1. The EPEAT® Standard and LCA
Wayne Rifer
Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool
Green Electronics Council

2. Two Dimension of EPEAT IEEE 1680 family of American National Standards
1680 umbrella standard – the rules of the game
environmental criteria for computers & monitors
environmental criteria for imaging equipment (under development)
environmental criteria for TVs (under development)
System for identifying and verifying product claims
EPEAT Registry at
Self-declaration with after-market verification 2

3. EPEAT Standards and Workgroups
Environmental Assessment Standards Committee (EASC)
1680 Umbrella Standard
Computers and Monitors
Imaging Devices
Televisions
Handheld Devices
Servers

4. EPEAT Tiers EPEAT Bronze EPEAT Silver – Meets all required criteria
and at least 50% of the optional criteria
EPEAT Gold
– Meets all required criteria and
at least 75% of the optional criteria 4

5. EPEAT Registered Products
As of 09/15/09. See for current numbers.

6. 32 Participating Manufacturers
Acer
Apple
Arquimedes Automatacao
AsusTek
CIARA-TECH
Corporativo Lanix
CTL
Dell
EIZO NANAO
Fujitsu
Gammatech
General Dynamics Itronix
GETAC
Hewlett Packard
Howard Technology Solutions
Hyundai IT America
Lenovo
LG Electronics
M&A Technology
MDG Computers
NCS Technologies
NEC Display Solutions
Northern Micro
Panasonic
Philips Electronics
Positivo Informatica
Samsung
Sony Electronics
Toshiba
TPV
Transource
Viewsonic
As of 05/11/2009. See for current list.

7. Environmental Performance Categories
Environmentally Sensitive Materials
Materials Selection
Design for End of Life
Product Longevity/Life Cycle Extension
Energy Conservation
End of Life Management
Corporate Performance
Packaging
There are 23 required criteria and 28 optional criteria. They are divided into the following eight categories:  
Reduction/Elimination of Environmentally Sensitive Materials (3 required; 8 optional)
Material Selection (3 required; 3 optional)
Design for End of Life (5 required; 6 optional)
Product Longevity/ Life Extension (2 required; 2 optional)
Energy Conservation (1 required; 3 optional)
End of Life Management (2 required; 1 optional)
Corporate Performance (3 required; 2 optional)
Packaging (3 required; 4 optional)
For additional details, a summary of the IEEE 1680 standard, which is the foundation of the EPEAT system, is available on the EPEAT website at
Copies of the full IEEE 1680 standard must be purchased from IEEE. To purchase a copy of IEEE 1680 visit < Simply search for 1680.
51 criteria
23 required
28 optional

8. EPEAT Development New product standards International Registry
Imaging equipment (printers, copiers, MFDs, etc.)
TVs
Update of computer standard
Servers
Mobile devices
International Registry
40 countries
Initially dedicated to institutional market
Moving into consumer market

9. EPEAT and LCA Stakeholder consensus is the essence of EPEAT
Consensus-based criteria versus science-based
LCA & stakeholder judgments focus differently
Sensitive materials – stakeholders judgments are precaution-based
DfEoL and take-back are priorities
Can LCAs inform environmental priorities?
Energy efficiency in use versus life extension
Elimination of toxins (Pb) versus LC impacts

10. EPEAT and LCA Held LCA seminar for stakeholders – Key messages
Limitations of LCA or LCI results are too great (data quality, boundary variability, etc.) to base quantitative thresholds on them
Reward the process, not the result
Use established third-party tools
Use tools that lock in data and boundary variability

11. Proposed LCA-based Criteria for New Standards
Corporate performance
Perform LCA or corporate carbon footprint, water footprint
Achieving x% reduction in carbon footprint
LCI or LCA of product’s carbon footprint (various LC boundaries)
Per ISO 14040/ or PAS 2050
Annual carbon disclosure scope 1 & 2
integrate life cycle &/or DfE thinking into product design
Materials selection
LCA for embodied/used energy on 90% of the materials/ components in product
LCA-based demonstration that materials use x% less energy cradle to cradle than previous generation

12. Proposed LCA-based Criteria for New Standards
Environmentally sensitive materials
LCA-based tool to assess alternative FRs
Energy conservation
LCA-based demonstration that product uses/ embodies x% less LC energy than previous generation, as alternative to ENERGY STAR
Other proposed science-based assessments
Health exposure/risk
Resource depletion
Recyclability analysis

13. Contact Wayne Rifer Manager of EPEAT Standards and Verification
Co-Chair of IEEE 1680 Standards Sponsor
EPEAT Product Registry
IEEE Standards Development