In today’s society, we see continuously increasing demands for digital information, not least regarding product information in the construction process. These requirements are driven both by EU legislation and by market needs. To achieve digitalization related to construction products—both in terms of environmental information and technical properties—we need to standardize what information is to be provided and ensure that this is anchored across the entire sector.

In the Smart Built Environment project “Open Access to Digital Data Sheets for Product Properties Based on Data Templates,” data templates are used to establish an industry-wide alignment on the process for implementing this digitalization of product information for construction products. A data template compiles agreed and documented properties in a single document and defines the requirements placed on a construction product. This enables verification at a later stage to ensure that the selected product meets these requirements. When the template is applied to a specific product, it is referred to as a product data template, and once it has been populated with the requested information, it becomes a digital product data sheet.

To facilitate comparison between different products, all these agreed properties need to be gathered in a single, accessible location—referred to as a data dictionary. In practice, the data dictionary will contain several levels of information. An EU-wide dictionary can store legally required properties and the standards that define them. In addition to this common dictionary, national add-ons will also be required. A national add-on collects properties relevant to the national market, such as industry standards.

To enable practical testing of the above in the near future, the project builds on existing platforms and focuses on further developing these solutions rather than creating new tools. During the project’s application tests, eBVD participated in one of the pilot projects.

Want to know more? E-mail ebvd@ivl.se