NSF International is a North American EPD Program Operator with one of the largest EPD libraries in the region — more than 11,000 active EPD IDs spanning over 40 distinct Product Category Rules. Headquartered at 789 N. Dixboro Road in Ann Arbor, Michigan, NSF has operated as a public health and safety organization since 1944, and its EPD program builds on that decades-long foundation in standards development and third-party certification. This profile covers who NSF International is, what it publishes, the standards its program runs on, how it develops PCRs, and its Program Operator Instructions.
Who Is NSF International?
NSF International (originally the National Sanitation Foundation) has operated since 1944, working across public health, food safety, and water quality certification long before Environmental Product Declarations existed as a category. Its EPD Program Operator role extends that same certification infrastructure into environmental impact reporting: NSF is an ANSI-eligible operator, meaning it can guide industries, trade organizations, or individual companies through an ISO 14025-compliant process to develop a Product Category Rule for their product category.
As a Program Operator, NSF doesn’t build the underlying Life Cycle Assessment itself — it verifies an externally produced LCA study against ISO 14025 and the applicable PCR, then hosts the final EPD in its public listings, similar in structure to how ASTM International and UL Solutions operate.
What EPDs Does NSF International Make Available?
NSF’s EPD library is large by North American standards: as of late 2025, its listings showed active EPD IDs beyond 11,000, spanning more than 40 distinct Product Category Rule titles. PCR documents are made available through NSF’s standards library, and NSF requests that completed PCRs also be posted to applicable public PCR repositories, extending their visibility beyond NSF’s own site.
The Standards Behind NSF International’s Program
NSF’s EPD program runs on:
- ISO 14025 — the baseline international standard for Type III environmental declarations, and the standard NSF verifies every EPD against.
- ISO 21930 — the international standard specific to construction-product EPDs.
- ISO 14040/14044 — the underlying Life Cycle Assessment standards the EPD’s data must be built on.
Like ASTM International, NSF’s program doesn’t reference EN 15804 — its focus is squarely ISO-based and oriented toward North American manufacturers and buyers. See our comparison of ISO 21930 vs EN 15804 for how the two standards diverge, which matters if a manufacturer also needs European market recognition.
How NSF International Develops Product Category Rules
NSF develops PCRs through an open, consultative process, drawing in stakeholders from product manufacturing, supply chain management, regulatory affairs, environmental consulting, and life cycle assessment practice. This mirrors the same open-standards approach NSF has long used for its public health and water-quality standards, applied to environmental declarations.
NSF International’s Program Operator Instructions
NSF publishes a Program Operator Instructions document directly from its site — the rulebook governing how NSF develops PCRs, verifies EPDs, and manages publication under its program. Like ASTM, NSF is not a listed member of Eco Platform, the European association that harmonizes EN 15804 implementation among operators like EPD International, EPD Global, and IBU — NSF’s program is built around ISO standards for a primarily North American audience.
How CarbonBright Works With NSF International
CarbonBright’s Life Cycle Assessment and EPD workflows are built to produce audit-ready data aligned with the standards NSF’s program runs on — ISO 14025, ISO 21930, and the applicable PCR for each product. CarbonBright is a pre-verified tool, and can pursue certification for specific PCRs with NSF International or whichever EPD Program Operator fits your target market best.
Looking to publish an EPD through NSF International or another Program Operator? Contact CarbonBright to see how our platform fits into that process.
