Environmental Product Declaration
Fabrication Process for Structural Steel
by American Institute of Steel Construction
Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for Fabrication Process for Structural Steel, manufactured by American Institute of Steel Construction. Declaration SmartEPD-2025-092-0615-01.2, prepared according to Smart EPD® Part B PCR for Designated Steel Construction Products, 1000-008, v3.0, valid until October 15, 2030.
- Declared unit
- 1 unit of fabrication required for 1 MT of fabricated structural steel of product
- Valid until
- October 15, 2030
- PCR
- Part B PCR for Steel Construction Products
Declaration details
- Manufacturer
- American Institute of Steel Construction
- Program operator
- Smart EPD
- Declaration number
- SmartEPD-2025-092-0615-01.2
- Date of issue
- October 15, 2025
- Valid until
- October 15, 2030
- Product category rules (PCR)
- Smart EPD® Part B PCR for Designated Steel Construction Products, 1000-008, v3.0 (version 3)
- Standard
- ISO 14025:2006 and ISO 21930:2017
- Declared unit
- 1 unit of fabrication required for 1 MT of fabricated structural steel of product
- System boundary
- Cradle to gate (A1 - A3)
- Product specificity
- Product Average
- Manufacturing specificity
- Industry Average
- Product category
- Steel › StructuralSteel
- Verifier
- Rifat Karim, Independent Consultant
- LCA software
- openLCA 2.4
- Program instructions
- Smart EPD General Program Instructions v.2.0, March 2025
Life cycle assessment results
Results per 1 unit of fabrication required for 1 MT of fabricated structural steel of product.
Environmental Impact Assessment Results
| Indicator | Unit | A1 | A2 | A3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GWP-total | kg CO2 eq | 7.71% | 2.62e+1 | 8.24e+1 |
| GWP-fossil | kg CO2 eq | 7.71% | 2.62e+1 | 8.23e+1 |
| GWP-biogenic | kg CO2 eq | 7.71% | 1.85e-3 | 4.27e-2 |
| GWP-luluc | kg CO2 eq | 7.71% | 1.71e-3 | 5.48e-2 |
| ODP | kg CFC 11 eq | 7.71% | 5.41e-7 | 7.72e-7 |
| AP | kg SO2 eq | 7.71% | 9.89e-2 | 2.15e-1 |
| EP | kg N eq | 7.71% | 1.13e-1 | 1.08e-1 |
| POCP | kg O3 eq | 7.71% | 2.77e+0 | 2.70e+0 |
| ADP-fossil | MJ | 7.71% | 5.06e+2 | 1.13e+3 |
Resource Use Indicators
| Indicator | Unit | A1 | A2 | A3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RPRE | MJ | 7.71% | 1.11e+0 | 1.50e+2 |
| RPRM | MJ | 7.71% | 0 | 0 |
| NRPRE | MJ | 7.71% | 5.03e+2 | 1.46e+3 |
| NRPRM | MJ | 7.71% | 0 | 0 |
| SM | kg | 7.71% | 0 | 0 |
| RSF | MJ | 7.71% | 0 | 0 |
| NRSF | MJ | 7.71% | 0 | 0 |
| FW | m3 | 7.71% | 5.51e-3 | 3.72e-1 |
| RE | MJ | 7.71% | 0 | 0 |
Waste and Output Flow Indicators
| Indicator | Unit | A1 | A2 | A3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HWD | kg | 7.71% | 3.53e-3 | 4.08e-3 |
| NHWD | kg | 7.71% | 7.05e-2 | 1.23e+1 |
| RWD | kg | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| HLRW | kg | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| ILLRW | kg | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| CRU | kg | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MFR | kg | 7.71% | 0 | 7.71e+1 |
| MER | kg | 7.71% | 0 | 0 |
| EEE | MJ | 7.71% | 0 | 0 |
ND = not declared. Life cycle modules: A1-A3 product stage, A4-A5 construction process, B use stage, C end of life, D benefits and loads beyond the system boundary.
Material composition
| Material/Component Category | Origin | % Mass |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Packaging material | Origin | Mass (kg) |
|---|---|---|
Hazardous substances
No regulated hazardous or dangerous substances are included in this product.
Product description
Important Note: This EPD represents the fabrication process for 1 MT of structural steel. It is intended to be additive to structural steel product EPDs and to serve as a data source for the modeling of the fabrication process in structural steel product EPDs and whole building LCA tools.
Prior to installation, structural steel commonly undergoes a scenario-specific fabrication process. This process entails inspection, material handling, cutting, drilling, fit-up, welding, and bolting; all according to the AISC Code of Standard Practice for Steel Buildings and Bridges (ANSI/AISC 303-22). In addition to the steel itself, inputs to fabrication include relatively small amounts of process materials, such as lubricants, gases, electrodes, and welding fluxes. Some facilities also conduct surface preparation using mechanical processes or compressed air blasting in order to clean the surface and prepare it for coating. Surface preparation for the application of coatings, the coatings themselves, and galvanization are not included in the scope of this study. Scrap generated during the fabrication processes is considered manufacturing scrap and is returned to steel mills as a pre-consumer external scrap input.
Interpretation
The contribution analysis for the fabrication stage (A3), based on a gate-to-gate assessment of the fabrication process, found that electricity consumption is the largest contributor across all impact categories, representing between 52 and 75 percent of the total. Welding gases are also significant contributors to all impacts (up to 28%) and other energy consumed at the sites is significant for ODP and ADPf.
For the fabrication process needed for 1 metric ton of fabricated structural steel, the average, 10th percentile, and 90th percentile GWP values were calculated from the 80 fabrication facilities that provided primary data for modules A2 (transportation to fabrication) and A3 (fabrication). For A2, the 10th percentile, average, and 90th percentile GWP results were 26, 26, and 28, kg CO2eq/MT, respectively. For A3, the 10th percentile, average, and 90th percentile impacts were 29, 82, and 256 kg CO2eq/MT, respectively.
Figure 2. Contribution analysis results for the U.S. average fabrication process
LCIA results are relative expressions and do not predict impacts on category endpoints, the exceeding of thresholds, safety margins or risks. EPDs are comparable only when they follow the same PCR, functional unit and system boundary. The full EPD (PDF) contains the methodology, scenario assumptions and verification statement.