ERG’s EPD Ecosystem Quality Program

Quality Program Overview How the Program Will Work Contact Us Program Updates

ERG is developing a new program that will make it easy to view and compare the embodied carbon impacts of products, providing a way for project owners and other interested parties to easily assess the quality of an environmental product declaration (EPD) before using it to support project-level decisions.

We’re not developing new standards – we are leveraging existing standards to develop a straightforward program that is consistent with previous efforts. The program is based on the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment’s (ACLCA) Product Category Rule (PCR) Open Standard, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) PCR Criteria, and relevant International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. 

Quality Program Overview

ERG’s EPD Quality Program will enhance the rigor, consistency, and credibility of embodied carbon disclosures. It will support more transparent and effective low-carbon materials markets and serve as the steward of quality EPDs, resulting in:

  • Greater trust in EPDs.
  • Fewer compliance burdens for manufacturers and EPD developers.
  • Streamlined approval process for specifiers who require EPDs.

ERG will start by evaluating EPDs for construction and building products before expanding into other sectors. Ultimately, this program will support a broad whole-project approach for embodied carbon accounting by leveraging high-quality EPDs.

ERG is undertaking this effort with decades of subject matter expertise, strong relationships with key stakeholders, and practical experience supporting embodied carbon work for public agencies. Not only is ERG home to life cycle assessment and environmental reporting experts, it’s also an unbiased, privately owned, and independent company. 

Why the Focus on EPDs?

EPDs provide information about the embodied carbon and other life cycle environmental impacts of products and services. In the construction sector, a growing number of project owners are developing and implementing policies to reduce the embodied carbon associated with buildings and infrastructure. Reliable, accurate EPDs are crucial to support these decisions.

Product- and facility-specific EPDs are increasingly used to support purchasing decisions based on embodied carbon emissions. Despite following international and product category-specific standards governing EPD development, there are still concerns related to the transparency, comparability, and quality of EPDs. These concerns generally fall into three main categories:

  • EPD content, including the reliability of primary data, adherence to relevant standards, and the ability to electronically transfer EPD data.
  • Product Category Rule (PCR) content, which define requirements for developing EPDs within a given sector, and their effectiveness in ensuring EPD quality and comparability.
  • Program operator governance and processes for developing PCRs. 

Leveraging PCRs to Improve EPD Quality

Our quality program requirements will focus on existing best practices and standards for EPDs. As the program develops within the construction sector and beyond, it will evolve to meet the diverse needs of the embodied carbon marketplace.

PCRs play an important role in determining EPD quality by prescribing product category-specific requirements for transparency, methodological approach, reporting parameters, and other factors. PCRs vary in the specificity of their requirements, which ultimately affects EPD quality and comparability. Several organizations have established voluntary standards to supplement ISO requirements and improve the quality of PCRs as part of a larger effort to improve EPD quality. Our program relies on the U.S. EPA Criteria for Product Category Rules (PCRs) to Support the Label Program for Low Embodied Carbon Construction Materials (EPA’s PCR Criteria) and the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA) PCR Open Standard.

How the Program Will Work

Our program has three major components:

  • Assess PCRs to ensure they conform to rigorous supplementary PCR standards.
  • Evaluate EPDs against ERG’s requirements.
  • Recognize high quality EPDs in publicly accessible databases.

How will ERG assess PCRs?

To be considered a quality EPD under ERG’s requirements, an EPD must be developed under a PCR that has been verified by the PCR Review Panel to conform to the ACLCA PCR Open Standard. To qualify for our program, the PCR must indicate that it meets the requirements of the ACLCA PCR Open Standard at the Transparency level or higher.  

Alternatively, EPDs developed under a PCR that conforms to EPA’s PCR Criteria as outlined in ERG’s Approach to Implementing the Product Category Rule Criteria are also eligible for our EPD quality program. ERG will coordinate directly with program operators to review PCRs for conformity–please contact us for more information.

How will ERG evaluate EPDs?

ERG will review each EPD against ERG’s Environmental Product Declaration Requirements, which details the information that must be disclosed in an EPD to be recognized by our quality program. This review process is fully automated, allowing digitized EPDs to be processed quickly and cost-effectively. Digitized EPDs can be transferred directly from the program operator to ERG via an application programming interface (API). Our system is compatible with openEPD and other structured data formats.  

For EPDs that are in PDF format, ERG can provide digitization services for a fee–please contact us for more information.  

How will ERG recognize high-quality EPDs?

EPDs that meet our quality program requirements will be accessible through ERG’s product impact (pi) database, allowing users to easily find high-quality EPDs. We expect to have quality-reviewed EPDs available in the pi database in the second half of 2026. We also intend to share the status of quality-reviewed EPDs with other EPD databases via API.  

Program Documents

We are currently accepting feedback on the program’s foundational documents. Please email EPDQuality@erg.com by June 15, 2026, to provide input.

Contact Us

Please use the form below to get in touch with us or sign up for our newsletter! 

Upcoming Opportunities to Engage with ERG’s EPD Quality Program

EPD Quality Program staff will be at the following events. We hope to see you there!

Meet the ERG EPD Quality Program Team

A team of leading embodied carbon experts is directing the development of ERG’s EPD Quality Program. With experience spanning public procurement, industry environmental reporting, PCR development, EPD software product management, sustainability labeling, novel material production, and LCA and LCI development, together the group brings over 50 years of experience in LCAs and EPDs.
 

Peter Bacas

Peter Bacas

Sarah Cashman

Sarah Cashman

Troy Hottle

Troy Hottle

Mark Petruzzi

Mark Petruzzi

Joseph Shacat

Joseph Shacat

Have questions or want to provide input? Send us an email at EPDQuality@erg.com.

Program Updates

March 31, 2026 We published our program requirements. Please contact us if you have comments or questions about the program requirements.  

November 13, 2025 The EPD Quality Program team discussed program goals, the use of underlying standards, draft program requirements and upcoming opportunities to provide feedback on them, and the anticipated implementation timeline. 

July 7, 2025 ERG announced the development of our EPD quality program.  

Newsletter Archive

Want to stay in the loop on ERG’s EPD Quality Program? Sign up to receive our newsletter.