Demand for Environmental Product Declarations is set to boom.
That’s the finding of a survey of architects and consulting engineers carried out by sustainability platform One Click LCA.
The study finds that 97 per cent of construction professionals expect demand for EPDs to increase within the next three years, while 90 per cent of professionals already prefer products with EPDs when specifying materials for projects.
The findings suggest that the next phase of construction decarbonisation will depend on getting reliable product data.
Both manufacturers and construction professionals estimate that transparent product data could reduce embodied carbon in construction up to 30 per cent, demonstrating the significant climate impact of improving environmental transparency in the industry.
By expanding EPD coverage and improving digital data exchange, manufacturers can not only unlock new commercial opportunities but also enable meaningful emissions reductions across projects.
The report also highlights a growing opportunity gap between manufacturers and the specifiers sector.
While product-level environmental data is increasingly shaping design and procurement decisions, many project teams still lack access to verified data for key materials and product categories, with one third of professionals reporting a lack of data in several categories.
One of the biggest gaps lies in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) products, which includes lighting, which are critical to decarbonisation efforts, as MEP systems can make up 15-50 per cent of a building’s embodied carbon.
As embodied carbon becomes a central concern in construction, EPDs are increasingly shifting from compliance tools to market assets. The study shows that 65 per cent of specifiers now require EPDs for all or most projects. In comparison, 90 per cent say they prefer products backed by EPDs because they help meet sustainability requirements and strengthen bids for environmentally driven projects.
Manufacturers recognise this shift. More than half view environmental product data as a competitive advantage and an important factor for market access, reflecting the growing role of carbon transparency in procurement decisions. However, the report highlights a persistent disconnect: demand from project teams is growing faster than manufacturers’ perceptions of that demand, particularly in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) products, where verified environmental data remains limited.
The report notes that the greatest carbon-reduction potential lies in the early design stages, when material choices are still flexible. Without reliable product data available early in the process, many of these opportunities remain unrealised.
56 per cent of manufacturers now see product-level EPDs as a competitive advantage, a marked change from the 40 per cent in the 2025 report. Yet the discrepancy between specifier demand and manufacturer sentiment persists, suggesting that suppliers with environmental data will have a competitive edge in the years to come.
Both manufacturers and construction professionals expect automation and AI-assisted tools to play a major role in scaling environmental assessments across the industry.
Respondents highlighted technologies such as automated data mapping, API integrations between enterprise systems, and AI-assisted data matching as key approaches to reducing the time and complexity required to produce Life Cycle Assessments and EPDs.
These technologies could help manufacturers scale environmental data creation across entire product portfolios while enabling project teams to integrate carbon analysis directly into design workflows.
‘For years, the construction industry has talked about regulatory requirements as the main driver for EPD adoption,’ One Click LCA founder Panu Pasanen tells the Circular Lighting Report. ‘But today, having this data has become a competitive requirement. Materials manufacturers who have EPD data for their portfolio are the ones who will continue to gain market share, and further carbon reductions depend on this product-level data’.
• At this year’s Circular Lighting Live event, Alexander Flekler, product environmental footprint manager at Wago and a recognised thought leader in Life Cycle Assessments and EPDs, will explore how data can act as a backbone for supporting the circular economy in the lighting sector and the wider design community. Circular Lighting Live 2026, Recolight’s flagship conference and exhibition, takes place on Thursday 8 October 2026 at the Minster Building in the City of London. Free to specifiers, Circular Lighting Live 2026 will feature leading experts, specifiers and policy makers who will share their insights into forthcoming standards and legislation, emerging technologies and new business models. More info: www.circularlighting.live
