Transparency with every step
LCA, EPD & HPD
third-party verified information
100% transparency for our customers
Transparency is critical to achieving sustainability. Transparency demands that companies share information about the contents of their products, how they are made and the impact they may have on the environment, users and the community. As early as 1996, Forbo Flooring Systems began working with Leiden University in The Netherlands, to establish a transparent overview of every possible impact of our linoleum products.
Today, we offer impact information for all of our interior floor covering products through Life Cycle Assessments and Environmental Product Declarations that are independently reviewed.
LCA is where it all starts
We use Life Cycle Assessments to identify and continuously improve our sustainability performance.
A life cycle assessment is a comprehensive system for measuring the environmental impacts of the life of a product. The measurement is standardized and equal for all types of products. While system boundaries, quality of data and weighting factors play a role in the overall assessment, our LCAs are accepted once they have been verified by an independent third party.
Data collected for the LCA during the inventory analysis is governed by a set of Product Category Rules (PCR). These set out what data should be collected and how, which calculations should be performed to produce evidence of climate impact, and how this information should be presented. The inputs and outputs involved in the processes being assessed are combined to indicate the potential the product has for harming the environment.
Quantified environmental data
An EPD provides a framework for measuring the environmental footprint of a building.
While LCAs are created for product categories, environmental product declarations (EPDs) go one step further by stipulating the LCA for one particular product. An EPD is accredited by a program operator, according to ISO 14025 and EN 15804 and is independently verified by a third party. Our EPDs are verified by UL Environment.
EPDs can be used by stakeholders along the supply chain to compare environmental credentials of products and make informed, sustainable decisions.
Forbo Flooring Systems offers complete Environmental Product Declarations for every product.
A healthy indoor environment starts with flooring that is truly safe
As our floors are part of the indoor environment in which people live, meet and work, it is our mission to design and offer products that contribute in a positive way to the health and comfort of the individual.
Health Product Declaration
Issues of health and the environment cannot be separated when discussing sustainable development. Therefore we believe that the element of human health and ecology should also feature in our assessments. Forbo Flooring Systems is the only flooring company in the world to include human health and eco-toxicity impacts in our EPDs. We use the internationally recognized USEtox method to calculate and assess our products’ toxicity performance. Our Health Product Declarations have been created to further specify our products' low health impact.
• our floors are guaranteed free of any banned toxics
• our floors have low to even close to zero product emission
• our products are phthalate free
• our portfolio offers proven solutions against allergens and fine dust
Other reports
Interested in other sustainability reports and publications?
See reports & publications