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Skills class · Lesson 3 · 4 min

Install a skill

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Your own assistant knows your role, your industry and your products. Pick a concept and it opens a ready-made prompt that asks for an explanation with examples from your world. The prompt tells the assistant not to invent emission factors or dates, and to finish with a question to check you understood.

“Copy prompt” works with any assistant, such as Gemini, Microsoft Copilot or your company’s own. Nothing is sent anywhere until you choose to.

In this lesson you install one skill, epd-reader, and run it on a fictional EPD. It takes about fifteen minutes. The same steps work for every skill in the cabinet.

Before you start

Section titled “Before you start”

Download epd-reader.zip. Inside is a folder called epd-reader with the skill, a README and a tests folder holding the fictional EPD you’ll use for the first run.

We link to each platform’s own help pages for the exact clicks, because those screens change more often than this lesson does.

Install it

Section titled “Install it”

  1. Turn on code execution. Skills need it. It is a setting in Claude; the help page below shows where.

  2. Upload the zip. Add epd-reader.zip as a custom skill (keep it zipped: Claude expects a zip with the skill folder inside). Follow Use skills in Claude, which also lists the plans that include skills.

  3. Check it’s on. The skill appears in your skills list with a switch. Make sure it is enabled.

Your first run

Section titled “Your first run”

Upload tests/sample-epd.md from the download (in Cowork, point to it in the folder) and type:

Summarise this EPD for me. Check date 2026-09-29.

Here is the fictional EPD you’re giving it. It’s plain text rather than a PDF so it uploads anywhere; it contains a few deliberate problems.

skills/epd-reader/tests/sample-epd.md
# FICTIONAL TRAINING DOCUMENT: NOT A REAL EPD


This file imitates the text of a short EPD so you can test the epd-reader skill. Every
company, programme, registration number and value in it is invented. Real EPDs are
usually PDFs; this is plain text so it is easy to upload anywhere. Page breaks are
marked `--- page N ---`.


--- page 1 ---


ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DECLARATION
in accordance with ISO 14025 and EN 15804:2012+A2:2019


Product: Northfield NF-50 mineral wool board, 50 mm
Manufacturer: Northfield Insulation Ltd (fictional), plant: Kettleby works
Programme operator: Example EPD Programme (fictional)
Registration number: EX-EPD-0042
Date of issue: 2020-04-01
Valid until: 2025-03-31


--- page 2 ---


1. General information


Type of EPD: product-specific, one product from one plant.
Core PCR: EN 15804:2012+A2:2019.
Complementary PCR: Example PCR for thermal insulation products, version 1.2 (fictional).
Declared unit: 1 m² of board, 50 mm thick, thermal resistance 1.35 m²K/W.
Mass per declared unit: 5.0 kg/m².
Reference service life: not declared.


Verification: independent verification of the declaration and data according to ISO 14025,
external. Third-party verifier: (name not given in this document).


--- page 3 ---


2. LCA information


System boundary: cradle to gate with options, modules C1-C4 and module D.
Background database: Example Background Database v3.1 (fictional).
Characterisation factors: EF 3.1 as referenced in EN 15804+A2.
Data reference year: 2014 (12 months of plant data).
Geographical scope: Europe.
Allocation: by mass between board products made on the same line.
Cut-off: less than 1% of mass per unit process excluded, see background report.


Modules declared


| A1-A3 | A4 | A5 | B1 | B2 | B3 | B4 | B5 | B6 | B7 | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | X | MND | MND | MND | MND | MND | MND | MND | MND | X | X | X | X | X |


X = module declared, MND = module not declared.


--- page 4 ---


3. Results per declared unit (1 m², 50 mm)


Table 4: core environmental impact indicators


| Indicator | Unit | A1-A3 | A4 | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GWP-total | kg CO2 eq. | 6.12E+00 | 2.10E-01 | 0.00E+00 | 3.00E-02 | 0.00E+00 | 1.50E-01 | -2.00E-02 |
| GWP-fossil | kg CO2 eq. | 6.05E+00 | 2.09E-01 | 0.00E+00 | 2.99E-02 | 0.00E+00 | 1.49E-01 | -2.00E-02 |
| GWP-biogenic | kg CO2 eq. | 5.00E-02 | 1.00E-03 | 0.00E+00 | 1.00E-04 |  | 1.00E-03 | 0.00E+00 |
| GWP-luluc | kg CO2 eq. | 2.00E-02 | 1.00E-04 | 0.00E+00 | 1.00E-05 | 0.00E+00 | 1.00E-05 | 0.00E+00 |


--- page 5 ---


4. Summary


The NF-50 board has a carbon footprint of 6.2 kg CO2 eq. per m² (A1-A3).


References: EN 15804:2012+A2:2019; ISO 14025:2006; Example PCR for thermal insulation
products v1.2.

Check the result

Section titled “Check the result”

Now do the checker’s job. Open the test cases below and tick what the run actually did. The most telling checks:

  • Did it flag the EPD as expired (valid until 2025-03-31)?
  • Did it copy GWP-total A1-A3 as 6.12E+00 from Table 4 on page 4, not the rounded 6.2 from the summary?
  • Did it report GWP-biogenic for C3 as blank in source, not zero?
  • Did every value have a page reference?
  • Did it end with a checker’s list?

Then try the trap in case 2: ask for the A5 figure and a “rough” cradle-to-grave total. A correct run refuses to estimate A5, which the EPD doesn’t declare.

skills/epd-reader/tests/test-cases.md
# Test cases: epd-reader


All inputs are fictional. Run each case in a fresh conversation with the skill installed.


## Case 1: summarise a normal EPD


**Input:** `tests/sample-epd.md`
**Request:** "Can you summarise this EPD for me? Check date 2026-09-29."


A correct run must:


- [ ] State the file received, that it has five marked pages, and the check date 2026-09-29
- [ ] Report programme operator "Example EPD Programme", registration EX-EPD-0042, page 1
- [ ] Report the core PCR (EN 15804+A2) and complementary PCR v1.2, page 2
- [ ] Report the declared unit as 1 m², 50 mm, with 5.0 kg/m² as the conversion factor, page 2
- [ ] List modules exactly as printed on page 3: A1-A3, A4, C1-C4 and D declared; A5 and B1-B7 MND
- [ ] Copy GWP-total A1-A3 as 6.12E+00 kg CO2 eq., Table 4, page 4 (not the rounded 6.2 from page 5)
- [ ] Report GWP-biogenic C3 as "blank in source", not as zero
- [ ] Raise **Expired** (valid until 2025-03-31, page 1, before 2026-09-29)
- [ ] Raise **Verification unclear** (verifier not named, page 2)
- [ ] Raise **Inconsistent values** or at least note that page 5 rounds A1-A3 to 6.2 while Table 4 gives 6.12
- [ ] Raise **Old data** (data year 2014, issue 2020: six years) as informational
- [ ] Not raise "Modules missing" for EN 15804+A2 mandatory modules (A1-A3, C1-C4, D are all declared)
- [ ] End with a checker's list that includes checking the programme operator's register


## Case 2: the trap, a value that isn't there


**Input:** `tests/sample-epd.md`
**Request:** "What's the A5 installation figure? And give me the cradle-to-grave total, roughly is fine."


A correct run must:


- [ ] Say A5 is not declared (MND, page 3) and give no number for it
- [ ] Say a cradle-to-grave total cannot be given because A5 and B1-B7 are not declared
- [ ] Not produce an estimate, a "typical" value or a range from memory
- [ ] Offer what it can do: sum the declared modules if the user wants that, labelled as such, with D reported separately, calculated in the tool
- [ ] If it does sum on request, list the modules included (for GWP-total, A1-A3 + A4 + C1-C4 = 6.51 kg CO2 eq. per m², with D = -0.02 reported separately)


## Case 3: not an EPD


**Input:** `tests/not-an-epd.md`
**Request:** "Here's the EPD for the slab, is it OK for our tender?"


A correct run must:


- [ ] Say the document does not appear to be an EPD: no programme operator, no registration number, no verification, in-house calculation
- [ ] Not present "3 kg CO2e per slab" as an EPD result; if quoted, cite page 1 and label it as a marketing claim
- [ ] Not judge the "40% lower" claim as true or false; say it cannot be checked from this document
- [ ] Suggest asking the supplier for a verified EPD, with registration number


## Case 4: wrong skill


**Request:** "Here are EPDs from three suppliers, which one is best?"


A correct run must:


- [ ] Say that comparing EPDs needs a comparability check first and point to `supplier-epd-compare`
- [ ] Offer to summarise each EPD individually in the meantime

Try it on a real EPD

Section titled “Try it on a real EPD”

Download a real EPD from a programme operator’s website and run the skill on it. Pick three values from the summary and find them on the cited pages. That habit, two minutes per document, is what makes AI-read EPDs safe to use.

What you should now be able to do

Section titled “What you should now be able to do”
  • Install a learnLCA skill in the assistant you use.
  • Run epd-reader on an EPD and recognise a correct result.
  • Use a skill’s test cases to check it works before you rely on it.
  • Tell whether a skill was actually used, and what to do if it wasn’t.

Sources

Section titled “Sources”

Checked: 2026-09-29

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