QTL Lighting Raises Bar with EPDs for Key Architectural LEDs

MILFORD, CT – January 16, 2026 – In a move reflecting the architectural industry’s accelerating shift from vague sustainability claims to verifiable data, QTL Lighting announced it has secured third-party certified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for three of its core LED lighting families: PERI, ESSENTIALS, and MICRO 5. This expansion of its EPD-rated portfolio signals a deep commitment to environmental transparency and provides architects and designers with the critical data needed to build a genuinely sustainable future.

The certifications position QTL as a proactive leader in a market increasingly wary of greenwashing, where objective, life-cycle data is becoming a non-negotiable requirement for product specification in high-performance buildings.

The New Standard: From Green Claims to Verifiable Data

For years, the building industry has been flooded with products marketed as “green,” “eco-friendly,” or “sustainable,” often without substantiation. The Environmental Product Declaration cuts through this noise. An EPD is a standardized, independently verified report that provides a transparent look at a product’s environmental impact across its entire life cycle—from raw material extraction and manufacturing to transportation, use, and eventual end-of-life disposal or recycling.

Governed by international standards like ISO 14025 and ISO 21930 for construction products, EPDs are built upon a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This rigorous process quantifies a product's contributions to global warming potential, energy and water consumption, waste generation, and other key environmental metrics. Unlike self-declared marketing claims, every EPD must be reviewed and certified by an independent third party, ensuring the data is objective, credible, and comparable.

“We believe building a brighter future starts with better choices—backed by real data,” said Gean Tremaine, CEO of QTL. “EPDs are increasingly essential for architects and lighting designers, and we’re committed to delivering the verified information they need to optimize projects for lower environmental impact.”

The rigor of the process is a significant barrier for many manufacturers. “Verifying every component takes time, people, and investment—but the demand for transparency is growing quickly,” Tremaine added. This investment separates companies genuinely committed to environmental stewardship from those merely participating in surface-level marketing.

Meeting Demand in the Green Building Sector

The push for EPDs is not happening in a vacuum. It is a direct response to the explosive growth of the green building market, which is projected to exceed $900 billion globally by 2032. This growth is driven by regulations and the widespread adoption of green building rating systems like Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and the WELL Building Standard.

These frameworks reward projects for using products with transparent environmental data. The LEED v4.1 credit for “Building Product Disclosure and Optimization,” for example, specifically allocates points for using a certain number of products that have third-party verified EPDs. This makes manufacturers who provide this documentation invaluable partners for design firms pursuing certification.

“We’re seeing increasing momentum from architectural and lighting design firms that prioritize manufacturers who can support sustainability documentation,” Tremaine noted. This sentiment is echoed throughout the design community.

“EPDs have become a fundamental tool in our specification process,” commented a principal at a leading architectural firm specializing in sustainable design. “They allow us to move beyond a product’s operational energy efficiency and evaluate its embodied carbon—the hidden environmental cost of its creation and disposal. Having this data for a specific luminaire allows for true apples-to-apples comparisons and helps us make decisions that tangibly reduce a project’s total carbon footprint.”

Illuminating Design with Certified Solutions

QTL’s three newly certified product families serve distinct needs within architectural design, giving specifiers versatile and now verifiably sustainable options. The new certifications add to the company’s existing EPD-rated VERS and Q-CAP families, broadening the scope of what designers can achieve.

The certified product lines include:

• PERI: A compact perimeter fixture with an integral driver, designed for shallow plenum spaces and compatible with various ceiling types. It offers multiple optical choices and glare-reduction features, making it ideal for creating comfortable, well-lit ambient environments.

• ESSENTIALS: A line of made-to-order, fully assembled architectural fixtures. Constructed from durable anodized aluminum, these products are designed for streamlined installation, saving time and resources on site.

• MICRO 5: An ultra-compact linear lighting solution, with a profile as small as a pencil. It delivers precise, high-quality illumination for detailed architectural applications where discretion and performance are paramount, offering a footprint less than half the size of standard fixtures.

“Our VERS and Q-CAP families already support LEED, WELL, and other green building goals,” Tremaine stated. “We’re excited to add PERI, ESSENTIALS, and MICRO 5 to QTL’s growing list of EPD-certified products.”

Raising the Bar in a Competitive Landscape

While major lighting conglomerates like Signify and Acuity Brands have also invested in sustainability and offer EPDs for select products, QTL's focused expansion of its EPD portfolio demonstrates a comprehensive commitment that resonates deeply with the architectural specification community. By certifying a range of its most versatile products, the company is embedding sustainability at the core of its offerings rather than treating it as a niche category.

This commitment extends beyond EPDs. The majority of QTL's lighting products and power supplies also feature Declare labels, which provide a “nutrition label” for building products by disclosing all intentionally added ingredients. This level of material transparency is critical for projects seeking to meet the stringent requirements of the Living Building Challenge and for clients concerned about occupant health.

Furthermore, the company offers RoHS-compliant solutions, which restrict the use of specific hazardous materials, and products that meet California’s rigorous JA8 and Title 24 energy efficiency requirements. This multi-faceted approach to sustainability—encompassing life-cycle impact, material health, and operational efficiency—provides designers with a holistic and reliable toolkit for responsible specification.