EPD digitisation: exciting development but not a reason for delay

8th Dec 2022

As demand for EPDs grows, the next step toward improving their value is digitisation. By making all the data in an EPD and the underlying LCA machine-readable, the registration, verification and sharing of EPDs will become easier, faster and cheaper. In the future, EPD Owners will be able to upload their information directly to a portal and that data will automatically populate relevant databases and websites. No more cutting, pasting and manual handling.

This move is an exciting one, but not a reason to delay publishing EPDs today. The Chair of EPD Australasia’s Technical Advisory Group, Andrew Moore cautions that the transition will be gradual to ensure a smooth changeover.

“The PDF EPD format is not going anywhere in the short term, and there will certainly be a transition period where both PDF EPDs and digital (machine-readable) EPDs are available. Eventually, the digital machine-readable versions will be so good that no one will use the PDF versions. But that’s a way off yet, so there’s no reason for anyone to delay EPD publication waiting for this change.

EPD Australasia will ensure that LCA professionals and EPD owners are kept up to speed with developments in digitisation. But for now, do not hold off on LCA studies and/or EPD publication waiting for the transition.