Environmental messages on building products

When you purchase a building product, you get information about its environmental impact in several ways.

There are environmental labels, declarations by the manufacturer himself and environmental product declarations.

If you see a label or information on a product, you should verify what the source of this information is and what it means. That is not always easy! A picture of a green leaf with the word 'ECO' underneath can give the impression that it is an environmentally friendly product, but is that actually the case?

New legislation:

Since 2014 new legislation has come into effect that establishes rules for environmental messages on building products. This legislation applies to all building products that are sold in Belgium and that are based on existing European and international standards. The manufacturer will be obliged to draw up and publish an environmental product declaration if he wants to put an environmental message on his product. That way, you will be able to check how environmentally friendly the building product is.
The environmental product declaration is not delivered automatically with the product but the consumer can request one from the manufacturer.

The environmental product declarations (EPD) are published via a database of the FPS.