If your building materials end up in larger construction projects, chances are a project team has already asked whether you have an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). One of the main reasons is building certifications like BREEAM, LEED and DGNB.
This question matters commercially for manufacturers since BREEAM awards credits for specifying verified EPDs. Every architect, sustainability consultant and contractor chasing a high BREEAM rating is therefore actively looking for products with EPDs. That is a pull you can position your products into.
Because many articles on EPDs in BREEAM are not fully accurate, we got in touch with the BREEAM team directly. This article shares those insights, so you know exactly how your EPDs score, what project teams will check, and how you can use BREEAM as a commercial advantage.
1. BREEAM at a Glance
BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is the world's most widely used green building certification scheme, with more than three million BREEAM-registered buildings across more than 100 countries (BRE, 2026).
It was developed by BRE in the UK in 1990 and assesses buildings across ten categories including Energy, Materials, Water and others. Projects earn a rating based on their total weighted score: Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent or Outstanding. The UK remains the largest single market, but the USA has become one of the fastest-growing regions.
The scheme is not static. BREEAM New Construction V7 launched on 30 September 2025 and raises the bar significantly for embodied carbon, while aligning the UK and International versions more closely than ever.
2. Where EPDs Earn BREEAM Credits: Mat 01 and Mat 02
EPDs earn BREEAM credits through the Materials category, specifically Mat 01 (Building Life Cycle Assessment) and Mat 02 (Environmental Impacts from Construction Products). Materials is one of the highest-weighted categories in the final BREEAM score, and the new V7 deliberately increased the weight of embodied carbon. For a project team, this is thus one of the biggest levers they control through product selection, and manufacturers can strategically position their products for this.
2.1 Mat 01: Specific Data for Embodied Carbon Reporting
Mat 01, the most heavily rewritten credit in V7, requires a building LCA according to EN 15978, covering life cycle stages A (product and construction), B (use) and C (end of life). Up to nine credits are available, and the building LCA is a minimum requirement for the Excellent and Outstanding ratings.
The LCA's main output is the building's embodied carbon, and it is only as accurate as the data behind each individual building material. Without manufacturer data, the modeller uses generic background data (e.g. from ecoinvent), which are conservative industry averages that typically overstate a product's impact. A product-specific EPD replaces that with verified figures for the actual product. For high-volume materials such as concrete, steel, insulation or glass, this measurably lowers the building's embodied-carbon figure if a product beats the average.
BREEAM V7 requires the building LCA at three design stages: concept, technical design and post-construction. Many project teams thus search for EPDs before any purchase order is placed. Manufacturers can use this pull to strategically position their products' EPDs in the common databases, such as ECO Platform or Emidat Atlas.
2.2 Mat 02: The EPD Credit
Mat 02 is the EPD-specific credit. It awards one credit for specifying EPD-backed products in the project. The credit is only awarded once the project accumulates 20 EPD points, earned across ten material categories. Points are capped at four per category, so reaching 20 requires EPD coverage in at least five categories:
| Ref | Material category |
|---|
| 1 | Timber or timber-based products |
| 2 | Concrete or cementitious |
| 3 | Metal |
| 4 | Stone or aggregate |
| 5 | Clay-based |
| 6 | Gypsum |
| 7 | Glass |
| 8 | Plastic, polymer, resin, paint, chemicals and bituminous |
| 9 | Animal fibre or skin, cellulose fibre |
| 10 | Other |
Where a product comprises multiple materials, the assessor classifies it under the category that represents the majority of its volume. If your product contains several materials, check which category you actually land in before your sales team promises points in the wrong one.
How many points an EPD earns depends on how specific it is:
| EPD type | Points per EPD | Products covered | Manufacturers covered |
|---|
| Industry EPD | 0.5 | Multiple (same category) | Multiple |
| Product-category EPD | 0.75 | Multiple (same category) | Single |
| Product-specific EPD | 1.5 | Single (colour/pattern variations allowed) | Single |
A product-specific EPD is worth three times a sector average. If a competing product relies on the industry EPD of its trade association, a product-specific EPD gives the project team triple the points for the same specification decision.
3. Four Requirements for a BREEAM-Eligible EPD
To be eligible for BREEAM, an EPD needs to meet the following four criteria (BRE, 2026):
- The EPD must be unexpired at the point of product specification.
- The product must be installed in the building by the end of construction.
- The EPD must be published through an ISO 14025-compliant programme operator.
- For products falling under the Construction Products Regulation, the EPD must be based on Product Category Rules (PCRs) derived from EN 15804+A2.
If you are targeting BREEAM projects in your sales and marketing efforts, you should thus check your EPDs against these criteria. For the programme operator, any common programme operator is eligible, including EPD Global, EPD International, IBU, EPD Danmark, BRE, and others.
4. Turning EPDs Into a Commercial Advantage
BREEAM V7 requires a building LCA with embodied-carbon reporting to reach Excellent, and a comparison against embodied-carbon benchmarks for Outstanding. This creates a direct pull for verified EPDs from every project team aiming for a high rating. The UK developer British Land, for example, has announced it is targeting Outstanding across its office buildings. Manufacturers can turn that pull into a commercial advantage by making product-specific EPDs available and easy for design teams to find at the concept and technical-design stages.
It also pays to go looking for the projects. The BREEAM projects database (GreenBook Live) lists certified buildings together with their project teams, so you can identify the developers who repeatedly deliver Excellent and Outstanding, along with the architects and sustainability consultants who specify for them. Demand for both ratings is growing: in London, the share of available office space carrying one of the two rose to 46% in 2025 (Savills, 2026), already a significant share of the market.
If you supply major elements such as concrete, steel, cladding or insulation, you are in the strongest position. Your products represent large volumes, so they carry proportionally more weight in the embodied-carbon figure, and your EPDs move the needle.
5. Four Steps for Sales and Marketing Teams
To realise the commercial value of EPDs on BREEAM projects, manufacturers should focus on the steps below.
1. Make your EPD data easy to find.
Architects and sustainability consultants typically look for a product's EPD in the common public databases, such as ECO Platform or Emidat Atlas. Make sure your EPDs are listed on these platforms, and point to them clearly in your marketing materials so specifiers know where to look.
2. Train and equip your commercial teams.
Establish which of the ten Mat 02 categories each product falls under, how many EPD points it contributes, and how it compares with generic background data and competing products. Then train your teams to communicate this clearly to project teams working towards a BREEAM rating.
3. Use product-specific EPDs for differentiation.
A product-specific EPD is an advantage in both Mat 01 and Mat 02: it is more accurate than generic background data, and it earns more points than an industry-average EPD. It is therefore worth prioritising product-specific EPDs for the high-volume product lines most likely to be specified on larger BREEAM projects.
4. Maintain EPD validity.
EPDs are valid for five years, and an expired declaration can remove a product from consideration at the specification stage. Monitor validity dates and begin renewals well before expiry, since verification itself takes time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is BREEAM certification?
BREEAM is the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, a green building certification scheme developed by BRE in 1990. It rates buildings across ten sustainability categories and awards one of five ratings: Pass, Good, Very Good, Excellent or Outstanding.
Can my product be BREEAM-certified?
No. BREEAM certifies buildings, not products, so there is no such thing as a BREEAM-approved product. What your product can do is help a project earn BREEAM credits through a verified EPD.
How do EPDs earn BREEAM credits?
EPDs earn credits through two routes in the Materials category. Mat 01 uses EPD data to improve the accuracy of embodied carbon reporting. Mat 02 awards one credit when a project accumulates 20 EPD points, with product-specific EPDs worth 1.5 points each.
How many EPD points are needed for Mat 02 in BREEAM V7?
20 EPD points are required to earn the Mat 02 credit. Points are capped at four per material category, so projects typically need EPDs across at least five of the ten material categories.
Which programme operators does BREEAM accept?
BREEAM accepts EPDs from any ISO 14025-compliant programme operator, including EPD Global, EPD International, IBU, EPD Danmark, BRE, INIES, and others. The choice of operator does not change the credit value.
Can an industry EPD still earn BREEAM credits?
Yes. An industry EPD is worth 0.5 points in Mat 02. However, that is only one-third of a product-specific EPD (1.5 points), which is why projects targeting higher ratings tend to prefer manufacturer- and product-specific data.
