Entire Suite of EPDs Updated, Regional EPDs for Softwood Lumber, Plywood Released

AWC released updated versions of 10 Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), including new U.S. regional EPDs for softwood lumber and softwood plywood to meet the growing market demand for more granular environmental data. The new softwood lumber EPDs cover four regions: Inland Northwest, South, North, and Pacific Coast. Similarly, softwood plywood moved from a single, North American EPD to two distinct regions, South and West. Moving from a single North American EPD to U.S. and U.S. regional EPDs is a major accomplishment that reflects years of member commitment to robust data reporting through AWC’s Life Cycle Survey.

The Life Cycle Survey continues to be the backbone of the industry’s EPDs, and recent improvements have streamlined the submission process. The 2025 iteration was the first to pre-populate values from the previous year, which saved member companies significant time and improved data accuracy.

AWC also completed key automations within the Life Cycle Survey, allowing for third-party-ready EPD outputs at the press of a button for all products. This improvement significantly reduces the time and cost associated with producing EPDs at the regional, national, or mill level (for companies who may want them). This is a major step toward making our industry’s environmental reporting more accessible and responsive to market demands for data.

The EPDs were shared with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools, such as Building Transparency’s EC3 and OneClick LCA. Aggregated data from the LCAs is being shared with USDA’s Forest Products Laboratory to update the LCA Commons, a public database of background data for use in LCAs. Feedback from groups, such as the Carbon Leadership Forum and Building Transparency, has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly regarding the increased representativeness and transparency provided by regional EPDs.

Our members’ continued commitment to providing annual, high-quality life cycle data and transparent insight into our practices provides our industry with new ways to expand market access and tell the sustainability story of U.S. wood products with robust data.