The textbook EPD timeline is 6–12 months. The fastest projects we've seen come in at four. The variance has very little to do with the consultant's speed or the verifier's queue — it's almost entirely about how well-prepared the manufacturer is before the project starts. Here's how to be the well-prepared one.
Where the time actually goes
A typical EPD timeline breaks down roughly as follows:
- Data collection from the manufacturer: 6–14 weeks. The biggest variable.
- LCA model construction: 3–6 weeks. Largely a function of product complexity.
- Draft EPD writing: 1–2 weeks.
- Verifier first review: 2–4 weeks after submission, depending on the verifier's queue.
- Revision rounds: 2–6 weeks. Usually two rounds; sometimes one if the draft is clean.
- Program operator publication: 1–3 weeks.
Notice what dominates: data collection. Compress that, and you compress the whole project.
The seven moves that compress the timeline
Choose the reference year before kickoff
The LCA uses production data from a defined reference year (typically the most recent full calendar year). Confirm that year is closed in your finance and operations systems before the project starts — re-opening a closed year mid-LCA adds weeks.
Pull the data inventory yourself
Before the consultant arrives, assemble a single folder with: monthly production volumes by product, monthly utility bills (electricity, gas, water), monthly fuel consumption by source, your BOM with current supplier names, waste-hauler records, and a process flow diagram. This list takes a week to compile if your records are good — and it removes the consultant's biggest bottleneck.
Identify a single internal owner
EPDs touch sustainability, operations, procurement, and finance. The single biggest timeline killer we see is "I have to check with three people." Name one internal owner with authority to make calls on data choices, allocation methods, and scope decisions. Cc the others, but don't loop them all in for every email.
Engage suppliers in week one, not week six
Upstream emissions (raw materials, transport) typically require data from your suppliers. Many of them will be slow to respond. Send the supplier-data request the first week of the project, not after the consultant flags the gap. Two months of supplier response time runs in parallel with your other work if you start early — it runs sequentially if you don't.
Lock the PCR and PO early
Mid-project changes to the PCR or the target program operator cost weeks. Decide both in the first 10 days. If you're unsure, the consultant can recommend — but the decision has to land before the LCA model is built.
Book the verifier at kickoff
Verifier queue is the single least visible source of delay. Most manufacturers don't think about the verifier until the LCA is done. By then the verifier may be three months out. Book the verifier at project kickoff with a target submission date — most verifiers will reserve a slot if you commit early.
Set a 48-hour comment response policy
The verifier will issue comments. Most projects lose 2–3 weeks because the manufacturer takes a week to respond to each round. Commit internally — and tell the verifier — that you'll respond to every comment round within 48 hours. The verifier will reciprocate with their next review turnaround.
What this looks like in practice
A well-prepared cement EPD with a single product, a single plant, and a single PO completes in about 16–18 weeks from kickoff to publication. A poorly-prepared one — same product, same plant, same PO — takes 30+ weeks. The difference is almost entirely the seven moves above. None of them are technical. All of them are project-management.
The unspoken trade-off: compressing the timeline means more of the work falls on you, not the consultant. If you'd rather pay extra for the consultant to do the data wrangling, the cost goes up but the calendar can still compress. If neither — if you want the cheapest possible EPD on a relaxed timeline — be honest about that with the consultant up front, and budget 9 months.