Kopie van Circulariteit boven

Study on the implementation of the building passport

Bureau Bouwtechniek does what it can to encourage the transition towards more circularity. With this in mind, we support the OVAM in developing legislative and regulatory instruments that will make that transition to circular and material-efficient construction more accessible.
Advice sustainable & circular building| Innovation & Research

  • Client: Public Waste Agency of Flanders (OVAM)

  • Timing: 2023

  • Status: Executed

The building passport

The construction passport is a digital representation of the composition of a building that should facilitate reuse of materials and thus lead to more circular construction.

The construction passport will bring together information about a structure, giving insight into, for example, the materials present. It will contain the various generic material passports, explanations of how the materials were applied and in what quantities, assembly and disassembly manuals, information about the structure that is independent of data about the constituent materials - such as the year of construction or owner - and the history of the building - when have there been repairs and maintenance?

The passport thus measures and promotes the circularity and positive environmental impact of a structure, but it also simplifies building maintenance and increases its safety and the health of building users.

Research

We make this research concrete by:

  • completing the current building passport for an existing building. This allowed us to examine the parameters with a critical eye and provide the OVAM with tangible feedback. We also investigated whether a meaningful link could be made between the construction work passport, the post-intervention file and the demolition follow-up plan. By combining them, we facilitate transparency, safety and sustainability throughout a building's life cycle (from design to dismantling), from construction to demolition.
  • depth interviews among stakeholders from the construction industry (contractors, clients, architects, engineering firms, etc.).

Observations

The predetermined goal - to promote the circularity, and positive environmental impact of the building and increase the safety and health of its users - is only achievable if the passport is fully and correctly completed and kept up-to-date during the building's use phase.

  1. This requires clear definitions of parameters that can be easily filled in a template, preferably with defined units. An application can certainly help with this.
  2. In addition, the owner's responsibility should not be underestimated during the usage phase. He will have to ensure that the passport is kept up-to-date by making the changes himself for small works or giving the design team or contractor the task of updating the passport for larger works on the structure.
    Here we immediately raise the concern that the owner may not have sufficient (technical) knowledge to handle the passport correctly. Our suggestion? A light version that focuses, for example, on certain building types, specific material groups or a selection of parameters. The disadvantage is that not every objective will be realised.

Regarding the comparison with the demolition follow-up plan and the post-intervention dossier, we do see an overlap but because each document has a different focus/purpose, the approach is still different each time.

  • The PID focuses on safety and maintenance and the demolition plan on the disposal of hazardous materials.
  • These documents are also static in nature and do not need continuous follow-up.
  • The demolition plan can flow from a construction passport, but only if it is correct at the end of the life of the structure.

We do believe that the mandatory creation of an additional file is not encouraging and that it is best to explore how one file can bring all facets together.

With this direct input from the field, the OVAM can continue working on the development of the construction work passport.

Our colleagues

From Team Sustainability, Energy & Comfort (2)

Katrien 569 A0552 Gemiddeld

ir. arch. Katrien Van Lierop

Energy and sustainability advisor
E-mail |
Jona 569 A6702 Large

ir. arch. Jona Van Steenkiste

Energy and sustainability advisor
EPB reporter
E-mail |

From Team Renovation, Restoration & Maintenance (1)

Wim Rymenants

Wim Rymenants

Technical renovations consultant
E-mail

From Team Architecture (public sector Flanders) (1)

Babs

arch. Barbara Arts

Project architect
Safety coordinator
E-mail |
TAGS: Circular building