Do You Need an EPD for LEED v5? What Changed for Suppliers
Your client's new tower aims for LEED v5. The design team sends a product data request. And the first line asks for your EPD. So do you really need one? Strictly, no. But in practice, design teams now skip products without an EPD more often. LEED v5 puts carbon at the heart of the rating system. That changes what project teams need from you. Here's what changed, and what it means for your sales. Does LEED v5 Require an Environmental Product Declaration? LEED v5 does not force every product to carry an Environmental Product Declaration. However, every project must now measure embodied carbon under a new prerequisite. EPDs supply the data for that work. They also earn value in the materials credits. So suppliers with EPDs become far easier to specify. Here's the plain truth for suppliers: No EPD: your product can still go in the building. But it adds little to the project's score. Industry-wide EPD: it helps, and it gives a useful baseline. Product-spec...