Did you know Buildings need ID's? - Material Passports is the answer
- arqdiary
- Jul 23
- 3 min read
Why Material Passports Might Just Be Architecture’s Sustainability Cheat Code
Let’s be real:
Most of us don’t know what’s in the walls we design. Or the floors. Or the ceilings. We specify materials for performance, vibes, maybe cost, but what happens after the building’s life? That’s where Material Passports step in and they’re about to change the game.
✨ What is a Material Passport?
A Material Passport is a digital or physical document that tells the complete story of a building component—its composition, environmental impact, and future reuse potential.
Think:
A LinkedIn CV for your floor slab📦
A product tag, but for circular design🧬
A material’s DNA mapped and stored
Coined in projects like the Buildings as Material Banks (BAMB) initiative (EU, 2015–2020), the concept supports Design for Disassembly (DfD) and Circular Economy principles in architecture (BAMB, 2020).
💥 Why Gen Z Architects Should Care
Let’s connect the dots:
🌍 Climate crisis → 💣 Waste crisis → 🧱 Construction is one of the worst offenders
Right now, the construction industry is responsible for over 30% of global waste and nearly 40% of CO₂ emissions (UN Environment Programme, 2019).
Most buildings are still designed linearly: Extract → Build → Use → Demolish → Landfill
Material Passports offer a circular alternative: Design → Build → Track → Disassemble → Reuse
It’s like life-cycle tracking on steroids.
🧠 So What’s Actually in a Passport?
According to Madaster, a leading material passport platform, a passport usually includes:
Material name + type (e.g., FSC-certified timber)
Origin & supply chain (local? imported? reclaimed?)
Toxicity or environmental concerns
Estimated lifespan
End-of-life potential (recyclable, reusable, or not)
🧱 Bonus: Some also include embodied carbon data or circularity scores, like with OneClick LCA or Level(s)—an EU sustainability assessment framework.
🏗️ Real-World Examples
1. The Circular Building by Arup + BAM
Designed entirely for disassembly. Everything—from screws to panels—had its passport glue. No hidden nails. No landfill. Just smart, reversible thinking. (Source: Arup, 2016)
2. Madaster Platform (Netherlands)
A growing digital library of buildings and their material identities. Architects + owners get a “Material ID card” for every component—useful for resale or reuse.(Source: Madaster Foundation)
3. Superuse Studios (NL)
They create material flow maps from urban leftovers, then log them into passport-like databases for reuse . Their motto? Don’t waste good waste.
🛠️ How This Affects Students + Early-Career Architects
✅ Want to win a crit? Add a material passport concept to your studio project.
✅ Want to stand out in practice? Talk DfD + circularity in interviews.
✅ Want to design better housing? Think about how a facade can come apart, not just go up.
💬 If Gen Z designers are going to shape a livable future, we can’t just think about “how to build.” We have to think about how to reuse.
📱 Make It Practical
Next time you design a detail, ask:
Can it be disassembled instead of demolished?
Do you know what each layer is made of?
Would you be able to label and passport every material you used?
Want a mini challenge?
🗂️ Pick a building on campus, identify 3 materials, and create a sample passport for each.
📸 Post it as a carousel or reel and tag #MaterialPassportChallenge
🧩 Quick Recap
Material Passports = Sustainable receipts
They're how we track, trust, and circularly reuse building materials. They're not just eco fluff—they’re future proofing.
Because sustainable design isn’t just what you specify. It’s what happens next.
🎯 Sources & References
Buildings as Material Banks (BAMB) – EU Horizon 2020 Project
Madaster Foundation (madaster.com)
Arup: The Circular Building (2016)
United Nations Environment Programme, 2019
Level(s) EU Framework (2021)
OneClick LCA (oneclicklca.com)Circular Building (2016)
United Nations Environment Programme, 2019
Level(s) EU Framework (2021)
OneClick LCA (oneclicklca.com)
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