufacturer may reference an EPD alongside a DoP (Declaration of Performance) to substantiate environmental claims. The DoP covers the product's declared technical properties (compressive strength, thermal conductivity, reaction to fire, etc.); the EPD covers the environmental dimension.

PNP Orange Kft. has published an EPD for XPS boards produced at the Várpalota plant (updated 2025-03-19). This document allows the environmental data for PNP XPS products to be used in project-level assessments without the need for site-specific measurements.

How an EPD Is Structured (EN 15804 Life-Cycle Stages)

EN 15804 divides a product's life cycle into modules. A typical EPD for a construction product covers some or all of the following:

Module group	Modules	What is covered
Product stage	A1–A3	Raw material extraction, transport to factory, manufacturing
Construction stage	A4–A5	Transport to site, installation into the building
Use stage	B1–B7	In-service impacts, maintenance, repair, replacement, refurbishment, operational energy and water use
End-of-life stage	C1–C4	Deconstruction, transport, waste processing, disposal
Beyond system boundary	D	Reuse, recovery and recycling potential (informative)

The modules declared in any given EPD depend on the applicable Product Category Rules (PCR). Check the PNP XPS EPD document directly for the scope of modules covered.

Key Environmental Indicators Reported

An EN 15804-compliant EPD reports a set of mandatory and optional environmental indicators. The most commonly used in building assessments include:

GWP (Global Warming Potential) — kg CO₂ equivalent; the primary indicator in carbon-focused assessments and green building rating tools.
ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential) — kg CFC-11 equivalent.
AP (Acidification Potential) — mol H⁺ equivalent.
EP (Eutrophication Potential) — kg PO₄³⁻ or mol N equivalent.
POCP (Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential) — kg NMVOC equivalent.
PENRT / PERT — Total non-renewable and renewable primary energy use, MJ.

For the precise declared values applicable to PNP XPS boards from the Várpalota plant, refer to the current EPD document (updated 2025-03-19) available from the documentation page.

How to Use the EPD in a Building Assessment

EPD data feeds into several workflows used by design teams in Central and Eastern Europe:

Whole-building life-cycle assessment (LCA). Import the declared GWP and other indicators (per declared unit, e.g. per m² or per kg) into your LCA software. Multiply by the quantity of insulation in the project to obtain a contribution to the building's total environmental profile. A qualified sustainability consultant or structural engineer should perform this calculation.
Green building rating schemes (e.g. BREEAM, LEED, DGNB, national schemes). Many credits require or reward manufacturer-published EPDs. The PNP XPS EPD can be submitted as evidence that the product's environmental data are third-party verified.
Material specification and procurement. Comparing EPDs from different manufacturers for the same product category (e.g. XPS boards to EN 13164) allows an apples-to-apples environmental comparison, provided the functional unit and system boundary are identical. This alone does not prove that one product is always preferable — thermal performance, service life and installation waste also affect the whole-building result.
Public and regulated procurement. Several EU member states are introducing or piloting mandatory whole-building LCA thresholds for public buildings. Using EPD-backed data positions a project to meet evolving regulatory requirements.
Carbon reporting and embodied-carbon targets. The A1–A3 GWP value from the EPD is the figure most commonly cited for embodied carbon accounting. Always confirm which modules are included before combining data across products.

Important: Selecting insulation thickness, verifying thermal resistance, checking fire performance and confirming structural adequacy remain engineering decisions. Refer to the current TDS and DoP for each product and consult a qualified designer. The EPD addresses environmental performance only.

EPD vs. DoP: Understanding the Difference

These two documents serve different purposes and should be read together:

Document	What it declares	Legal basis
DoP (Declaration of Performance)	Technical properties required by EN 13164 — compressive strength, λD, fire class, water absorption, dimensional stability, etc.	CPR 305/2011; mandatory for CE marking
EPD (Environmental Product Declaration)	Quantified environmental impacts across the life cycle, per EN 15804	Voluntary under CPR; required by some rating schemes and public procurement rules

Each PNP XPS product has its own DoP; the EPD covers the product family produced at Várpalota. Both documents are available from the documentation page.

Where to Find PNP XPS Environmental Documentation

The following documents are available for download:

EPD — PNP XPS (Várpalota plant), updated 2025-03-19 — documentation page
Individual DoPs for each product grade — documentation page
BIM objects (PNP BIM Libraries, updated 2025-02-24) containing product metadata — documentation page

For questions about using EPD data in a specific project context, contact PNP XPS at the contact page or by e-mail at sales@pnpinsulation.com.

Sources

EPD — PNP XPS (Várpalota plant), updated 2025-03-19
EN 15804:2012+A2:2019 (Environmental Product Declarations — Core rules for the product category of construction products)
EN 13164:2012+A1:2015 (Factory-made extruded polystyrene foam (XPS) products — Specification)
Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 (Construction Products Regulation, CPR)
PNP XPS product data (all grades), PNP Orange Kft. internal data block, retrieved 2026-09-18

Frequently asked questions

Is the PNP XPS EPD applicable to all products in the range?

The EPD covers XPS boards produced at the PNP Orange Kft. plant in Várpalota, Hungary. Check the EPD document (updated 2025-03-19) for the exact scope — the declared unit and applicable product grades are specified there. For product-level technical properties, each grade has its own DoP.

What is the functional unit used in the EPD?

The functional unit is specified in the EPD document itself. Refer to the current EPD (updated 2025-03-19), available on the documentation page, for the exact declared unit and reference service life used in the calculation.

Do I need an EPD to CE-mark XPS insulation boards?

No. CE marking requires a DoP (Declaration of Performance) under CPR 305/2011 and EN 13164:2012+A1:2015, not an EPD. An EPD is voluntary under the CPR but may be required by green building rating schemes, certain public procurement rules, or client specifications.

Can I compare the PNP XPS EPD directly with EPDs from other XPS manufacturers?

Comparison is valid only when both EPDs share the same product category rules, functional unit, system boundary and EN 15804 version. Even then, this alone does not prove overall equivalence — thermal performance, service life assumptions and installation factors all affect the whole-building result. A qualified LCA practitioner should conduct the comparison.

Where does XPS insulation have the greatest environmental impact according to a typical EPD?

For thermoplastic insulation boards, the A1–A3 (product stage) modules — particularly raw material production and manufacturing — typically represent the largest share of GWP. The use-stage benefit (reduced operational heating/cooling energy) is assessed at the whole-building level, not within the insulation EPD itself, and requires a qualified energy or LCA assessment to quantify.

How do I reference the EPD in a BREEAM or LEED submission?

Download the EPD document from the PNP XPS documentation page and include it as supporting evidence in your rating scheme credit submission, specifying the product grade, quantity used and the declared GWP (A1–A3 at minimum). The exact credit requirements and evidence format depend on the scheme version and assessor; consult a certified assessor for your specific project.