What if your team could prove the environmental performance of every wood product – with complete confidence and no sustainability expertise required?
Summary (TL;DR)
- Timber Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) turn complex life cycle data into clear, standardized metrics you can use to build trust, meet regulations, and compete in modern construction supply chains.
- Ecochain’s LCA automation software makes these disclosures accessible to sustainability and product teams – no consultants or Excel spreadsheets needed.
- This guide shows how you can demystify timber EPDs, confidently conduct LCA for your products and meet compliance requirements without needing sustainability expertise.
Timber EPD explained: What is an Environmental Product Declaration for wood products?
A timber Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a third-party verified document that quantifies the environmental impacts of a wood product across its full life cycle, using a standardized Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach.
Timber EPDs provide measurable, transparent, and comparable information on the environmental performance of products, making complex sustainability data accessible for sustainability and product teams – without needing deep expertise in environmental science.
Timber EPDs are built on the requirements of EN 15804 (including the +A2 amendment) and ISO 14025 standards. This ensures each declaration uses consistent methodology and covers the same environmental indicators and life cycle stages. EPDs typically remain valid for five years, supporting manufacturers and specifiers as they respond to changing market and regulatory demands.
Environmental performance is reported for all key life cycle phases:
- A1-A3: Raw material extraction, transport, and manufacturing
- C1-C4: End-of-life processing, including demolition, waste treatment, and disposal
- D: Potential benefits from reuse, recycling, or energy recovery outside the product system
By following these protocols, timber EPDs allow manufacturers to communicate product environmental credentials with confidence. For business users, EPDs enable quick comparison of environmental metrics such as carbon footprint, energy use, and water consumption. This supports data-driven decision-making for sustainable product development, procurement, and regulatory compliance.
Timber EPD certification process: Step-by-step guide for sustainability and product teams
You can certify the environmental performance of your wood products using a clear, repeatable process designed for business users – no sustainability expertise required. Timber EPD certification combines standardized data collection, independent verification, and the power of sustainable forestry certification to help you meet both regulatory requirements and market expectations.
The certification workflow includes five key steps:
- Define data collection requirements for your timber products (material inputs, energy sources, transport, and waste)
- Collect at least one year of operational data to ensure accuracy and representativeness
- Conduct timber life cycle assessment (LCA) following recognized standards
- Prepare a background report documenting all data, calculation methods, and assumptions
- Submit all documentation for third-party verification; upon approval, publish the verified EPD to share with customers and regulators
| Step | Main focus | Business user responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Data requirements | Material, energy, transport, waste | Coordinate data collection from internal teams |
| 2. Data collection | 12+ months of operational data | Compile and validate data accuracy |
| 3. LCA calculation | Standardized impact assessment | Work with LCA software like Ecochain or consulting businesses |
| 4. Background report | Documentation and transparency | Review and approve the LCA background report |
| 5. Verification & publication | Third-party review | Coordinate submission and respond to feedback |
Sustainable timber certificates such as FSC or PEFC support your EPD by demonstrating responsible sourcing and enabling negative emissions credits – reflecting carbon stored in the wood. Verified EPDs position your business for regulatory compliance, trusted environmental claims, and competitive advantage in demanding wood product markets.
Timber EPD methodology: Standards, LCA stages, and data requirements
You can measure the environmental performance of timber products using a standardized approach that turns complex life cycle data into clear business metrics. Timber Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) use recognized environmental lifecycle standards – EN 15804 (+A2) and ISO 14025 – so your results are both credible and comparable across markets.
The backbone of every timber EPD is a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This methodology maps the full journey of your wood product, from raw material extraction through manufacturing, transport, and end-of-life. The LCA for timber EPDs is structured into key stages:
- A1-A3: Raw material supply, transport to the manufacturer, and product manufacturing
- C1-C4: End-of-life, including deconstruction, waste treatment, and disposal
- D: Benefits from reuse, recycling, or energy recovery beyond the product’s life
Reporting must cover A1-A3, C1-C4, and D, providing a full picture for your product’s environmental footprint. With these standards, you can benchmark, compare, and improve your timber product life cycle metrics.
A robust timber EPD depends on reliable data. You’ll need to collect operational data such as:
- Material flows and input quantities
- Moisture content (for example, 12.7% ± 4.2%)
- Biogenic carbon content (about 733 kg CO₂ per cubic meter of wood)
- Energy consumption by type (biomass, diesel, electricity)
- Transport distances and modes
- Waste generation and emissions
Half the dry mass of timber is carbon. For example, a timber component weighing 460 kg at 15% moisture has a dry mass of around 400 kg, translating to roughly 200 kg of carbon – sequestering about 733 kg of CO₂ per cubic meter.
| Data point | Typical value / Unit | Purpose in LCA |
|---|---|---|
| Material Flows | kg of raw material | Defines input and output mass balance |
| Moisture Content | 12.7% ± 4.2% | Adjusts carbon calculations |
| Biogenic Carbon Content | ~733 kg CO₂/m³ | Quantifies sequestered carbon |
| Energy Use | kWh, liters, MJ | Assesses manufacturing and transport impacts |
| Transport Distance | km | Calculates emissions from logistics |
| Waste & Emissions | kg, tons, CO₂e | Measures end-of-life and operational impacts |
Timber EPDs built on this LCA methodology give you actionable, product-level sustainability metrics – empowering business users to make informed decisions without sustainability expertise.
Interpreting timber EPD data: Environmental indicators and business impacts
Timber Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) transform technical life cycle data into clear environmental performance metrics for wood products. Business users can quickly assess the sustainability of timber by reviewing the main indicators reported in every EPD, supporting confident decision-making in product development, supply chain management, and regulatory compliance.
Timber EPDs always include quantified results for a set of core environmental indicators, enabling transparent product comparisons and reliable reporting. The most important indicators for environmental impact assessment of wood products are:
- Global Warming Potential (GWP): Measures total greenhouse gases released, including both fossil and biogenic carbon, as CO₂-equivalent.
- Biogenic carbon storage: Quantifies the carbon captured and stored in the wood, often resulting in negative emissions for the raw material stage (A1) if the timber is from sustainably managed forests.
- Primary energy demand: Tracks total energy used across the product life cycle, separated by renewable and non-renewable sources.
- Water use: Reports total water consumed from raw material extraction to product manufacturing.
- Acidification potential: Assesses the contribution of emissions to acid rain, which can damage ecosystems.
- Eutrophication potential: Measures the risk of nutrient overload in water bodies, affecting aquatic life.
- Other emissions: Includes particulate matter, photochemical ozone creation, and resource depletion.
Timber EPDs make it possible to analyze both the carbon footprint of wood and broader environmental impacts. For example, if a designer is comparing two timber suppliers for a multi-family housing project, reviewing their EPDs will show differences in GWP, energy use, and water consumption. By selecting the supplier with lower GWP and higher biogenic carbon storage, the project can deliver a lower whole life carbon impact and meet more stringent sustainability criteria.
Business users often use industry carbon calculators and LCA software to further interpret EPD data, estimate upfront and operational emissions, and model the eco impact of wood products in different applications. This approach turns complex emissions analysis into actionable business insights – empowering teams to make choices that improve both environmental performance and regulatory outcomes.
Timber EPDs for regulatory compliance and green building standards
Timber EPDs make regulatory compliance and participation in sustainable construction straightforward for business users. You can use EPDs to demonstrate that your wood products meet strict requirements under regulations such as CDR, CSRD, CBAM, ESPR, and Net Zero targets. Each EPD provides third-party verified environmental data, giving you the confidence to back up every claim in your procurement and project documentation.
Green building standards increasingly demand transparent product data. Certifications like LEED, BREEAM, and DGNB often require or reward EPD-backed timber products. Supplying EPDs allows your products to qualify for these programs, opening doors to projects that prioritize sustainability and low-carbon construction. Your team can use EPD data to prove compliance, gain credits, and meet customer expectations for responsible sourcing.
Accurate reporting of embodied carbon – now a core focus for regulators and specifiers – becomes efficient with EPDs. You can track and report whole life carbon, supporting both compliance and proactive sustainability goals. EPDs provide the documentation needed for environmental reporting, supplier assessments, and public claims.
Timber EPDs support supply chain transparency and position your business for success in regulated and green building markets. They help you respond to rising expectations for eco standards in wood products, while enabling smooth integration into global construction projects that demand verified environmental performance.
Digital tools and resources for timber EPD automation
You can automate timber EPD workflows across your product portfolio using digital tools designed for business users – no LCA expertise required. LCA software for wood, such as Ecochain and One Click LCA, streamlines every step from data collection to calculation and reporting. These digital assessment tools remove manual bottlenecks and make environmental metrics accessible for both product teams and compliance managers.
Carbon calculators quickly estimate the amount of CO2 stored in timber and emissions released throughout the product life cycle. Centralized EPD databases offer instant access to verified declarations, making benchmarking and supply chain reporting more efficient for your team. Lifecycle analytics platforms support consistent EPD generation, so you can scale sustainability performance evaluation across all your wood products.
- Automate product-level data collection and LCA calculations for timber
- Generate EPDs quickly with standardized templates and workflows
- Estimate carbon storage and emissions using integrated calculators
- Benchmark your products with access to industry EPD databases
- Support repeatable, scalable sustainability reporting across your portfolio
With digital tools and resources, you can confidently manage timber EPD compliance, streamline product assessments, and build a transparent foundation for sustainable product development.
Best practices for sustainability and product teams: Achieving sustainability with timber EPDs
You can drive measurable sustainability improvements in your timber products using Environmental Product Declarations as a foundation for decision-making. EPDs give business users clear, product-level metrics to benchmark resource use, carbon storage, and supply chain impacts without needing to be a sustainability expert.
Follow these best practices to maximize the benefits of timber EPDs across your product portfolio:
- Use EPD data to benchmark environmental performance and set improvement targets for each timber product line.
- Source timber from certified, sustainably managed forests (such as FSC or PEFC) to maximize carbon storage and demonstrate eco compliance.
- Regularly update your EPDs with new operational data and process improvements to reflect continuous progress.
- Integrate EPD insights directly into product design, procurement, and supply chain analysis to guide material choices and sustainable sourcing.
- Communicate verified EPD results to customers and stakeholders to build trust, support regulatory submissions, and differentiate your products in the market.
With these steps, you can make timber EPDs a practical tool for sustainable forestry practices, responsible sourcing, and ongoing resource sustainability in your operations.
Scale timber EPDs as your portfolio grows
Your EPD program might start with a single high-priority product. But what happens when the scope changes?
For example, you add a new product line. Open a factory in a new region. Enter a market with stricter environmental rules. Acquire a competitor and suddenly manage 200 products instead of 20.
If you’re managing EPDs manually – through spreadsheets and consultants on speed dial – that’s when the real costs start to appear. All of a sudden, you’re rebuilding models. Waiting weeks for verification. Explaining to leadership why scaling up takes longer, not less time.
What if you actually built an LCA data foundation once and used it for multiple EPDs? With Ecochain, you can create a lifecycle model for your production facility, then attribute to production processes and then your products. When you add a new product, your structure holds. When regulations shift, you update your data sources and recalculate across your entire portfolio instantly. When a customer asks for a product-specific footprint, you have it in weeks, not months.
This approach works whether you’re publishing five EPDs or 500.
LCA automation removes the manual work. Your team focuses on actual decisions – sourcing changes, material swaps, design optimizations – and sees instantly how those choices affect your environmental footprint. Sales gets what they need for tenders. Leadership gets compliance proof. You’re not managing spreadsheets or coordinating between external consultants.
You own the process. You own the data. You adapt without rebuilding from scratch. You’re not paying consultants for every update.
That’s what Ecochain builds. Software for your team that automates lifecycle assessment and scales with you – from your first EPD to your full portfolio. You get automation that works, plus expert support that gets you there faster.
Click here to learn more about how you can create EPDs at scale with Ecochain, cost-efficiently.
FAQ
What is a timber EPD PDF?
A timber EPD PDF is a published Environmental Product Declaration document for a wood product. It details the quantified environmental impacts, methodology, and data sources, making lifecycle transparency clear and ready to share with stakeholders.
Is there a standard template for timber EPDs?
Timber EPDs follow structured templates based on EN 15804 and ISO 14025 standards. These templates guide data reporting, impact categories, lifecycle stages, and verification, ensuring consistency and comparability across published EPDs.
What is a plywood EPD?
A plywood EPD is a specific Environmental Product Declaration for plywood. It reports the environmental impacts of producing plywood throughout its life cycle, supporting regulatory compliance and sustainable sourcing claims.
What is a timber frame EPD?
A timber frame EPD quantifies environmental impacts for timber framing systems, covering stages from raw material extraction to manufacturing, transportation, use, and end-of-life. This supports construction, procurement, and green building certifications.
What is a Glulam EPD?
A Glulam EPD declares the environmental performance of glued laminated timber products, following standardized life cycle assessment and third-party verification. It helps demonstrate compliance, procurement transparency, and carbon savings.
What is a CLT EPD?
A CLT EPD provides an Environmental Product Declaration for cross-laminated timber, summarizing life cycle impacts such as carbon storage, global warming potential, and energy use for this engineered wood material.
What is a Freres EPD?
A Freres EPD is the Environmental Product Declaration published by Freres for their engineered wood products. It outlines lifecycle metric data and supports supply chain transparency for customers and regulators.
What are AWC EPDs?
AWC EPDs are Environmental Product Declarations made available by the American Wood Council. They provide environmental impact data for a range of North American wood products to support environmental reporting and industry benchmarking.
