European standardisation
European standardisation provides the technical basis for determining and declaring the environmental performances of construction products and buildings. This page is intended for those who want to understand how these standards relate to the Dutch Assessment Method.
CEN is the European standardisation body for drawing up European standards. The CEN assessment methods (EN standards) are intended to determine the sustainability of a construction work via environmental effects of construction materials and products. EN 15804 is the European standard for determining environmental data of construction products, EN 15978 is the standard for determining the environmental performance of buildings. The Environmental Performance Assessment Method for Construction Works is based on these standards, with scenarios applicable to the Netherlands.
CEN and the European assessment methods
The CEN committee TC 350, Sustainability of Construction Works, designs European assessment methods in which indicators for sustainable buildings and products are identified. The European CEN standard for EPDs of construction products, EN 15804, was published in 2012 and revised in 2019, now with 19 indicators (called essential characteristics in the CPR). For the determination of the environmental performance of buildings, EN 15978 has been published.
Implementation in the Dutch situation
The Environmental Performance Assessment Method for Construction Works is based on EN 15804 and EN 15978, with scenarios applicable to the Netherlands. The European assessment methods of CEN are as yet voluntary in nature. This may change as soon as the European Commission grants a mandate to CEN to draw up harmonised assessment methods for environmental performance. As long as the European assessment methods at building level do not have the force of law, Stichting NMD translates the European standards into the Dutch Assessment Method, with input of specifically Dutch choices, and coordinates this with Dutch actors in various platforms.
The difference between an environmental declaration and an EPD
An environmental declaration within the National Environmental Database comes about within the NMD's own, private-law framework: a producer has a product independently assessed and included in the database according to the rules of the Environmental Performance Assessment Method for Construction Works. An EPD within the meaning of the European standard EN 15804 is a standardised environmental product declaration, which is increasingly also given a role within statutory frameworks, such as the CPR. Both are based on the same underlying methodology, but the context in which they are used, private-law or statutory, determines which additional requirements apply.
Frequently asked questions
Both are based on the same European standard, EN 15804, but come about in a different context: an environmental declaration within the private-law framework of the National Environmental Database, an EPD is a more general term, but within the statutory framework of the CPR, environmental data becomes part of the DoPC, with due observance of the specific regulations. A separate EPD document may then not contain any performances deviating from the DoPC..