During renovation or demolition work, materials such as concrete, plaster or gravel usually end up in landfill, although they are urgently needed for new construction projects and are paid dearly. The transition to a circular economy should put a stop to this.

The so-called material cycle of our industrial society is still designed as a one-way street. Metals, fuels, wood, minerals — raw materials are mined, processed, sold, used and finally disposed of. Waste management is therefore referred to as downcycling and cradle-to-grave. In contrast, there is the cradle to cradle principle, in German “from cradle to cradle.” Accordingly, all materials and structures should be designed in such a way that they are either completely biodegradable or circulate in technical cycles with consistent quality. For this to work, the components must be free from pollutants and can be separated by type. Seamless recycling often fails due to ignorance of which materials are in buildings and how clever design creates CO right from the start₂-Save emissions and primary material. Material certificates, which document all components and designs down to the smallest detail, provide complete transparency. The environmental consulting institute EPEA, a subsidiary of construction and real estate consultant Drees & Sommer SE, designs such material certificates for all types of buildings.

Building material passports are revolutionizing the construction industry

For several years, EPEA has been issuing material certificates for buildings under the name “Circularity Passport® - Buildings”. They are used to document the state of construction, but are also an important tool for optimizing buildings based on measurable characteristics. There are high scores in the certificates, for example, when materials either come from renewable sources such as renewable raw materials or when they have already been used as a secondary raw material in construction and are now given a next life. On the other hand, there are deductions for products that are inseparably fused together. The material certificate therefore also serves as a planning tool and develops its full potential when it is already used in the design phase. Anyone who, as a building owner, is already creating such a digital building materials certificate today, as Federal Minister of Construction Klara Geywitz is demanding for this legislative period, is anticipating the future. Because the regulation planned in Europe and Germany will sooner or later force the industry to cycle materials - and to use a building as a raw material warehouse for new buildings when demolished.

For Pascal Keppler, Head of Digital Services at EPEA, the categories that a material certificate for a property should definitely include: CO₂-Footprint/ life cycle assessment, material types and quantities, proportion of material from renewable or recycled sources, pollutant content, recyclability, separability of materials and the disassembly of components. As a circular specialist, Keppler has played a significant role in developing the resource passes for EPEA. A key result of the evaluation: Massive components such as reinforced concrete have the most impact on the overall result in the resource pass. Builders who, in their construction project, rely on RC aggregate, recyclable construction, CO₂-low cement, reinforcing steel or renewable CO₂-Use storage materials such as wood achieve very good results in the material pass. At the same time, alternative supporting structures do not guarantee good values in the material certificate. In order to achieve this, products from manufacturers with high material health and recyclability must also be selected. Pure material type-based optimization is not enough here.

Author: Pascal Keppler, Leading Consultant at EPEA Part of Drees & Sommer SE