IGBC Lunch & Learn | Project Launch: Material Passports

Pioneering and Promoting Material Passport Technology in the Irish Construction Sector

How can we make the materials within our buildings more transparent, traceable and ready for future reuse?

Material Passports offer a structured way to document the materials and products within buildings, helping support their recovery, reuse and remanufacture at the end of a building’s life. As the construction sector moves towards a more circular and resource-efficient built environment, better information about what buildings contain – and how those materials can be used again – is becoming increasingly important.

Join the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) for the launch of the Material Passports (Ireland) Project, showcasing the findings, practical insights and recommendations emerging from the project’s pilot work in Ireland.

The session will also feature Rachel Hoolahan, Associate Director at Orms, who will share insights from the UK context, including how Material Passports are being developed and applied in practice, the lessons emerging from implementation, and the opportunities and limitations of the approach.

What to Expect

The session will be structured around two short presentations:

Material Passports in Practice: Lessons from the UK
Rachel Hoolahan will explore how Material Passports can help make buildings and their materials more transparent, adaptable and ready for future reuse. Drawing on Orms’ research and practical experience, she will consider how passports are being used, what organisations are learning from implementation, and how they can become useful decision-making tools rather than simply another set of project records.

Launching the Material Passports (Ireland) Project Findings
IGBC will present the key findings and practical outputs from the Irish pilot project, exploring what is needed to support wider adoption of Material Passports across the Irish construction sector.

The project findings will focus on:

• Barriers and opportunities for the use of Material Passports in Ireland.
• Data content and the information needed for effective Material Passports.
• The Business Case for Material Passports in the Irish construction sector.
• Recommendations for specific stakeholders to support wider implementation.
• Lessons learned from the pilot project.

About the Material Passports (Ireland) Project

The Irish Green Building Council, in collaboration with BAM Ireland, IPUT Real Estate, Kingspan, Savills Ireland, Walls Construction and Madaster, undertook this initiative to explore the practical application of Material Passport technology and processes in the Irish context.

Supported by Construct Innovate, the project engaged with industry stakeholders and conducted a pilot to explore how Material Passports could support their wider adoption across Ireland’s construction sector.

The project aligns with the Building a Circular Ireland Roadmap and aims to provide practical guidance for stakeholders considering how Material Passports can contribute to a more circular built environment.

Why Attend?

This Lunch & Learn will provide an opportunity to:

• Understand what Material Passports are and how they can support circular construction.
• Learn from practical experience of Material Passport development and implementation.
• Explore the findings and recommendations from the Irish pilot project.
• Understand the data requirements and potential business case for Material Passports.
• Identify barriers and opportunities for wider adoption in Ireland.
• Consider how Material Passports can support future reuse, recovery and remanufacturing of building materials.
• Hear how Material Passports could evolve from project records into practical decision-making tools.

Speakers

Rachel Hoolahan, Associate Director, Orms

Rachel Hoolahan is Associate Director at Orms, where she leads the practice’s sustainability consultancy. Having trained as an architect in Ireland, she joined Orms in 2017 and works across research and project delivery to advance material reuse and sustainable building adaptation. Rachel led Orms’ research into Material Passports, developing an open-source approach to recording building materials and supporting their future reuse. She also leads a UK-wide Material Passports working group of more than 100 professionals focused on developing practical guidance for wider adoption. Her work is reflected in Orms’ deep refurbishment of 75 London Wall, where 300 tonnes of materials have been diverted from recycling routes to reuse routes. Rachel is an active member of UKGBC and industry research streams and regularly speaks at industry events on circular economy and retrofit.

Fernanda De Souza Rocha, Project Manager, Irish Green Building Council

Fernanda is a Project Manager at the Irish Green Building Council and has been involved in the development of the Material Passports (Ireland) Project. She will present the key findings, outputs and recommendations from the Irish pilot project, highlighting the practical lessons emerging from the work and what they could mean for the wider adoption of Material Passports in Ireland.

Who Should Attend?

This session will be of interest to professionals working across the built environment, particularly those interested in:

• Circular economy and resource efficiency.
• Material reuse and recovery.
• Sustainable design and construction.
• Building adaptation and retrofit.
• Building information and material data.
• Developers and asset owners.
• Architects, engineers and design teams.
• Contractors and construction professionals.
• Manufacturers and suppliers.
• Sustainability and ESG professionals.
• Anyone interested in the future of circular construction in Ireland.

Project Partners

The project was undertaken by IGBC in collaboration with BAM Ireland, IPUT Real Estate, Kingspan, Savills Ireland, Walls Construction and Madaster, with support from Construct Innovate