How the Dutch environmental performance system works

The Dutch Environmental Database (NMD) is the independent organisation managing the system for calculating the environmental performance of buildings and civil engineering works in the Netherlands. The system combines a uniform calculation methodology (the Assessment Method) with a database of validated environmental data for construction products. For buildings, the result is expressed as the MPG. For civil engineering and infrastructure, the MKI is used. Both are based on the same underlying system, managed by the NMD.

What is the NMD?

The NMD is an independent foundation. We manage the Assessment Method and the database of validated environmental declarations. Our role is system management: maintaining the Assessment Method, validating environmental data and making that data publicly accessible.

The system is used by architects, project developers, designers, LCA practitioners, software providers and policy makers across the Dutch construction sector. International manufacturers, LCA bureaus and software developers working with Dutch construction projects also interact with the NMD system.

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Structure of the system

The NMD system has four connected elements.

The Assessment Method sets the rules for how environmental performance is calculated. It determines which life cycle stages are included, how environmental data must be prepared and reviewed, and how results are aggregated into a single score.
The NMD database contains validated environmental declarations for construction products. These declarations are submitted by manufacturers or drafted by LCA practitioners, reviewed by recognised LCA reviewers, and published in the database after review.
Calculation tools use the method and data to produce environmental performance calculations for specific buildings or projects. Tool owners are responsible for correctly implementing the Assessment Method in their software. Calculation tools are validated by the NMD before they may be used within the system.
The results are applied in building permits, tenders, subsidy schemes and policy.

The Assessment Method

The Assessment Method for Environmental Performance of Construction Works is based on European standard EN 15804 and is the agreed methodology for environmental performance calculations in the Netherlands. It is currently at version BPM 2.0, which came into force on 1 July 2026.

The method is performance-based: it does not prescribe specific materials or construction techniques. It enables comparison of design choices based on environmental impact.

Environmental data: three categories

The NMD database contains environmental declarations in three categories.

Product- and brand-specific environmental declarations, typically submitted by manufacturers.
Verification: verified by an independent, qualified third party in accordance with the NMD Verification Protocol.
Transparency: environmental declaration is public; underlying environmental information has limited accessibility.

Non-brand-specific data representing groups of manufacturers, suppliers and/or sectors.
Verification: verified by an independent, qualified third party in accordance with the Verification Protocol, including a statement on representativeness (e.g. representative for the Dutch market or a group of producers).
Transparency: environmental declaration is public; underlying environmental information has limited accessibility.

Non-brand-specific data managed by Stichting Nationale Milieudatabase.
Verification: not verified in accordance with the Verification Protocol.
Transparency: environmental declarations and reference profiles are publicly available.

Non-brand-specific data managed by Stichting Nationale Milieudatabase. This includes data on infrastructure for external energy supply, energy carriers, and environmental declarations for fully reusable building elements and installations in new construction.

Verification: not verified in accordance with the Verification Protocol.
Transparency: environmental declarations and reference profiles are publicly available. The 30% surcharge factor does not apply.

Your product in the NMD

Are you a manufacturer of construction products? You can have your product's environmental data included in the NMD database. This requires an environmental declaration prepared by an LCA practitioner and reviewed by a recognised LCA reviewer. After review, the declaration is published in the database and your product can be included in environmental performance calculations by architects, designers and contractors.

For manufacturers that do not yet have an environmental declaration, the NMD offers financial support through the Compensation scheme Filling the Gaps.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) maps the environmental impact of a construction product across its full life cycle: from raw material extraction and production, through transport and incorporation into the building, to maintenance, demolition and waste processing. The insights from an LCA also help manufacturers to improve and optimise their production processes. The results of the LCA form the basis for the environmental declaration registered in the NMD database.

Environmental impact categories

A construction product's environmental impact is measured across 19 separate impact categories. These include global warming potential (GWP), resource depletion, acidification and fine particle emissions, among others. The categories are prescribed by European standard EN 15804+A2.

In the environmental performance calculation, the results across all 19 categories are weighted and aggregated into a single score: the MPG for buildings or the MKI for civil engineering works.

Buildings: the MPG

For buildings, the environmental performance is expressed as the MPG (milieuprestatie gebouwen): the total environmental impact of all materials used, expressed per m² of gross floor area per year. A lower MPG means a lower environmental impact.A construction product's environmental impact is measured across 19 separate impact categories. These are weighted and aggregated into a single score: the MPG for buildings or the MKI for civil engineering works.

The MPG is mandatory for new residential buildings and offices in the Netherlands. From 1 July 2026 it also applies to other utility buildings such as schools, shops and healthcare facilities.

Civil engineering: the MKI

For civil engineering and infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and waterways, the Environmental Cost Indicator (MKI, or ECI in English) is used. The MKI expresses the total environmental cost of materials and processes in a project as a monetary value in euros.

The MKI is increasingly applied in procurement by public clients including Rijkswaterstaat, ProRail and municipalities. It is used to compare design variants and set environmental requirements in tenders.

Existing buildings

Two additional assessment methods are available for renovation and maintenance.

MPG R&T covers renovation and transformation projects at building level. MPO covers maintenance and refurbishment at element level. Neither is currently mandatory, but both can be used for design decisions, procurement and ESG or CSRD reporting.

WLC-GWP

Alongside the MPG, the Netherlands is developing a methodology for whole life carbon and global warming potential calculations (WLC-GWP). This extends the scope of environmental performance calculations to include operational energy use. BPM WLC-GWP 1.0 is expected to be published in 2027.

The NMD and European context

The NMD system is grounded in European standards, primarily EN 15804 and the Construction Products Regulation (CPR). Developments such as the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the EU Taxonomy are driving growing interest in whole life carbon and embodied carbon calculations across Europe. The NMD system provides the Dutch implementation of these European frameworks.

International manufacturers whose products are used in Dutch construction projects can register their environmental data in the NMD. Non-Dutch EPDs are accepted subject to the requirements of the Assessment Method.

An introduction to the NMD

What is the NMD?

Structure of the system

The Assessment Method

Environmental data: three categories

Category 1

Category 2

Category 3

Category 3a