Study on the development of a European Union framework for digital building logbooks
Background
The European Commission has now published the final report of the “Study on the development of a European Union framework for digital building logbooks”. The study was commissioned by EASME (Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), for the development of a European Union framework for a Digital Building Logbook and follows after the publication of the definition of the Digital Building Logbook and the report on Building Logbook state of play earlier in 2020.
In a nutshell
The Digital Building Logbook will establish a common European approach that aggregates all relevant building data and ensures that the right person has access to the right information of the building. It is expected that this scheme, through increased data transparency and availability to a broad range of market players could overcome the current lack of a common repository for building data that could spur innovation, reduce additional costs and inefficiencies and increase investors’ confidence.
Key takeaways and recommended actions
According to the final report, three priority actions are recommended to support the efficient functioning of Digital Building Logbooks:
- The development of a standardised approach for data collection, data management and interoperability and its legal framework;
- Development of guidelines for linking existing databases;
- The launch of public funded R&I projects to further explore the Digital Building Logbook concept and its implementation.
Enabling a multi-level synergy
The study aimed to support a harmonised use of the Digital Building Logbook across Europe and it has the potential to provide substantial contribution to several high-profile policy initiatives, including the forthcoming “Strategy for a Sustainable Built Environment”, the “European Green Deal”, the Circular Economy Action Plan, but also other initiatives such as the Smart Readiness Indicator, the Level(s) framework, Building renovation passports and Energy Performance Certificates.
REHVA has been involved in various stages on the development of this study, mainly via stakeholders’ consultations, comments and reviews.
More information about relevant REHVA activities:
- ALDREN article in REHVA Journal – ALDREN Special Issue
- U-CERT project is also exploring synergies between different certification schemes