Environmental declarations are no longer optional. Buyers, specifiers, public procurement and regulations such as France’s RE2020 now require reliable, verified product-level environmental data. For manufacturers of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) or HVAC-R systems, a strategic question quickly arises: should you produce your PEP and EPD declarations in-house, or hand them to a specialised provider?
This decision shapes your budget, your lead times and your autonomy for years to come. This article offers a practical decision framework to choose between building and outsourcing, based on your product volume, your LCA maturity and your strategy.
A quick reminder: what PEP and EPD declarations are
A PEP (Profil Environnemental Produit) is a Type III environmental declaration dedicated to electrical, electronic and HVAC-R products, governed by the PEP ecopassport® programme. An EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) is the broader, international term for this kind of verified declaration, standardised under ISO 14025. In other words, every PEP is an EPD, but not every EPD is a PEP.
In both cases, the technical foundation is a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) conducted according to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. Calculations follow product-category frameworks, namely PCR (Product Category Rules) and PSR (Product Specific Rules), themselves built on standards such as EN 50693 for electronic and electrical products, or EN 15804+A2 for construction products.
Producing a declaration is therefore not filling in a form: it means running a compliant LCA, selecting the right methodological framework, modelling the product and having the result verified. The real question follows: who owns that capability, you or a partner?
Outsourcing: handing PEP/EPD work to an LCA provider
Outsourcing means commissioning a consultancy or LCA expert to deliver your declarations end to end: data collection, modelling, calculation, reporting and support through to programme registration.
What you gain: immediately operational expertise without hiring or training; assured compliance with PCR/PSR and applicable standards; a short time-to-market for your first declarations; and lighter workload for your product, quality and sustainability teams.
What to anticipate: a cost structured per declaration or per project that grows with your number of references; dependence on the provider for every update or new range; and less agility once environmental performance becomes a day-to-day design criterion.
Outsourcing is ideal to get started, secure a first batch of declarations, or absorb a one-off spike in demand.
Building in-house: equipping yourself with LCA software
In-house production means generating your declarations internally with dedicated LCA software. A purpose-built EPD software embeds the PCR/PSR frameworks, automates calculations and generates reports, making the process accessible beyond LCA specialists alone.
What you gain: autonomy, launching a declaration whenever you decide; a decreasing marginal cost, since each additional declaration becomes far cheaper once the tool is mastered; eco-design agility, testing the effect of a material or supplier change before finalising the product; and knowledge retention, keeping your data and models in-house and reusable across ranges.
What to anticipate: an initial upskilling effort for your teams; data governance to structure; and an upfront investment that pays off quickly once volume becomes recurrent.
Building in-house makes sense when environmental declarations become a recurring process and a design lever, rather than a one-off formality.
Five criteria to decide
| Criterion | Outsource (LCA provider) | Build (LCA software) |
|---|---|---|
| In-house LCA expertise | Low, carried by the provider | To be developed internally |
| Time to get started | Fast | Initial ramp-up period |
| Cost model | Per declaration / per project | Upfront investment, then low marginal cost |
| Autonomy and agility | Provider-dependent | High autonomy |
| Best fit | Low or one-off volume, first initiative | Recurring volume, eco-design strategy |
Three simple questions help you decide: how many declarations will you need to produce and maintain over the next two to three years? What LCA maturity already exists in your teams? And is the environment a compliance box to tick or a competitive advantage to build?
What if the best answer is hybrid?
Building and outsourcing aren’t necessarily opposites over time. A common, and often healthier, path is to start outsourced to learn, then build in-house to scale.
You entrust your first declarations to experts to secure compliance and learn the method, then internalise production once volume and skills are in place. This is precisely the logic behind Qweeko’s two offers: Qweeko Start, the turnkey service where our LCA experts produce your PEP and EPD declarations end to end, and Qweeko Pro, the SaaS platform that lets you internalise their generation, with built-in PCR/PSR frameworks and reports in a few clicks. Moving from one to the other is seamless, and you never start from scratch.
FAQ
Do you need to be an LCA expert to use PEP/EPD software?
No. Good software embeds the methodological frameworks (PCR/PSR) and guides the user, making the process accessible to product, quality or sustainability teams.
Does an in-house declaration carry the same value as an outsourced one?
Yes, provided it complies with the PEP ecopassport® programme rules and applicable standards and follows the required verification process. What matters is methodological compliance, not whether production was internal or external.
What drives the lead time of a declaration?
Mainly the availability and quality of product data, product complexity, and whether a suitable PCR/PSR exists.
Can you move from outsourcing to building in-house?
Yes, and it’s a common trajectory: secure your first declarations with a provider, then internalise via LCA software once volume and skills are established.
What’s the difference between a PEP and an EPD?
A PEP is the declaration specific to the PEP ecopassport® programme (EEE and HVAC-R); EPD is the generic term for this type of declaration standardised under ISO 14025.
In short
Outsourcing buys speed and peace of mind to get started. Building in-house buys autonomy and low marginal cost to last. The right choice depends on your volume, your maturity and your environmental ambition, and it can evolve over time.
Still weighing the two? Let’s talk about your context: our experts will point you to Qweeko Start for turnkey delivery, or Qweeko Pro to internalise your PEP and EPD declarations at your own pace.
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