Digital Product Passport vs Material Passport: What’s the Difference?

Blogs 2 apr 2026

Buildings now rely on structured data to describe material composition and performance. In Europe, digital product passports standardize product-level data, while material passports structure that information at building level.

While the terms are often used interchangeably, they address different requirements in compliance, reporting, and lifecycle decision-making.

What is a digital product passport

A digital product passport (DPP) is a structured dataset linked to an individual product.

It is typically created and maintained by the manufacturer and contains detailed, standardized information about that product. This can include:

material composition
carbon and environmental performance data
origin and manufacturing details
technical specifications and certifications
compliance with regulatory requirements

Digital product passports are being introduced through European policy, particularly under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). The aim is to improve transparency across supply chains and ensure that reliable product-level data is available throughout a product’s lifecycle.

In construction, this applies to materials and products such as steel, concrete elements, insulation, and finishes.

Madaster’s Digital Product Passport structures product data across the full lifecycle, supporting compliance, reporting, and reuse. Explore how it works in this blog post.

What is a material passport

A material passport operates at a different level. Instead of focusing on a single product, it captures information about all materials within a building or asset. It brings together data across multiple products and systems to create a structured overview of what a building is made of.

A material passport typically includes:

material types and quantities
location of materials within the building
environmental performance data
maintenance and replacement information
reuse and deconstruction potential

Unlike digital product passports, which are created at the manufacturing stage, material passports are developed at project or portfolio level. They evolve over time as buildings are designed, constructed, operated, and eventually adapted or deconstructed. Learn how this is applied in Madaster’s Material Passport on this page.

Key differences between digital product passports and material passports

While both concepts relate to material transparency, their roles are distinct.

Level of detail: Digital product passports apply to individual products. Material passports apply to entire buildings or assets.

Source of data: Digital product passports are created by manufacturers. Material passports are compiled by project teams, asset owners, or platform providers.

Purpose: Digital product passports provide verified, standardised product data. Material passports organise that data within the context of a building.

Lifecycle scope: Digital product passports focus on product-level information. Material passports track materials across the full building lifecycle.

Regulatory context: Digital product passports are being formalised through regulation. Material passports are driven by lifecycle management, circular construction, and asset-level decision-making.t Zero targets.

How digital product passports and material passports work together

These systems are not alternatives to one another, but complementary.

Digital product passports provide consistent, reliable data at product level. This improves the quality and comparability of information coming from manufacturers.

Material passports then structure and connect that data at building level. They make it possible to understand how materials are used in context, how they perform over time, and what value they retain.

Together, they enable:

more accurate embodied carbon calculations
better alignment between design, construction, and operation
improved planning for maintenance, refurbishment, and reuse
clearer reporting across portfolios and regulatory frameworks

Without product-level data, material passports rely on assumptions. Without building-level structure, product data remains fragmented. Both layers are needed.l.

Why this distinction is important now

The built environment is moving toward more structured and accountable use of data.

Regulatory developments such as CSRD, EU Taxonomy, and digital product passport requirements are increasing expectations around transparency. At the same time, asset owners and developers are under pressure to understand the long-term performance, risk, and value of materials within their portfolios.

This changes the role of data. Material information is no longer limited to design or procurement. It supports decision-making across the full lifecycle of a building.

In this context, digital product passports and material passports serve different but connected functions:

one ensures data is available and reliable
the other ensures it is usable and actionable

Explore how structured material data supports CSRD and ESG reporting on this page.

A connected system for material transparency

As regulatory and reporting requirements expand, data needs to move between systems rather than remain in isolated tools.

Digital product passports establish a consistent foundation at product level. Material passports extend that foundation across buildings and portfolios.

Together, they support a more complete understanding of material flows, environmental impact, and future value.

Rather than replacing each other, they form part of the same data infrastructure required to move from linear construction models toward more circular and resource-efficient approaches.