About the viewer
The NMD Viewer is the online tool with which you can view environmental declarations from the Dutch Environmental Database. You can see which data is available and how it is structured, without confidential information being disclosed. This page explains what the viewer is, what you can do with it, and where the limits of its use lie.
The environmental performance of construction works provides insight into the environmental impact of buildings and civil engineering works throughout their entire life cycle. In the Netherlands, this is assessed within a coherent system comprising the Assessment Method for Environmental Performance of Construction Works, environmental declarations from the Dutch Environmental Database, and validated calculation tools. Together, these elements allow the environmental performance of a construction work to be calculated and make differences between design and material choices transparent and comparable.
In the building and utility sector, the environmental performance is expressed as the Environmental Performance of Buildings (MPG). In the civil engineering sector, the Environmental Cost Indicator (MKI) is used.
What is the NMD Viewer?
The NMD Viewer shows the environmental declarations included in the Dutch Environmental Database. You can use the viewer to see which environmental declarations are available and which environmental data belongs to them.
The viewer is therefore not the database itself, but an accessible entry point for consulting environmental declarations. The Dutch Environmental Database is the central database containing environmental declarations for construction products and materials. The viewer makes part of that information visible to users who want insight into published declarations.
For whom
The viewer can be used by anyone interested in the environmental declarations published in the NMD. It is therefore freely accessible on our website. During development of the viewer, specific consideration was given to the needs of several potential user groups, such as data owners, clients, LCA consultants and advisors. Based on these needs, we formed a picture of typical search behaviour and the information users are looking for.
What do you use the viewer for?
The viewer is freely accessible to anyone who wants insight into environmental declarations within the Dutch Environmental Database.
The viewer is used by, among others:
- Data owners who want to check how their environmental declaration is displayed
- LCA consultants and advisors who want to understand the structure of declarations
- Clients and other users who want to check which data is available
You use the viewer, for example, to:
- Check whether an environmental declaration has been published
- View product information and basic data for a declaration
- Gain insight into the structure of an environmental declaration
- Look deeper into the environmental data for category 3 declarations
The viewer was developed to increase transparency of the Dutch Environmental Database, while respecting the confidentiality of the underlying data. The principles for this are set out in the 'General terms and conditions (NL).
In addition, you can provide feedback on published environmental declarations through the viewer. This feedback is used to further improve data quality in the Dutch Environmental Database.
What do you not use the viewer for?
- The viewer is not intended for carrying out environmental performance calculations. The information shown provides insight into how data is structured, but is not suitable for calculations.
- The viewer is also not intended for comparing products directly against one another. The environmental performance of a product depends on its application in a building and the context of the design.
- For calculations and the application of data, you use calculation tools that work with and are validated by the Dutch Environmental Database.
What information do you see in the viewer?
In the viewer, you see environmental declarations from category 1, 2 and 3, including:
- Product description and scope of application
- Functional unit and service life
- Owner of the environmental declaration
- Product ECI per functional unit
For category 3 environmental declarations, more detail is often visible, such as:
- The breakdown of the product into components
- The distribution of environmental impact across life cycle stages
- The contribution per impact category
- A downloadable LCA report (if available)
Why do you see more detail for some environmental declarations than for others?
The amount of detail you see in the viewer depends on the type of environmental declaration. For category 1 and 2 environmental declarations, the underlying LCA data is owned by the data owner. This data is confidential and is therefore not shown in full in the viewer. For category 3 environmental declarations, this concerns generic data managed by, or on behalf of, the Dutch Environmental Database. This data is not confidential and can therefore be made more extensively visible. This means you see more detail for category 3 environmental declarations. For category 1 and 2, the focus is on the main information of the environmental declaration.
Why can't you just look at the total ECI?
The total ECI provides a summary of the environmental impact, but does not show exactly where that impact arises. A product may score favourably at the total level, while a higher contribution is visible within specific impact categories or life cycle stages. It is therefore important to look beyond a single total score. Where possible, the viewer helps you gain better insight into how the environmental impact is made up.
For more information on this weighting, please refer to section 3.6 of the Assessment Method for Environmental Performance of Construction Works.
How does the viewer relate to the Dutch Environmental Database?
The Dutch Environmental Database is the central database with environmental declarations for construction products and materials. This data is used in calculation tools for environmental performance calculations.
The viewer makes part of this data visible, so that you can consult environmental declarations and better understand how the data is structured.
In short:
- The Dutch Environmental Database is the data source
- The viewer shows published environmental declarations
- Calculation tools use the data for calculations
- The Assessment Method for Environmental Performance of Construction Works determines how the data is applied
Frequently asked questions about the Viewer
The viewer provides access to the environmental declarations (formerly product maps) published in the National Environmental Database (NMD). The NMD contains environmental declarations of building products, building installations and processes, which are used to unambiguously calculate the material-specific environmental performance of construction works in the Dutch context.
The aim of the viewer is to increase transparency in the NMD, while maintaining confidentiality regarding the data. The guideline for this is the document 'Gebruiksvoorwaarden invoer en gebruik data'. The viewer enables users and owners of the data to gain insight into which environmental declarations have been published in the NMD. It is also possible to use this insight to provide feedback on the data, which can improve data quality.
The viewer thus displays all environmental declarations contained in the NMD. New updates are made daily, so you always get to see the most recent data.
Of category 1, 2 and 3 environmental declarations, generic data are displayed, such as the explanation of the product, the functional unit, the lifespan, the owner of the environmental declaration and the application of the product (B&U or GWW).
For the product structure of the environmental statement, the product components are made transparent, including the element components they cover. For all environmental statements, the product ECI (Environmental Cost Indicator) is shown. The ECI is displayed by functional unit.
Many Category 3 environmental statements include a downloadable LCA report. This describes the assumptions and choices made while preparing the LCA. For category 3 environmental declarations, the environmental data can also be viewed per product component. You can choose to view the environmental data over the entire life cycle, but it is also possible to view the data per phase or module. Since 1-1-2021 a new set of environmental impact categories is being used. Because not all environmental declarations contain the new set yet, a distinction has been made between the display of 'Set 1' (according to EN15804) and 'Set 2' (according to En15804+A2)
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