Environmental declarations of biobased construction materials in the database

Biobased materials are playing an increasingly important role in the construction sector. To support this development, the Dutch Environmental Database is working on expanding and improving environmental data for biobased construction products. This enables these materials to be fully included in environmental performance calculations and supports well-founded choices in design and policy.

The Dutch Environmental Database supports the scaling up of biobased construction by increasing the availability and quality of environmental data. This is carried out within the National Approach to Biobased Construction (NABB).

Stichting NMD focuses on four interrelated tracks: stimulating LCAs through the Compensation scheme Filling the Gaps, expanding Category 3 data and reference processes, providing insight into the biobased content, and improving end-of-life scenarios.

These developments ensure that biobased materials can be more effectively applied in environmental performance calculations.

What is biobased construction and why is data needed?

Biobased construction involves the use of materials that are wholly or partly made from renewable, biological resources, such as wood, hemp or flax.

These materials often have favourable environmental characteristics, but this is not self-evident. The actual environmental performance depends on the full life cycle of a product.

This is precisely why reliable and consistent environmental data is essential. Without validated data, biobased materials cannot be properly included in environmental performance calculations in accordance with the Assessment Method. This limits their application in projects and makes it difficult to compare them with other materials.

The Dutch Environmental Database plays a central role in this by making such data available and usable for the sector.

How does the Dutch Environmental Database support biobased construction?

The approach of Stichting NMD focuses on strengthening both the quantity and quality of available data. This is done through four complementary tracks.

Compensation for LCAs and environmental declarations

Producers of biobased construction products can make use of the Compensation scheme Filling the Gaps. This scheme stimulates the execution of Life Cycle Assessments and the registration of environmental declarations in the Dutch Environmental Database.
This helps to fill data gaps and increases the availability of validated product data.

Expansion of Category 3 data and reference processes

In addition to product-specific data, the generic dataset is also being expanded. This is done by developing and adding Category 3 environmental declarations and reference processes for biobased applications.

This includes, among others:

data for fire safety provisions in accordance with NTA 6125
biobased variants of existing construction products
applications in timber construction and insulation
expansion of reference processes, for example based on the Agrodome list

This expansion makes it possible to better model biobased applications in calculations and supports producers in developing their own data.

Insight into biobased content

Stichting NMD is working on making the share of biobased material in products more transparent.

To this end, the data structure is being adapted and an indicator is being developed to make the biobased content visible in environmental declarations. At the same time, research is being carried out into how this information can be incorporated into the framework of the Assessment Method.

This helps users to better compare products and aligns with policy developments in which biobased content plays a role.

Improvement of end-of-life scenarios

Biobased materials often follow different end-of-life pathways, such as biological degradation or alternative forms of reuse.

The Dutch Environmental Database is working on updating these end-of-life scenarios in environmental declarations. This improves the accuracy of environmental performance calculations and ensures better alignment with the characteristics of biobased materials.

What does this mean for practice?

The developments around biobased data have a direct impact on how materials are applied and assessed.

For producers, this means that support is available for developing and registering environmental data.
For consultants and designers, it enables biobased materials to be more robustly substantiated in calculations.
For public authorities, it provides greater insight into the contribution of biobased applications to policy objectives.

Hoe ontwikkelt biobased data zich binnen de Nationale Milieudatabase?

De activiteiten van Stichting NMD maken onderdeel uit van een meerjarig programma binnen de Nationale Aanpak Biobased Bouwen, met een looptijd tot en met 2027.

De focus ligt op het vergroten van de beschikbaarheid, kwaliteit en bruikbaarheid van milieudata. Daarbij wordt gewerkt aan zowel nieuwe data als het verbeteren van bestaande datasets.

Dit omvat onder andere:

Het stimuleren van nieuwe LCA-studies en milieuverklaringen
Het uitbreiden van categorie 3-data voor specifieke toepassingen
Het ontwikkelen van een biobased content indicator
Het actualiseren van eindelevensscenario’s in bestaande data