Building Passport - concept and good practice example of whole life cycle data capture and management
A ‘Building Passport’ is which essentially a data platform that will host all building related data from the design through to the demolition stage. It will provide all market stakeholders, including financing institutions, investors, insurers, policymakers, owners and operators with access to comprehensive buildings-related documentation and information to enable them to properly assess the many factors impacting the overall quality and performance of buildings.
Along the built environment life cycle value chain participants routinely gather and discard information – information that could have immense value if retained and organised for several reasons, including decision-making for investments, insurance, planning, inventory, design, operations and maintenance, policy-making, compliance and evaluation.
Unfortunately, most of the information is not retained and a systematic approach to organising and managing this information is largely missing. Mapping of information flows between designers, builders, local authorities, regulators and assessors has shown that practically none of the information goes from the beginning to the end of the building construction supply chain: some information stays with particular professionals or suppliers, some needs to be created two or three times, and typically almost none of it is delivered to building owners, operators or tenants.
This sector fragmentation and silo-thinking also translates into the way data and information is organised. Whatever data may exist, often remains static and does not get updated or amended or is generated in paper format. Digital tools and platforms that act as an information hub for either directly hosting or linking to relevant building information are still the exception rather than the rule. Therefore, a significant opportunity for the built environment, in the IoT era, to use digitalisation as a tool for sustainability is lost.
Building on the findings from the 2017 Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (Global ABC) report on ‘Global Trends in Data Capture and Management in Real Estate and Construction’, the aim of the Building Passport initiative is to raise awareness about the importance of consistent capture and management of building related data along the life cycle, covering information about the choice of materials and their future recycling potential, the overall design and construction, contractors used, operational performance, plant and equipment, maintenance records, renovation activities, certification, etc. As such the Building Passport is an essential supporting tool for the Circular Economy. An internation Global ABC international ‘Building Passport’ multi-stakeholder workshop was held in London in June 2018, attended by representatives from the following stakeholder groups: developers, insurers, banks, material suppliers, academia, think tanks, certification bodies, intergovernmental institutions, etc.
An overview of existing Building Passport type initiatives has been compiled and a draft set of data points has been developed that has been piloted by a city in Ukraine.
A Task Force was set up in January 2019 that will draft a Building Passport Handbook which will be launched at COP25. Capacity building, sharing of good practice and a more consistent approach to captuing and organising building related data and information that will span the whole life cycle of the building.
