Towards a more sustainable construction

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The European Union is strengthening its environmental commitment with new requirements to implement the objectives of the Green Deal concerning the circular economy. The building and construction sector, regarded as crucial for the ecological transition, is at the heart of these initiatives.

Environmental Product Declarations enable transparent and objective communication about the environmental impacts of products across their entire life cycle, as well as their health information within the framework of FDES.

In France, construction products must be accompanied by an Environmental and Health Declaration Sheet (FDES) compliant with the standard NF EN 15804+A2.

Incentive regulations aim to promote ecological and sustainable construction, such as a 30% tax reduction for housing that meets specific environmental criteria and is subject to a solidarity lease (TFPB).

These measures illustrate a growing commitment in the construction sector, both at the national and European levels.

France: 2020 Environmental Regulations

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In order to meet the objectives of the Energy Transition for Green Growth Act (LTECV), the RE2020 aims to improve energy performance by notably reducing the consumption of new buildings (offices, residential, etc.), as well as reducing environmental impacts over the entire life cycle, based on the building LCA methodology following the EN 15978 standard.

This regulation thus uses Product Environmental Declarations (PEF), also known as FDES in France, for this calculation. Since the preparation and implementation of this new regulation, the number of verified FDES in the Inies database has increased from around 500 (in 2016) to over 3400 (2023).

Germany and the Netherlands: Regulation under construction

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New regulations on the environmental performance of buildings are emerging in several European countries.

In the Netherlands, the Environmental and Planning Act (which has been in effect since January 1, 2024) consolidates 26 existing environmental regulations to simplify procedures. This facilitates the construction of buildings with a lower environmental impact.

In Germany, the EH40 regulation requires all new buildings to have an energy consumption 40% lower than that of a reference building. This promotes eco-design and building insulation. Initially scheduled for 2025, the implementation date of this reform has been postponed to address the housing crisis in the country.

Europe: Construction Product Regulation

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The European Union is striving to ensure a sustainable future by revising the CPR (Construction Products Regulation), imposing a CE marking that will soon integrate the provision of Declarations of Performance (DoP) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), enabling the analysis of a product family.

"The process of the acquis concerning the Construction Products Regulation", launched in mid-2020, is the forum where harmonised standards, European assessment documents, and Commission legal acts are reviewed and developed in collaboration with Member States, industry, and other stakeholders.

The lack of harmonised standards in Europe for the environmental impact assessment of construction products hinders the single market, creating trade barriers and additional administrative burdens. The revision of the CPR will address this issue through the establishment of a set of common rules that need to be developed.

The common rules are developed by product family. Below is the list of product families ranked by priority.

Working groups have been launched since 2021:

Mutual recognition between databases

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The revised CPR has not yet been implemented. As a result, mutual recognitions have emerged to promote the European market and reduce costs and procedures for construction product manufacturers in the preparation of environmental declarations.

WeLOOP works in close collaboration with the operators to make this mutual recognition possible.

It should be noted that the implementation of environmental product declarations under the CE marking framework within the "process of the acquis concerning the regulation on construction products" will gradually replace national programmes.

FDES / DEP: a key asset for the construction sector

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The cost for creating an FDES / DEP ranges from €5,000 to €15,000. The declarations must be verified by an independent third party, recognised by an approved verification programme or at a minimum, recognised by the State. This verification incurs additional costs to consider.

The role of the verifiers is to ensure that the information provided in the DEP is accurate, transparent, and compliant with standards and regulations.

The typical steps for producing a DEP / FDES are as follows:

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