The Netherlands has sharp climate goals for the future. Construction plays an important role in achieving these goals. The construction materials used during the construction of a building partly determine the environmental impact of a building.

To determine the sustainability of a structure, environmental performance is an important measure. The better the environmental performance of a structure, the lower its environmental impact is. The calculation tools used to calculate environmental performance get their information from the information stored in the Dutch National Environmental Database.

As a manufacturer/producer, there are advantages to having a life cycle assessment performed for your product and having it included in the environmental database.

Why should you have an LCA performed and have the environmental declaration included in the environmental database?

• To have an environmental declaration included in the environmental database, you must first have a life cycle analysis performed. A life cycle analysis gives you information about your product and its production processes. This information can help you improve production and business processes and make them more sustainable.
   
• If your product's environmental declaration is included in the environmental database, it can mean that it is chosen earlier in the creation of sustainable construction projects. You will gain greater visibility among sustainability professionals.
   
• If you start having an LCA performed now, you will be prepared for the changes that will (most likely) take effect January 1, 2025. Then the requirement for the environmental performance calculation will be tightened.
   
• The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations is taking measures to make the construction of homes and other buildings more sustainable. For new homes, the so-called environmental performance requirement for buildings will go from 0.8 to 0.5 by January 1, 2025. This means a lower environmental impact of the buildings, but sets stricter requirements for the products and materials used.
   
• It will then become more interesting for you to have your product in the environmental database. If there is only known data of your products that has not been tested according to the testing protocol (we call this category 3 data), it is not possible to meet the new requirements.
   
• Because in some cases it can take a long time to have an LCA prepared (consider how time-intensive extracting information from specific sources can be), we advise organizations to start early.
   
• You may also now be entitled to a reimbursement from the White Spots project for having an environmental declaration prepared. The White Spots reimbursement scheme has been extended through Oct. 31, 2024.
   
• Other subsidy schemes also have certain requirements. For example, with the Environmental Investment Allowance (MIA), the percentage of the deduction depends on the environmental impact and prevalence of the asset. The Environmental List for 2024 has now been published. The list has been significantly adjusted from 2023 due to amended European state aid rules and recommendations of the policy evaluation MIA/Vamil (2017-2021). For example, the requirements for sustainable buildings have also become stricter. For example, the required number of demountable building products for circular buildings has been increased to 50%. Also, a minimum energy requirement is now included to receive tax benefits.

Also read: why it is best to have an environmental declaration made now and not wait any longer

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