Why production route matters

More than most product categories, steel's embodied carbon is dominated by a single upstream choice: whether it's produced via Electric Arc Furnace (EAF, primarily recycled scrap) or Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF, primarily virgin ore via a blast furnace). This is worth checking directly in a product's EPD rather than assuming from the product type alone — a structural steel section and a piece of rebar can come from either route, and the EPD is what actually discloses which.

Key materials typically covered

"Steel & Metals" EPDs span several distinct product types, generally declared separately even when produced by the same mill:

  • Structural steel — hot-rolled sections (beams, columns) used in building frames
  • Rebar / reinforcing bar — declared separately from structural sections, often via industry-wide EPDs
  • Cold-formed steel — light-gauge framing and related products, a distinct manufacturing process from hot-rolled structural steel
  • Plate and merchant bar — covered under related but distinct product definitions
  • Zinc / galvanizing and aluminum structural components — sometimes grouped with steel EPDs where relevant to a specific building product

Key standards and PCRs

Steel products are covered by product-specific PCRs under both EN 15804 in Europe and ISO 21930 internationally. In North America, UL's PCR for Designated Steel Construction Products (Part B) covers fabricated structural steel, cold-formed steel sections, and concrete reinforcing steel as a group, while individual EPDs are still published per product type. See Product Category Rules for how to find the current PCR for a specific steel product.

Top EPD program operators for Steel & Metals

Steel-sector EPDs concentrate around a small set of program operators:

  • UL Solutions — operates the North American PCR for Designated Steel Construction Products and verifies EPDs built against it
  • ASTM International — also operates PCR and EPD programs covering structural and reinforcing steel
  • CRSI (Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute) — the trade association's own program publishes an industry-wide EPD for rebar, built from member-mill data
  • Internationally: EPD International, EPD-Global, and Germany's Institut Bauen und Umwelt (IBU) all operate active steel EPD programs

Notable producers of Steel & Metals

Major steel producers — including companies like Nucor in North America, a large-scale EAF producer — have published product-specific EPDs across structural and reinforcing steel product lines, alongside other regional and integrated producers using both production routes. Coverage varies by manufacturer and product line; check a specific producer's own published EPDs rather than assuming.

Benchmark GWP figures comparing production routes are planned for the Data section, pending real sourcing.

Sample EPDs for Steel & Metals

To see what an actual structural steel EPD looks like, EPD-Global's public registry publishes full documents — for example, CSK Stålindustri AS's EPD for CE-marked structural steel, searchable by NEPD number. In North America, CRSI publishes its industry-wide rebar EPD directly on its own site, alongside individual mill EPDs from producers like Nucor and Steel Dynamics.

How to Get a Steel & Metals EPD: Step-by-Step

Getting an EPD for structural steel, rebar, or another steel product follows the same core process as any other construction product: choosing the applicable PCR, collecting primary mill data (including production route and scrap content), building the LCA, and having it independently verified before publication. See How to Get an EPD: Step-by-Step for the full process, or check whether CRSI's industry-wide rebar EPD already covers your product before pursuing a product-specific one.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between EAF and BOF steel?

Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) production primarily melts recycled scrap steel using electricity. Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) production starts from primary (virgin) iron ore, via a blast furnace, and generally has a larger embodied-carbon footprint per tonne as a result. Both routes appear in EPDs, and the production route is one of the biggest single factors behind a steel product's reported global warming potential.

Does recycled content automatically mean lower embodied carbon?

Generally yes for steel specifically, since scrap-based EAF production avoids the energy-intensive ore reduction step BOF production requires — but the exact figure still depends on the electricity grid mix powering the EAF facility, which an EPD's underlying LCA accounts for.

Do Buy Clean policies specify which steel products are covered?

Yes, and coverage varies by state/jurisdiction — structural steel and rebar are commonly covered early, with coverage sometimes expanding to other steel products over time. Check the specific policy on the relevant Regional & Country Requirements page.

Are structural steel and rebar covered by the same PCR?

Often the same overarching PCR family covers both alongside cold-formed steel — UL's PCR for Designated Steel Construction Products, for example, explicitly groups fabricated structural steel, cold-formed steel sections, and concrete reinforcing steel together — but individual EPDs are still published per product type, since mill process and scrap content differ between them.

Who publishes industry-wide rebar EPDs in North America?

The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) publishes an industry-wide EPD for reinforcing bar, built from member-mill data, alongside product-specific EPDs individual steel producers publish for their own mills.

Where can I see an example of a real steel EPD?

Public EPD registries such as EPD-Global publish full steel EPD documents — see Sample EPDs below. CRSI and individual steel producers (e.g. Nucor, Steel Dynamics) also publish their EPDs directly on their own sites.

Sources

  • EN 15804:2012+A2:2019, Sustainability of construction works — Environmental product declarations — Core rules for the product category of construction products
  • ISO 21930:2017, Sustainability in buildings and civil engineering works — Core rules for environmental product declarations of construction products and services
  • UL Solutions, Product Category Rule for Designated Steel Construction Products, Part B
  • Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI), Industry-Wide Environmental Product Declaration for Reinforcing Bar