Madaster is a non-profit organization whose goal is to close material cycles in the construction and real estate sector. It operates a platform that seeks to create an inventory of all the resource-relevant data of buildings, which it will then compile into what it calls ‘material passports’. The passports provide information about the financial and circular potential of a building’s registered materials and products, explains Madaster in a press release.
As of July 1, owners of real estate in Switzerland can register their properties on Madaster. The platform will store, structure and visualize a building’s product and material data, creating transparency relating to all building information across a building’s lifecycle. A financial index calculates the value of the materials and products, which will help enable long-term value preservation, while a circularity index can allow for a more sustainable construction and management of real estate by helping to determine how materials and products can be recycled at the end of their service life.
“Our aim is to build new houses from old ones,” says Patrick Eberhard, President of Madaster Switzerland. “With Madaster, buildings are intended and used as material depots, and cities become urban mines.”
