Suitability of EPDs for Supporting Life Cycle and Comparative Analysis of Concrete Mixtures

The use of environmental product declarations (EPDs)
of concrete
and other construction materials is gaining momentum. EPDs should
enable an informed selection of products with a lower environmental
footprint; hence, the issue of EPD comparability is highly relevant.
In this paper, we identified and discussed the present shortcomings
and future opportunities that can promote a meaningful EPD comparison
for concrete products. Based on the published EPDs, we suggest a more
comprehensive water consumption accounting, as the batching water
is commonly underestimated. A set of performance metrics required
to be specified for concrete are proposed to be included in the product
category rules. An effort to develop a procedure for the regular calibration
of existing tools with identical calculation databases and methods
can produce outcomes that differ by 1–19%. The incorporation
of prescriptive and consistently implemented life cycle inventory
can minimize the calculation noise. The incorporation of uncertainty
and variability as well as a supply-chain-specific EPD creation can
help move toward a robust comparison based on the existing data in
EPDs.