While Building Energy Certificates are already an established tool for evaluating the energy-efficiency of buildings, there is still no corresponding tool for the structured documentation and recording of the building materials used in a specific structure. The increasing use, growing number of materials used, and complex make-up of material composition in building products all represent obstacles to the removal and separation of building materials. This situation represents the basis for an instrument now being developed at the Munich Chair for Wood Construction and Wood Research at the Technical University of Munich: the “Building Materials Certificate” is intended to inventory the material and substance composition of new construction and existing buildings, and thus contribute to the growth of sustainable building processes which are compatible with sustainable development in general.
