Use of EPD in marketing
EPD is a good approach providing
objective information and facilitating product comparison. However, EPD is a
relatively complex and resource demanding concept since it is based on a full
LCA. It could therefore be expected that the total number of registered EPDs
will be relatively limited. One approach could therefore be to develop EPDs for
core or high volume products or for new products. An additional benefit from
using EPD in marketing could be a more positive image of the company.
Customers seldom demand an EPD, but
they show an interest in environmental performance of a product and they value
the EPD positively when they receive it. It could therefore be cost efficient to
develop EPDs once since they could be reused many times.
One problem with EPDs is that some customers
perceive the information in an EPD as being too complex to understand. Some
first attempts have therefore been made to develop interpretation keys which
make the EPDs useful also for "non-environmental specialists".
Please
find
interpretation keys in
Tools & Methods and
Publications.You can find several ABB examples of EPDs on
Publications
on Environmental Product Declaration.
More EPD experiences from can be found in the publication "ABB
experiences of EPD"
Business value
The business value with this strategy is that it forces towards a structured way
of thinking about using EPDs in marketing. Since the development of an EPD can
be a resource demanding undertaking one should be clear about the purpose of
communicating an EPD.
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