Frequently asked questions about calculating with the A2 set

Subject to parliamentary approval, the planned transition date when the A2 set will be used in EPB calculations is 1 July 2025.
The A2 data of environmental declarations will be available in the validated calculation tools from 2 September 2024. This allows the market to gain experience with this new situation before the official start.

Until 1 July 2025, all official EPB calculations will continue to be based on the A1 set. Where possible, however, it is advisable to practise with the A2 set beforehand to become familiar with the new data.

The transition to the A2 set aims to provide a more complete and accurate assessment of the environmental impact of construction projects, in line with the latest scientific insights and European standards. 

To enable the market to prepare for all the changes, it will soon be possible to gain experience with the new situation. From 2 September 2024, it will be possible to calculate with set A2 and the new weighing set in the validated calculation instruments in addition to set A1 with the current weighing set.

Yes, on 1 July 2025, subject to parliamentary approval, a new tightened EPB requirement will be introduced that has been recalibrated based on the A2 set. Check here for the schedule of the changes to the Assessment Method and EPB.

Ja, 1 juli 2025 komt er een nieuwe, onder voorbehoud van parlementaire goedkeuring, aangescherpte MPG-eis die herijkt is op basis van set A2.  Bekijk hier de planning van de  wijzigingen in de Bepalingsmethode en de MPG.

Set A1 contains 11 environmental impact categories according to the EN 15804+A1 standard. Set A2 contains 19 environmental impact categories according to the EN 15804+A2 standard. Set A2 introduces new categories and refines existing ones for a more comprehensive environmental impact assessment.

Compared to the old set, the new set now includes sub-indicators and indicators have been added. The main change in this transition is the adjustment of the environmental impact categories of acidification, eutrophication, summer smog, human toxicity and ecotoxicity and subdivision of climate change into three separate categories. 

A life cycle assessment or LCA calculates the environmental impact of the building materials and products studied. This results in an environmental profile, which is stored as an environmental declaration in the National Environmental Database. This is done by examining the impact on different environmental impact categories.

Read more about the different environmental impact categories

No, the results of calculations with the A1 set and the A2 set are not comparable one-to-one because of the differences in methodology and the number of categories. An EPB calculation is therefore performed either with A1 data or with A2 data. It is not possible to combine them.

• Learn about the new categories.

• Adapt your processes and tools to support the new A2 set.

• Keep an eye out for NMD's communications for updates and guidelines. Follow us on LinkedIn and sign up for the newsletter. 

The transition may lead to changes in the EPB scores of buildings because of the more comprehensive assessment. It is important to understand that a change in score does not necessarily mean a change in actual environmental impact, but is a result of the more detailed assessment methodology. 

The NMD works closely with tool owners to ensure that the validated calculation tools are updated in a timely manner. Check out the page on calculating tools, our LinkedIn page and our newsletter for updates. 

The NMD will also be enriched with new category 3 C&U environmental declarations that include only the A2 set. In these environmental declarations, which are based on the existing category 3 C&U data, a quality change has also been made. However, this quality change also causes the data in these environmental declarations to change from the current category 3 C&U environmental declarations that served as a starting point.

This data contains the attribute 'A2' in the title, so the user immediately sees that these declarations only contain the A2 set and cannot therefore be used for calculations with the A1 set. No changes will be made to the current category 3 C&U data (which contain only A1 data) and these will remain available for EPB calculations.

At present, it is not yet possible to view the A2 data via the Stichting NMD viewer. However, this does not mean that this data is not in the NMD. In the validated calculation tools, this data can be viewed and used.

The A2 data will be added to the NMD viewer in the near future.

Stichting NMD has been preparing for the transition to the A2 set for some time, Since 1-1-2021, it has been mandatory to provide both A1 and A2 data. In addition, several projects have been implemented, such as the Accelaration campaign, to update older data. Not all the declarations contain A2 data, because not all category 1 and 2 processes in the NMD processes database contain the A2 set.

The release of the weighting set enabled Stichting NMD to conduct analyses to ensure the quality of the data. This identified several data issues in the A2 data.

 At Stichting NMD, we constantly check the environmental data in the database to ensure that we provide the highest data quality to the public. With the introduction of the A2 set, extensive analyses were conducted. We found that some category 1 & 2 declarations have a relatively high ECI with the A2 set compared to the ECI with the A1 set. 

We contacted the data owners and LCA experts to double-check this data. To prevent abuse and in the interest of transparency, we hereby share the list of declarations with a high A2 ECI. 

Go to the news item to view the list

For more detailed information, visit our dedicated page on calculating with the A1 set and the A2 set. In addition, we will publish regular updates via our newsletterand on this website.