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Yes—but only when the records are backed by buildings designed for change, components that can be recovered intact, reliable condition information and a practical route to their next use. A material passport can make a building’s future materials easier to identify and assess; it cannot, by itself, make them reusable, valuable or easy to sell.
What a material passport records—and what it does not do
A material passport is a set of data describing defined characteristics of materials in products that may make them more valuable for recovery and reuse. The EU-funded Buildings As Material Banks (BAMB) project framed passports as records that should remain useful through a building’s planning, construction, use, repair, renovation, repurposing and decommissioning. They can connect products to their location and use in a building and track quality or modifications over time. BAMB’s materials-passport overview describes that approach.
The “bank” metaphor is useful if it means a building contains a potential future stock of components and materials. It is misleading if it suggests that those assets are automatically liquid inventory with known resale prices. A record does not establish a component’s current condition, prove it can be removed without damage, arrange its transport or storage, or guarantee a buyer.
Why the building itself has to be designed for recovery
Make assemblies accessible and reversible
To reuse a component, a future project team must be able to reach and separate it without destroying its usefulness. Connections and assemblies that support disassembly can make that possible; adaptable design can also let a building change use and remain in service longer. The European Commission Joint Research Centre’s Level(s) guidance for indicator 2.2 recommends disassemblable elements and clear instructions to maximize the possibility of reuse.
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Keep the record useful throughout the building’s life
A useful record identifies what a component is, where and how it is used, and the relevant characteristics needed to consider recovery. It should also reflect condition-relevant changes and modifications as the building is maintained or renovated. BAMB’s materials-passport platform prototype description explains the project’s aim to link products to their use in buildings and follow quality and modifications. A passport that becomes detached from the actual building, or is not updated when components change, is less useful when a later owner plans work.
Involve the right expertise early
Recovery choices are easier to make during concept design than after assemblies and specifications are fixed. The JRC guidance advises involving architects or consultants with BAMB expertise and knowledge of available passported materials at concept design. That is when the team can consider whether suitable components are available and how the design will preserve access and disassembly options.
What the BAMB project demonstrated—and what its results mean
BAMB was an EU Horizon 2020 project that ran from 1 September 2015 to 28 February 2019. Its CORDIS fact sheet records a total project cost of €9,918,629.77, including an EU contribution of €8,858,763.02. These figures describe the historical demonstration project, not the price of a passport for a building or evidence that a commercial passport service remains active today.
| Reported result | What the source says | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| More than 300 material passports | BAMB’s project website says this many passports were developed within the project. BAMB | A project-developed count; it is not the same measure as passports hosted on the platform. |
| 428 passports | The European Commission’s 2019 final reporting says this many were hosted on the operational platform. CORDIS final reporting | A platform-hosted count reported separately from BAMB’s “more than 300 developed” figure. |
| Six real-scale projects in four EU countries | Reported in the European Commission’s 2019 project reporting. CORDIS final reporting | Evidence of real-scale demonstrations, not a universal sample of building projects. |
| Construction and demolition waste reduced by up to 75–90% | Reported for four BAMB pilots in the European Commission’s 2019 project reporting. CORDIS final reporting | An upper-bound pilot outcome for a broad package of measures, not an effect attributable to passports alone. |
| Greenhouse-gas emissions reduced by as much as 50% | Reported for four BAMB pilots in the European Commission’s 2019 project reporting. CORDIS final reporting | An upper-bound pilot outcome, not a general forecast for an ordinary building. |
The pilots combined design, construction or refurbishment, logistics, finance and stakeholder collaboration. Their reported waste and emissions reductions therefore show what an integrated circular-building approach achieved in those pilots; they do not isolate the contribution of passports. The results should not be applied as expected savings for a different project without evidence that its conditions and measures are comparable.
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Passports are not necessarily a single universal record type. A product or component passport can focus on a particular item; a building logbook or inventory can cover a wider set of building information. Building information modelling (BIM) can provide a digital context for building elements, but it is not automatically a substitute for circularity and recovery information. The JRC guidance describes passport information as complementary to BIM and says it can be incorporated into the building model and related documentation.
A European Commission-managed BUILD UP review dated 12 January 2026 discusses material and building passports as lifecycle records that can support design optimization, maintenance, reuse, recycling and end-of-life recovery. It names BAMB, Madaster and the Digital Building Logbook and discusses integration with BIM. The review also flags high initial costs, limited collaboration, low awareness, standards gaps and interoperability problems. Read the BUILD UP review.
Those initiatives should not be treated as interchangeable, or as proof that one universal passport standard is already in force. When evaluating a system, ask:
- Scope: Does it record products or components, or provide a whole-building logbook or inventory?
- Data quality and continuity: Who supplies the information, who updates it, and how are maintenance and modifications captured?
- Interoperability: Can the record be used alongside BIM and transferred in a form another organization or platform can understand?
- Reuse utility: Does it help a future team assess condition, locate an item, understand disassembly and plan recovery?
- Project fit: Does it work with applicable local rules, available skills, project costs, logistics and likely end markets?
What a construction team can do to make the “bank” useful
- Set the purpose at concept design. Decide whether the priority is future adaptation, component reuse, material recovery or a combination. Bring in relevant design expertise early and consider available passported materials before the specification is fixed.
- Design for access and separation. Select assemblies and connections that preserve the option to remove components without making them unusable. Document clear disassembly instructions and visual details where they help a later team.
- Specify the records needed for future decisions. Capture component identity and characteristics, location and use, relevant condition information, modifications and recovery or disassembly details. Agree who will maintain those records when ownership, use or building fabric changes.
- Check portability before committing to a platform. Establish how information will work with BIM or related documentation and whether it can be understood and transferred across the tools and organizations likely to handle future work.
- Plan the next use, not just the data collection. Consider assessment, careful removal, storage, transport, timing and demand. A recoverable item becomes reused material only when those practical steps and a credible next-use route come together.
When a material passport is most—and least—useful
Passports are most useful when project teams can act on the information: the design supports disassembly or adaptation, records remain accurate, and there is a viable route to assess and place recovered components. They are less useful as a stand-alone documentation exercise if components are difficult to remove, records are not maintained, systems cannot exchange information, or no one has planned for logistics and demand.
The practical test is not simply whether a building has passports. It is whether a future team can identify a component, understand its relevant history and recovery requirements, remove it in usable condition, and connect it to a next use. Without those conditions, “bank” describes potential—not guaranteed reusable stock.
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