An “Environmental Product Declaration” (EPD) provides information about the environmental impacts of a product. With a verified EPD, manufacturers transparently disclose comparable, objective, and third-party verified data about the environmental impacts of their products. When developing an EPD, the environmental performance of the product must be described through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The results of the LCA and additional manufacturer information for the EPD report are verified by an approved independent verifier before being registered and published. There are standards that set the rules, particularly ISO 14025, EN 15804 (for the construction sector), as well as ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. Additionally, there is a system for independent verification.
EPD
Environmental Product Declaration
What is an EPD?
EPD Download
EPD database
To find the EPDs for BRUXSAFOL films, enter ‘Solar Gard’ for the product.
EPD of all exterior films
Why use products with an EPD?
Architects and building owners should prioritize products with verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs Type III) as these provide transparent, third-party verified insights into a product’s environmental impact.
The selection of materials with verified EPDs enables architects to design sustainable buildings that meet green building standards and contribute to a better environment.
For building owners, choosing products with verified EPDs represents a commitment to sustainability, increases the value of the building, and promotes the well-being of occupants. Additionally, there is a growing trend that legislators are requiring products with EPDs for new construction projects and major renovations.
Which types of EPD exist?
A verified EPD is also referred to as a Type III EPD. In general, there are three types of EPDs:
- Product-specific EPDs
1 manufacturer, 1 product from 1 or several production sites. - Product-group EPDs
1 manufacturer, multiple products from the same product family from 1 or several production sites. - Industrywide EPDs
An industrywide EPD represents an average for a specific industry or product type, e.g., glass or gypsum boards, and covers several manufacturers.
In addition to the verified EPD Type III, there is also an EPD Type II, which is merely a self-declared environmental statement. This EPD has not been verified by an independent, accredited testing institute.
What are the advantages of an EPD type III?
Is a Publicly available document.
Presents the environmental impact of a product, product group or product family in a concise & transparent manner in a single document.
Based on international standards such as ISO 14025, ISO14044 and EN15804.
Represents the information according to the Product Category Rules of the respective official programme operator.
Subject to external and independent verification based on ISO 14025 by an auditor accredited by the programme operator.
Verified EPD in the BRUXSAFOL range
The majority of our window films for energy saving and solar control are EPD-verified. These are ‘Product Group EPDs’ based on EN 15804+A2 and fulfil the requirements of DIN EN 15752-1 ‘Glass in building – Self-adhesive polymer film – Part 1’ produced by the Saint-Gobain Group under the ‘Solar Gard’ brand.
Statements of the EPDs (excerpts)
EPD-verified films (type III) not only offer a self-declared environmental statement, but are also externally tested and registered in the database of the German ‘Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V.’. They can be used for ecological building assessment and are recognised by green building certification systems such as DGNB or LEED. In short: EPDs stand for transparency and credibility and go far beyond conventional product data sheets – a decisive advantage for sustainable construction projects.
Energy calculations with a reference building
In addition to the EPD statements on the environmental impact of our films, we can simulate the ‘net balance’ for films using energy calculations on an air-conditioned reference building.
This involves calculating the energy savings over the lifetime of the film. This is available for various locations worldwide.
The reference building used for these energy calculations is a commercial (office) building with 5 storeys, a rectangular shape, with glazing evenly distributed on all sides and a glass/area ratio of around 25 %. The base building (with all its functional parameters) was left unchanged for all calculations.
All figures relating to kWh/m² refer to the average value from all façade sides north-east-south-west. In practice, a north side is generally not coated in Central Europe and the savings on the south-west-east side are therefore generally higher than the average value given.
| The reference building is characterised by these values | |
| Building Type | Office Buildings - Medium |
| Building Shape | Rectangular |
| Orientation | East |
| Number of Floors | 5 |
| Floor-to-Floor height | 4.96 m |
| Conditioned area | 4.375 m2 |
| Heating | Natural gas |
| Cooling | Electricity |
| Glass | 1.250 m2 |
All figures relating to kWh/m² refer to the average value from all façade sides north-east-south-west. In practice, a north side is generally not coated in Central Europe and the savings on the south-west-east side are therefore generally higher than the average value given.
The majority of our window films for energy saving and solar control are EPD-verified. These are ‘Product Group EPDs’ based on EN 15804+A2 and fulfil the requirements of DIN EN 15752-1 ‘Glass in building – Self-adhesive polymer film – Part 1’ produced by the Saint-Gobain Group under the ‘Solar Gard’ brand.
Statements of the EPDs (excerpts)
Net savings of kWh per m² for an A/C air-conditioned reference building in Munich:
AX Plus 20
(Sentinel Plus Silver 20)
- Reduction by 677 kWh/m² *
- Reduction by 826 kWh/m² **
AX PLUS 50
(Sentinel Plus SX 50)
- Reduction by 677 kWh/m² *
- Reduction by 826 kWh/m² **
*Installed on 4/12/4 double glazing with low-E #3
**Installed on 4/12/4 double glazing PLANICLEAR. Reference Service Life (RSL): The data is based on an RSL of 10 years for the window films, as this is the official warranty period for vertical installations. However, the product’s life expectancy often exceeds 15 years. These values refer to the NET savings. All environmental impacts from production, transport, and average installation have already been deducted. Such verified data is only possible with a Type III EPD!