In this webinar, we’ll walk you through the proposal and the key questions we’re seeking feedback on. This is your chance to help shape the future of the industry.

Who Should Attend?

This event is designed for anyone who may be interested in responding to the Regenerative Places Framework consultation, particularly those involved in housing development or retrofit. It is an opportunity for all built environment stakeholders to provide feedback. We encourage anyone with an interest in regenerative design in the built environment to join this webinar and respond to the consultation, from experienced professionals to those with a general interest.

WITH THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS

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In 2022, UKGBC launched the System Enablers for a Circular Economy report, which highlighted secondary materials markets as one of the eight key enablers to the circular economy. A secondary materials market was defined as a marketplace for materials and construction products that had a previous life and are easy to procure from. These marketplaces help overcome these barriers to material reuse:

• Limited availability of secondary materials
• Limitations on storage of secondary materials
• Difficulties in the procurement of secondary materials
• Risk being pushed onto contractors

Secondary materials marketplaces seem to fall into either physical or digital marketplaces. Physical reuse hubs provide storage, spaces for materials to be tested, certified and physically inspected, enabling wider use of reclaimed materials.Ìý Equally, digital platforms can provide key documentation or materials passports , and allow materials to be uploaded and collection time-matched between projects.

 

 

barriers to delivery and implementation, and risk, insurance and warranty, makes secondary materials more difficult to use on projects compared to new materials.”

Procuring reused materials from physical or digital marketplaces is not common practice and something that the supply chain is not used to. This means they often face barriers to scaling successfully, as often seen with innovative solutions. The Scaling Sustainable Solutions for the Built Environment: Barriers & Enablers report highlighted that these barriers are often systemic rather than technical. However, many new pilots and initiatives aim to tackle these barriers, hopefully enabling material reuse to scale and become part of business as usual.

One example is tackling the challenge of time-matching materials between projects. The in London has been bringing project teams together, looking at where timelines are complementary, enabling materials to be reclaimed from one project and used on another. During this process, the physical inspections of materials have been an important consideration to ensure they are able to be used on the recipient project.

The lack of storage for secondary materials has also been a barrier to scaling material reuse. There are a few reuse hubs across the UK, such as in Carlisle, and more are opening across the country. The is trialling a circular construction hub in the Scottish Central Lowlands region, aiming to cover several cities and rural areas. The has piloted a reuse hub specifically focused on suspended ceilings and luminaries. In London, , who use circular practices as a materials-first approach to designing and building, have been founders alongside and to open in Newham. This meanwhile-use site is planning to expand to cover more of the site over the next five years, looking at the testing and refurbishing of materials to enable them to be reused. They are looking at materials which do not already have a defined route and experimenting with packaging up materials to enable design within constraints.

Collaboration and engagement with the supply chain have consistently appeared as key enablers for delivery material reuse and trialling innovative approaches. Engagement with the design team and supply chain to communicate why this matters for the project can help ensure the material reuse is achieved. Equally, having conversations early allows for identification and mitigation of risks, enabling stakeholders to be bought into the approach. Anecdotally, talking to people to understand why processes are done one way and if they can be approached differently can lead to positive results. Engagement across the sectors is also important to enable marketplaces to scale and create space for collaboration, as demonstrated through a recent

Collaboration and engagement with the supply chain have consistently appeared as key enablers.”

The expansion of reuse hubs and platforms will help tackle part of the problem when reusing materials. However, understanding how to reclaim materials from buildings in a condition which enables them to be reused and working with the supply chain to ensure they have a route to be tested, certified and warrantied, can still be very material-dependent. It is also important to consider this when designing buildings now, to ensure they are designed for disassembly, enabling material reuse and recovery in the future.

System Enablers for a Circular Economy

A toolkit that examines the barriers to a circular economy, and presents eight key enablers…

Resource Use Technical Report

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Engaging the Supply Chain: A Practical Guide to Delivering Sustainability Outcomes

This guide is a practical starting point for anyone wishing to work with the supply chain to deliver positive transformational sustainability outcomes in the built environment.

Climate Change Mitigation Guidance

Circular Economy Implementation Packs for Products as a Service and Reuse

UKGBC has published implementation packs on reuse and Products as a Service to assist built environment projects adopt circular economy principles.

Climate Change Mitigation Resource Use Guidance

Resource Use

In the UK, construction, demolition and excavation account for 60% of material use and waste generation. Meanwhile, prices of construction materials in the UK rose by 4.9% between 2017 and 2018. Adopting circular economy principles offers a €1.8 trillion opportunity to the EU between 2015 and 2030.  Ìý

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Circular Economy

The built environment needs to move away from the linear economy and embrace circularity. This will reduce waste, carbon emissions and our impact on the natural world.

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The Resource Use forum will explore circularity and material reuse, allowing members a space to share experiences of this and discuss ways to enable more circular construction projects. The forum session will look at core themes around supply chain, value, risk, and innovative approaches.

The first session will shape the programme for the remaining five sessions, identifying priority topics to explore in depth and giving members the opportunity to become a chair for the upcoming ones.

The forum will start 1^st June and run every 6 weeks, finishing next spring. By signing up to this first session, members will be enrolling for the whole duration of the forum.

We will host three special sessions on financial value, supply chain engagement and nature. Other members will be able to join these sessions as one-offs, depending on which topic is most interesting to them. Specific dates will be announced soon.

Who Should Sign Up?

The UKGBC Resource Use Forum is open to individuals from UKGBC member organisations who have demonstrable knowledge or practical experience in resource use and circular economy principles. Participants are expected to actively contribute to discussions by sharing insights, challenges, and best practices, while also representing their organisation’s work and perspective on the topic.

This forum is open to members with an interest in resource use. It will be particularly appealing to Building Developers, Building Owners, Building Systems Engineers (M+E), Architects, Structural Engineers, Asset Managers, Insurers, Contractors, Secondary Materials providers and Project Managers.

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Access the Report by filling out the form below:

This report is intended as a signpost for industry to key developments and reflect what Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥ hearing from industry and in research by others.Ìý While this is a summary of some of the notable trends, solutions and examples of which UKGBC has become aware, there are likely to be others that are not mentioned. UKGBC does not formally endorse any of the individual solutions listed.ÌýÌý

Solutions and Innovation

At UKGBC we take a collaborative approach to identify sustainability challenges across the built environment and help source and implement the solutions to them.

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Policy and Advocacy

Since 2007, we have been bringing together some of the most influential leaders in politics, business, local authorities, civil service and NGOs to accelerate action for a green built environment.

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This page presents data, evidence, and solutions that are provided by our partners and members and should therefore not be attributed to UKGBC. While we showcase these solutions for inspiration, to build consensus, and create momentum for climate action, UKGBC does not offer commercial endorsement of individual solutions. If you would like to quote something from this page, or more information, please contact our Communications team at media@ukgbc.org.

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UKGBC’s recent Materials Passports Guides provide an overview of materials passports and how they can be a tool to support greater circularity within the built environment. This guide’s also outline which stakeholder may need to be involved in the process and the different types of data which may want to be collected.

Building on the guides, this webinar will showcase tools and solutions to aid with collecting data over the building’s lifespan and the creation of materials passports. You should attend this webinar if you are involved with circular design and the tracking of materials over the life of built assets.

During the event, you’ll hear from the UKGBC team on the importance of the topic, after which there will be a series of quick-fire pitches from our Innovative Start-Up members and companies offering solutions in this space. UKGBC’s Solutions & Innovation team have been continuously profiling many of these in our Solutions Library.

Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥ therefore running this cross-team webinar to showcase some of the innovative solutions available to help built environment practitioners understand the tools available in this area.

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The role of materials passports in circular construction

A materials passport is a digital record that captures essential data about a material’s composition, life-cycle impact, and reuse potential. By documenting these attributes, passports support informed decision-making at every stage of a building’s life-cycle — from design to deconstruction. They ensure materials retain value beyond their initial use, reducing landfill and supporting a truly circular economy.Ìý

This aligns with the UK’s increasing focus on material reuse to lower embodied carbon. More developers and project teams now prioritise not just the upfront emissions of materials but also their potential for reclamation and reuse. However, for materials passports to function effectively, the industry needs standardised, reliable environmental and material data. While EPDs provide insights into environmental performance, a broader set of information—covering material composition, deconstructability, and circularity potential—is required to fully support their implementation.Ìý

Why EPDs are essential to materials passports

EPDs, as defined by the European standard EN 15804, provide third-party verified data on a product’s environmental impact across its life-cycle. This independent verification ensures reliability, giving architects, engineers, and contractors confidence in their material choices. EPDs specifically measure global warming potential (GWP) — the key metric for assessing a material’s embodied carbon — alongside other environmental indicators. This data is broken down into core life-cycle stages, covering production, construction, use, and end-of-life.Ìý

For manufacturers, this shift presents a challenge and an opportunity. As sustainability expectations grow, contractors and clients increasingly require EPDs from their supply chains. Without them, manufacturers risk exclusion from tenders where transparency on environmental impact is now a key selection criterion.Ìý

The regulatory and market drivers for EPD adoption

Several regulatory and industry-led initiatives are accelerating EPD and materials passport adoption:

–UK Net-Zero Commitments & PAS 2080: The UK’s net-zero strategy is driving stricter embodied carbon reporting, with PAS 2080 emphasizing life-cycle assessment (LCA) and material transparency.

–EU Level(s) Framework & Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR): UK manufacturers selling in the European market must comply with ESPR, reinforcing the need for transparent product environmental data.

–Client and investor demand: With EDG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria shaping investment and procurement decisions, having EPDs can be a competitive advantage.

Mapping low-carbon products with digital tools

To fully utilise EPDs and materials passports, the industry must leverage digital tools that simplify access to environmental data. Platforms aggregating EPDs and materials passports into searchable databases allow architects, engineers, and contractors to compare materials based on carbon footprint, sourcing, and end-of-life potential. These tools also provide manufacturers with a platform to showcase their products, helping specifiers select materials aligned with sustainability targets and regulations.

EPDS and materials passports in building certifications

EPDs and materials passports contribute to key sustainability certifications. EPDs support compliance with embodied carbon reduction targets in BREEAM, LEED, RICS, and Level(s), while materials passports enhance circularity by tracking material provenance and reuse potential. Though not yet mandatory, they are increasingly recognised as essential for meeting sustainability benchmarks and certification requirements.

Streamlining EPD generation for materials passports

For EPDs to drive widespread materials passport adoption, the process of generating them must be efficient and accessible. Historically, EPD production was time-consuming and costly, but advancements in life-cycle assessment (LCA) software are streamlining and semi-automating the process.

Manufacturers can now more efficiently, ensuring their products are market-ready and compliant with evolving regulations. By leveraging such tools, construction professionals can integrate materials passports into workflows more seamlessly, reducing complexity and improving traceability.Ìý

Beyond EPDs: enabling circular construction through digital solutions

Beyond EPDs, digital platforms play a key role in promoting low-carbon materials. Global material databases, like provided by One Click LCA, help AEC professionals assess materials based on environmental impact while allowing manufacturers to showcase their lower-carbon products. By integrating these tools, the industry can build a structured, accessible pathway from EPD creation to materials passport adoption, embedding sustainability within material selection and procurement.

From data to action: embedding materials passports in practice

To fully realise the potential of materials passports, stakeholders across the built environment must collaborate to standardise data collection, enhance material traceability, and integrate passports into Building Information Modelling (BIM) workflows. This involves:

–Manufacturers prioritising EPD generation to ensure materials are eligible for passports and suitable for reuse.
–Architects and engineers incorporating materials passports into specifications, considering end-of-life material value at the design stage.
–Contractors and developers leveraging material databases to select circular products that align with sustainability goals.

A call to action for a circular future

As circular construction gains momentum, materials passports are emerging as a critical tool in the transition. However, without the foundational data provided by EPDs, their full potential remains unrealised.

For real progress, manufacturers, specifiers, and policymakers must work together to ensure environmental data is not only available but actively used to support material reuse and carbon reduction. By embracing materials passports and the EPDs that enable them, the UK’s construction sector can take a more meaningful step towards a truly sustainable, resource-efficient future.

How EPDs support materials passports

Materials Passports Guides

These practical and technical guides give an overview of Materials Passports and their crucial role in promoting circularity and reuse in the built environment.

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