MADASTER, ECOCHAIN AND KNAUF ARE PUTTING CIRCULAR CONSTRUCTION INTO PRACTICE
The Netherlands, Amsterdam – 6 November – Madaster and Ecochain have developed a link through which the environmental footprint of materials is connected to the material passports of buildings. Knauf is putting this into practice as a supplier. The collaboration enhances the documentation, registration and archiving of the materials incorporated in buildings and makes it easier for these materials to be reused.
Madaster functions as an online library that documents materials and buildings, similar to the registration of property ownership and land division at a land registry. It is an independent, public platform that generates material passports with the aim to eliminate waste, worldwide. The platform can be used by private individuals, companies and government authorities, and is developed by Madaster Services, under the supervision of the Madaster Foundation.
Ecochain provides suppliers with the possibility of calculating the environmental footprint of construction materials. This link with Madaster enables these footprint data to be included in the registration of materials in the material passport. Thus, circularity within the built environment will become easier to measure and manage. This provides incentive for the market of sustainable materials and buildings. In this collaboration, Knauf, Madaster and Ecochain show how circularity in construction can be put into practice.
KNAUF AS A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE
Knauf uses Ecochain’s software to digitise and analyse the life-cycle analyses of their products. In this way, Knauf is keeping a close eye on the environmental performance of their products, with the possibility of implementing improvements where necessary. By using the link between Ecochain and Madaster, the environmental performance of Knauf’s latest product—a hybrid circular wall system—is linked to the BIM models in Madaster. Knauf, thus, provides full transparency on the environmental performance of its product.
