Materials Passports
Contents |
Definition
Materials passports are electronic and interoperable data sets that collect characteristics of materials and assemblies, enabling suppliers, designers and users to give them the highest possible value and guide all towards material loops.
The availability and relevance of this data, in particular of the use history and reuse potential of a component, facilitates reuse, recycling and biodegradation of that component. Moreover, it is crucial for choosing components that can be reused in the future. Accordingly, the development of materials passports is seen as a mechanism to encourage innovative product design and the implementation of circular business models.
Guidelines
Materials passports, as defined above, are a specific type of passport developed within the BAMB project. They distinguish themselves from for other passports by the possibility to update the collected data and by the identification of the materials’ history, current and possible future uses and the related processes within the bio- and technosphere.
Further, materials passports should not be confused with Environmental Product Declarations or EPDs reporting on the environmental impact of materials or assemblies in a harmonised way. Neither should they be confused with Recyclability Indexes describing relative volumes and weights of recycled materials in components instead of their actual content.
References
Debacker W. and Manshoven S. (2016) Synthesis of the state-of-the-art BAMB report: key barriers and opportunities for Materials Passports and Reversible Building Design in the current system. VITO.
--BAMB - Buildings As Material Banks 09:20, 15 Aug 2018 (BST)
Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
Social distancing goes high tech
Tech tools to help manage people and space post-pandemic.
Eclectic Edwardian architecture
A style that ranges from mock Tudor to arts and crafts to the 'Wrenaissance'.
Free guide from Secured by Design.
Building Back Better: Circularity
BREEAM strategy for sustainability and the circular economy.
Free tool to improve the construction programming process.
Building services verification
Are buildings doing what they're supposed to be doing?
Cities with quick access to everything by foot or bike.
The pressures and pinch points of global destinations.
The green economic recovery beyond COVID-19
Making the case for a sustainable future.
Building Conservation Certification Scheme expands eligibility
Retrofit professionals now entitled to enter CIOB programme.
Unlimited Potential report looks at gender and racial bias
How, where, when and why stereotypes happen.
Optimising the best features of both energy performance tools.
The project information process
BSRIA guidance updated in BG 78/2021 publication.
ISO standard supports crime prevention through environmental design.