Institut Bauen Und Umwelt E.v.

What Institut Bauen Und Umwelt E.v. does

Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V. (IBU) is a German non-profit association founded in 1981 and headquartered in Berlin that operates the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) program for construction products under the European EN 15804 and ISO 14025 standards. Its primary customers are building product and component manufacturers who need verified environmental documentation to support DGNB, BNB, LEED, and BREEAM green building certifications, along with industry associations, LCA practitioners, third-party verifiers, and the certification systems themselves. IBU has published more than 1,600 independently verified EPDs, forming the largest standardized repository of construction product environmental data in Germany.

IBU's core technology consists of two digital platforms: EPD-Online, a web-based system for digital EPD creation, submission, third-party verification, and publication with multi-user workflows, and IBU.data, a machine-readable XML database distributing EPD data in ILCD format for ingestion by LCA software tools (Umberto, SimaPro, openLCA) and the German federal ÖKOBAUDAT database. The product portfolio includes the full IBU-EPD (eight chapters of documentation), a simplified Core EPD meeting only mandatory EN 15804 content, a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) document service, and Product Category Rules (PCR Part A general calculation rules, PCR Part B product-specific rules). Verification is performed by independent third parties, with wholly-owned subsidiary IBU Verify GmbH providing verification services.

IBU's business model is membership-based with multiple fee streams: annual membership dues graded by company turnover, a one-time €2,700 verification and processing fee per EPD, annual trademark fees of €120–€960 graded by EPD count, €500 per PCF document, and commercial licensing of IBU.data for redistribution. Revenue is not publicly disclosed as the organization is a registered association (eingetragener Verein) under German law. The organization maintains mutual recognition agreements with nine international EPD programs (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Spain, UK, Italy, North America/Smart EPD, UL Solutions) and is a founding member of the ECO Platform.

Name

Institut Bauen Und Umwelt E.v.

Legal name

Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V.

Website

https://ibu-epd.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V. (IBU) is a Berlin-based non-profit association that operates Germany's EPD program for construction products under EN 15804. It serves building product manufacturers needing verified environmental documentation for DGNB, BNB, LEED, and BREEAM certifications through its EPD-Online platform, IBU.data XML database, and PCR standards.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) Program Services for Construction

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (54138), Engineering Services (541330)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Product Sustainability & LCA/EPD (Eco-design, PCF) (EUAHAJAF)

Keywords

• Environmental product declarations
• Construction product certification
• Life cycle assessment
• Building material sustainability
• EPD program operator

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. EPD Verification and Processing Fees: One-time fees charged for verification and publication of each Environmental Product Declaration. The fee covers the independent third-party verification process and administrative processing.
2. Annual Trademark/Trade Mark Fees: Annual recurring fees for use of the IBU trademark, graded according to the number of EPDs held by the member (ranging from €960 to €120 per year).
3. IBU Membership Dues: Annual membership fees based on the member company's total turnover, regulated in the membership dues regulation. Required for participation in the EPD program.
4. Product Carbon Footprint Documents: IBU creates PCF documents as finished PDF documents for existing EPD holders at a price of €500 per document.
5. IBU.data Commercial Licensing: Commercial use of digitized EPD datasets or distribution to third parties requires separate licensing agreement with IBU. Non-commercial use for building lifecycle assessment is free.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

IBU develops and operates the EPD program for construction products according to the European EN 15804 standard, providing digital platforms (EPD-Online for EPD creation, verification, and publication, and IBU.data for machine-readable XML data distribution) and managing the independent third-party verification process. Its deliverables include full IBU-EPDs, simplified Core EPDs, Product Carbon Footprint documents, and Product Category Rules (PCRs), serving building product manufacturers seeking standardized environmental documentation for use in green building certifications.

Product overview

Institut Bauen und Umwelt e.V. (IBU) operates a comprehensive Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) program for construction products based on EN 15804 and ISO 14025 standards. The core offering is the EPD-Online platform, a web-based system for creating, submitting, verifying, and publishing EPDs in standardized PDF and machine-readable XML formats. IBU provides two EPD types: the full IBU-EPD with complete eight-chapter documentation, and the simplified Core EPD following only mandatory EN 15804 requirements. Supporting products include IBU.data for digital XML-based EPD data, the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) service (500 EUR per document), and verified EPD/LCA tools. The organization also manages PCR documents (Part A for calculation rules, Part B for product-specific requirements) and offers webinars and publications. SuPIM was discontinued in March 2025. EPD verification is provided by independent third-party verifiers, with published EPDs available via PDF download or XML data exchange.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IBU.data: Digital database platform providing EPD data in XML format for building life cycle assessments
• EPD-Online
• SuPIM
• Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)

Products and services

• IBU-EPD (Full Environmental Product Declaration)

Quantifiable outcome

• Independent third-party verification ensures credibility and comparability of environmental data across all EPDs
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Smart EPDcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Mutual recognition agreement between IBU and North American EPD program Smart EPD. Enables building product manufacturers to list their IBU-verified EPDs on the US market. IBU is the first EPD program to achieve mutual recognition with Smart EPD. Based on ISO 21930 and EN 15804 standards.
• BRE Group (UK)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Mutual recognition agreement signed at BAU 2017 trade fair in Munich. BRE Director Dr. Shamir Ghumra signed for BRE. Enables EPDs verified by either BRE or IBU to be recognized in both the BRE and IBU listing services.
• EPD Italy / ICMQcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Mutual recognition agreement signed at BAU 2017 trade fair in Munich. EPD Italy represented by Prof. Enrico Dassori (ICMQ President). Requires verified recycled content information for IBU EPDs to be listed with EPD Italy.
• Global EPD / AENOR (Spain)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Mutual recognition agreement concluded in early 2015, signed by IBU Managing Director Dr. Burkhart Lehmann and AENOR CEO Avelino Brito. Result of statement of intent signed in 2013.
• EPD Danmark / DTIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Mutual recognition agreement signed at BAU 2015 trade fair. Enables declaration holders of EPDs verified by IBU to have their EPDs recognized in Denmark, and vice versa.
• EPD-Norge (Norway)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Contract for mutual recognition signed at EPD-Norge Annual General Meeting in June 2014. Enables IBU EPD holders to have their EPDs recognized in Norway without additional verification. EN 15804 is the common basis.
• UL SolutionscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Mutual recognition agreement with North American program operator UL Solutions, instituted at the end of 2013. Enables IBU EPDs to be listed in the US market. Requires additional TRACI indicator documentation. IBU was able to convince UL Solutions to follow European EN 15804 standards.
• The International EPD System (Sweden)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013First international agreement for IBU, signed at BAU 2013 trade fair in Munich. IBU declaration owners can co-publish EPDs on the Swedish EPD program website (environdec.com) for a flat registration fee.
• INIES (France)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMutual recognition with French program operator INIES is currently suspended. Previous mutual recognition was based on EN 15804+A1. Continuation based on EN 15804+A2 has not been successful due to additional French requirements requiring new verification in France.
• ECO PlatformcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIBU is a member of the ECO Platform, the umbrella organization of European national EPD program operators. The platform aims to harmonize rules and achieve Europe-wide validity of EPDs based on EN 15804. IBU is a founding member.
• ÖKOBAUDATcoreTechnology or IntegrationFree interface to the ÖKOBAUDAT building materials database managed by the German Federal Ministry. EPD data is automatically transferred to ÖKOBAUDAT upon publication, subject to declaration holder consent.
• DGNB and BNB Certification SystemscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEPDs serve as the data basis for building-level environmental assessment in German certification systems DGNB and BNB. IBU EPDs are used to calculate building lifecycle assessments for certification.
• LEED and BREEAM Certification SystemscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEPDs enable credit collection in international building certification systems. LEED v4 awards credits for products with EPDs. Mutual recognition agreements with US program operators support this integration.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• EPD International AB (Environdec): Operates The International EPD System, the Swedish-origin EPD program operator that is IBU's first international mutual-recognition partner (2013). Runs an EN 15804-aligned program across multiple product categories, making it the closest functional peer to IBU.
• EPD Danmark (DTI): Danish EPD program run by the Danish Technological Institute, partnered with IBU via mutual recognition since 2015. Directly comparable as a parallel national program serving Danish manufacturers.
• Smart EPD: North American EPD program operator with which IBU signed a mutual-recognition agreement in 2024 — IBU was the first program to achieve this. Directly comparable as a competing program serving manufacturers seeking North American EPD issuance.
• BRE Group (BREEAM operator): UK-based sustainability and certification body that operates an EPD program. Mutual-recognition partner with IBU since 2017, enabling UK manufacturers to leverage IBU-verified EPDs and vice versa.
• EPD Italy (ICMQ): Italian EPD program run by ICMQ, an IBU mutual-recognition partner since 2017. Directly comparable as a competing/parallel national program serving Italian construction-product manufacturers.
• INIES (France): French EPD/building-product environmental data reference, previously under mutual recognition with IBU (currently suspended). Operates as IBU's national counterpart in France.
• EPD-Norge (The Norwegian EPD Foundation): Norwegian EPD program operator partnered with IBU via mutual recognition since 2014. Directly comparable as a parallel national program serving Norwegian manufacturers.
• UL Solutions (EPD Program): North American EPD program operator and IBU's mutual-recognition partner since 2013. Directly comparable as a competing/parallel program serving building product manufacturers in the US under EN 15804 + ISO 21930 alignment.
• AENOR (Global EPD / Spain): Spanish EPD program operator that is IBU's mutual-recognition partner since 2015. Directly comparable as a competing program providing EN 15804-aligned EPDs to Spanish manufacturers.

Others

• ECO Platform: Umbrella association of European national EPD program operators of which IBU is a founding member. Comparable as the coordinating body across IBU and its peer programs (BRE, AENOR, EPD Danmark, EPD-Norge, EPD International, etc.).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCxJhJ7-kB1dA1lLgWmvfJdA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ibu-epd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Institut Bauen Und Umwelt E.v.