Work

Review of Material Passports and Their Application in Industrialised Construction: Enhancing Material Circularity in Construction

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Construction industry largely produces long-life, unique, and inflexible products; and combined with dispersed supply chains, it makes material tracking difficult. Thus, to achieve a circular economy (CE) in construction, there is a need for managing material information at the asset level to support reuse and recovery. This study explores the solutions for a CE in construction, and adopts a critical review, and a systematic search and review process. Initially the critical review for CE solutions revealed that maintaining authentic material information via material passports (MPs) and adopting industrialised construction (IC) for resource efficiency and flexibility are the key actions for CE implementation. As initial findings suggested the implementation of MPs in IC as imperative for a CE in construction, it was deemed necessary to develop a framework for MPs’ creation and management in IC. Thus, a further critical review was conducted to explore MPs and IC in detail, and a systematic search and review process extracted the actual information that goes into MPs, which was further categorised under various IC lifecycle processes at different stages of lifecycle, to present the incorporation of MPs into IC. The knowledge of MP processes and information in IC from this review is the vital component for the development of a necessary information management framework for MPs. This study can also be a basis for further research on the application of digital technologies and managerial actions required to realise operational MPs in IC, which is required for material circularity in construction.

Source: Sustainability

DOI: 10.3390/su17125661

Authors: Abhishek KC, Sepani Senaratne, Srinath Perera, Samudaya Nanayakkara

Institution: Western Sydney University

Language: English

Topic: BIM and Construction Integration

Subfield: Building and Construction

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Industry, innovation and infrastructure, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,896