PCF vs. LCA and EPD: key differences and similarities explained

When working with customers, partners, or other stakeholders, one question comes up more and more often: How sustainable is this product, really? Several approaches are commonly used to assess a product’s environmental impact – from the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) to Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPD).

Although all three assess environmental impacts, they differ in purpose, scope, and use case. The specific requirements and motivations vary – from supply chain needs to compliance with regulatory standards.

PCF: focused on greenhouse gas emissions

The Product Carbon Footprint quantifies a product’s greenhouse gas emissions within defined system boundaries – either from raw material extraction to factory gate (Cradle-to-Gate) or across the entire product life cycle (Cradle-to-Grave). The result is expressed in CO₂ equivalents (CO₂e).

In practice, companies use the PCF to quantify emissions, meet regulatory requirements, and increase transparency for stakeholders.

PCFs follow the same methodological principles as LCAs but focus only on climate impact – specifically, the global warming potential (GWP). Across industries, the PCF is increasingly becoming the standard for supply chain reporting and decarbonization efforts.

LCA: a holistic view of environmental impacts

Unlike the PCF, a Life Cycle Assessment looks at all major environmental impacts of a product or service – from production and use to end-of-life. These impacts include:

• Resource use
• Water consumption
• Acidification
• Eutrophication
• Air pollution

While LCAs allow for comprehensive and comparable product assessments, they are more complex and time-consuming to conduct.

EPDs: standardized and verified environmental data

An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) presents the results of an LCA in a standardized format. Based on ISO 14025 or EN 15804, and guided by Product Category Rules (PCRs), EPDs ensure product-specific consistency. They transparently disclose a product’s environmental impacts and must be verified by an independent third party.

EPDs are especially common in the construction sector, where environmental impacts are more complex. Due to the verification process, creating an EPD can be time-intensive.

Benefits of using EPDs, LCAs, and PCFs

All three – EPDs, LCAs, and PCFs – provide product-specific emission factors that offer highly accurate emissions data. When this data is supplied directly by a company's vendor or supplier, it should always be prioritized over industry averages for use in Tanso.

EPDs in particular provide high-quality data because they:

• Are based on a transparent and robust framework
• Follow international standards
• Offer comparability across similar product categories
• Are third-party verified documents

Using EPDs and LCAs from the internet

If no supplier-specific data (EPDs, LCAs, or PCFs) is available, it’s possible to search for existing declarations online – for example via search engines or the Environdec EPD Library.

Before using external data, always ensure the product described in the EPD or LCA closely matches the product in question.

Key questions to check:

• Do the products have the same or similar material composition?
• Are they based on similar percentages of recycled and virgin materials?
• Are they produced under similar conditions or in the same region?
• Is the data up to date (preferably not older than 3 years)?
• What is the declared unit? Can it be applied to your product?
• What are the system boundaries? Tanso recommends cradle-to-gate as the default.

Using EPDs, LCAs, and PCFs in your CCF calculation in Tanso

Before using an EPD or LCA for a CCF calculation, verify whether it fits the purpose. The most relevant value is the Global Warming Potential (GWP) for modules A1–A3 – covering the cradle-to-gate phase. This value includes all greenhouse gas emissions from raw material extraction to transportation and production. The GWP can then be added to the Tanso app as a custom emission factor.