Introduction

• Author: Carbonar, Giulia; Sterling, Raymond; Spirinckx, Carolin; Vandevelde, Birgit; De Groote, Maarten; Dourlens-Quaranta, Sophie; Lodigiani, Alessandro; Volt, Jonathan; Borragán, Guillermo; Glicker, Jessica; Kondratenko, Irena; Toth, Zsolt; Rajagopalan, Neethi; De Regel, Sofie; Rapf, Oliver; Calderoni, Marco; Loureiro, Tatiana
• Pages: 17-25

STUDY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A EUROPEAN UNION FRAMEWORK FOR DIGITAL BUILDING LOGBOOKS

FINAL REPORT

17

INTRODUCTION

Background and justification

A lot of valuable information is generated and gathered over the life cycle of buildings at

different stages (e.g. design, construction, operation, renovation, repair, upgrading) and for

various purposes (e.g. regulatory compliance, cost management, operation and

management, insurance, finance). T his wealth of information could be highly beneficial for

property, asset and facility management if it were easily available and structured. However,

this information is largely not organised and managed in a systematic way. Some

information only benefits few market players; sometimes information has to be re -created

several times and often almost none stays in the hands of property owners. Information is

spread over many places and tools for safely storing, digitising and updating information are

largely missing.

This situation leads to a lack of transparency and limited availability of information to assess

building performance and asset value, and the risks related to investment and management

decisions in sustainable construction. It also reduces the chances of contractors and building

managers to learn from experience and good practice, because of possible different reporting

formats. Limited data availability creates also difficulties for financing institutions, banks and

investors to gain information on risk profiles, so as to adapt their risk management strategies

accordingly and to develop financial instruments.

Digital building logbooks could boost the availability of structured information for a number

of purposes to a broad range of market players, including property owners, tenants,

investors, financial institutions and public administrations, as mentioned in the Clean Energy

Package of November 2016.

A digital building logbook is a digital repository where a building’s main properties

(ownership, building design, materials used, structures, installations, systems, adaptations,

investment, operational and maintenance costs, health and safety, performance indicators,

certifications, etc.) can be compiled and updated when necessary throughout the life of the

building, granting an easily accessible and comparable overview of a specific building.

Further information like energy bills, water and waste management, maintenance

recommendations/requirements as well as insurance and ownership obligations could be

included.

The building logbook could facilitate access to structured information about how the building

was originally designed, what changes were made and what is its actual performance service

level and planned maintenance. It may draw upon information from other sources such as

construction standards and calculation methods originally used, building information models,

building’s operation, maintenance, health and safety records/action plans, energy

certificates/audits, environmental performance assessments, etc.

Ownership of the information contained in the digital building logbook stands with property

owners. However, this information could be made fully or partly accessible to third persons

(e.g. authorities, maintenance professionals, valuation professionals, insurers, etc.)