Nucor Case Study

Nucor EPD Compliance Case Study

Nucor Provides Transparency of Steel’s Environmental Impact in Expert Collaboration with Trinity Consultants

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Environmental Consulting

Industry

Metal Manufacturing

Location

United States

Nucor, North America’s largest steel producer and recycler, partnered with Trinity Consultants to strengthen its leadership in sustainable steel by delivering trusted, transparent data on the environmental impact of its products. Through comprehensive Life Cycle Inventories and third-party verified Environmental Product Declarations, Nucor provides architects, builders, and developers with credible information they need to meet today’s demanding green building certifications, achieve lower embodied carbon targets, and design more sustainable structures with confidence.

Challenge

Nucor aimed to lead the steel industry in sustainability by providing customers, investors, and stakeholders with transparent, credible data on the environmental impact of its steel products. As demand for lower embodied carbon materials grew and green building standards became more stringent, Nucor needed to demonstrate that its operations and products complied with evolving requirements for carbon disclosure, life cycle assessment, and verified sustainability claims.

The complexity lay in gathering accurate emissions data across multiple steel mills and product lines, standardizing Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for different steel grades, and ensuring that all reporting met global standards such as LEED v4, ISO 14040/44, and other third-party frameworks. To maintain trust and competitiveness, Nucor also had to manage internal processes, data integrity, and third-party verifications, all while ensuring timely delivery to meet market and regulatory deadlines.

Solutions

Trinity partnered with Nucor to develop a comprehensive sustainability strategy and practical roadmap for transparent carbon reporting. The project included conducting detailed greenhouse gas inventories for all facilities, generating product-specific EPDs that quantified environmental impacts from raw materials to finished products, and securing third-party verification to ensure credibility.

Trinity’s experts streamlined complex data collection processes, built custom tools to aggregate and analyze emissions data, and translated technical results into clear, actionable reports aligned with the latest green building standards and buyer expectations. The collaboration also involved working closely with Nucor’s internal teams to train staff, align corporate sustainability goals with daily operations, and prepare disclosures that could be easily updated as standards evolved.

This approach positioned Nucor to respond confidently to customer requests for verified sustainability data, support clients pursuing green certifications, and strengthen its reputation as a steel industry leader in environmental transparency.

Services Performed

The team conducted greenhouse gas emissions analysis, performed life cycle assessments and produced Environmental Product Declarations, and provided third-party verification with standards alignment. They also developed custom tools, delivered training, and offered ongoing support.

Sustainability Program Support and ESG Disclosure

Emissions Calculations, Inventories & Reporting

Decarbonization Strategy Development

Third-Party Verification Services

Result

For Nucor, the team produced third-party verified Environmental Product Declarations for multiple steel products, enhancing customer trust and market competitiveness. They streamlined greenhouse gas data collection and reporting across all facilities, reducing compliance risks and improving efficiency. By providing credible and transparent product data, they enabled customers to secure LEED credits and other green building certifications. These efforts strengthened Nucor’s position as a sustainability leader, supported investor confidence, and aligned with anticipated regulatory requirements, while establishing a repeatable framework for ongoing environmental reporting and continuous improvement.