Design engineers face growing pressure to consider a building’s total environmental impact. It’s no longer just about energy use or operational emissions. Today, embodied carbon—the greenhouse gas emissions created during manufacturing, transport, and installation of materials—has become a focal point. Tracking embodied carbon helps move the industry toward substantial carbon reduction goals.

According to recent studies, embodied carbon can represent up to half of a building’s lifetime emissions, especially in energy-efficient buildings . When selecting components like chillers, understanding their full lifecycle impact is essential for delivering progressive, future-ready designs to clients.

What Is an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)?
An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a standardized, third-party-verified document that reports a product’s environmental footprint across its life stages. Think of the EPD as a “nutrition label” for building products, including chillers. It quantifies product environmental footprint data across the entire life cycle (upstream production and distribution, product use, and end of life), making it easier for engineers to compare products or model sustainability outcomes.

EPDs are increasingly required by clients or regulatory bodies—and governments may offer incentives for projects using EPD-backed materials. Using EPDs in product selection helps engineers demonstrate transparent reporting and team commitment to delivering credible sustainability metrics.

Critical EPD Insights for Design Engineers
When reviewing EPDs for chillers or any HVAC equipment, several aspects are essential:
• System Boundaries: Check if the EPD covers only material production (cradle-to-gate) or includes installation, use, and end-of-life (cradle-to-grave). This impacts total embodied carbon calculations.
• Geographic Scope: EPDs that include product use will declare the geography(s) in which product use is modeled when computing environmental impacts. Some will focus on a specific country, while others may cover an entire continent. Because electricity generation sources differ geographically (some areas may utilize a larger share of renewable energy generation technologies), this can result in large differences in product use emissions reported in the EPD. When comparing EPDs for HVAC equipment, be sure to check the grid factor used to generate the B6 Operational Energy Use results.
• Functional Unit: EPDs report impact per a specific unit—e.g., per chiller or per kilowatt cooling. Comparing across products is only meaningful if units match.
• EPD Program Operator: EPDs are produced in line with certain Product Category Rules (PCRs), created and managed by Program Operators such as PEP Ecopassport and EPD International. EPD program administration and PCR creation is, in turn, governed by ISO (14025, 14027, 21930) and EN standards (15804+A2). PCRs can differ across Program Operators, resulting in differences between EPDs. Only compare EPDs from the same Program Operator.
• Scope Emissions: Since EPDs report carbon footprint data at an individual product level, they can enable more granular carbon accounting calculations in line with international accounting protocols. Specifically, EPDs provide product-specific values for upstream production emissions for use in Scope 3 accounting.
• Transparency: Reliable EPDs are always third-party certified by an external organization. Look for declared standards and verification labels—these indicate trustworthy, vetted data.

Engineers may also collaborate with Trane experts to interpret EPDs, model embodied carbon impacts, and select products reflecting project sustainability goals.

Embodied Carbon: A New Metric for HVAC Selection
Chillers and HVAC systems can be substantial contributors to embodied carbon in commercial buildings. By focusing on verified EPD data, design teams can:
• Select equipment to optimize for carbon footprint across the entire life cycle, looking at both operation and embodied carbon.
• Reduce overall building carbon footprints and meet client or regulatory requirements.
• Add credibility to green building certifications such as LEED or WELL, where EPD usage can enhance project scores.

Trane’s commitment to transparent EPD reporting empowers engineers to make better-informed choices, supporting the broader movement toward carbon-conscious design.

Ready to Enhance Sustainability with Verified Data?
For consultants and design engineers ready to take the next step with our Sintesis air-cooled chillers, ask your Trane expert for these products’ EPDs. Begin modelling and measuring embodied carbon now and contribute to a more sustainable future.

Conclusion
Embodied carbon is reshaping standards in commercial building design. By utilizing verified EPDs, engineers help reduce environmental impacts and deliver future-focused buildings. Explore Trane’s download library for resources and collaborate with our experts for guidance that leads to real change.

Download Embodied Carbon Explainer