CASE STUDY | EDENICA OFFICE Materials passports are being created for several elements of the Edenica project The buildings steel frame has also been designed for adaptability. The structural grid is based on beams positioned at 4.5m centres, as opposed to the normal 3m centres, which reduces the total mass of steel used, saving on embodied carbon. An added benefit of this solution, says Terndrup, is that the beams wider spacing enables additional internal stairs to be incorporated in the future without the need for major structural alterations. This might not be an office building in 40 years time, so we have addressed longevity through incorporating flexibility, he says. The environmental credentials of the steel frame are further enhanced by it being awarded a materials passport. Materials passports are digital datasets that contain key information on materials and construction components to facilitate reuse at the end of the buildings life. Their implementation is being piloted at Edenica. Without a defined process to follow, Watermans sustainability team had to pioneer the methodology for producing digital passports. On Edenica, information included in the passport is obtained from the construction contractors. We had to start from scratch, defining what should be included, how to organise the information to form a database, and how to use the passports and update them when changes occur over a buildings life, says Anastasia Stella, sustainability associate at Waterman. On Edenica, material passports are being created for: the substructure, including piles, 28 November 2023 www.cibsejournal.com retaining walls and basement floor slab; steel frame; precast concrete floor planks; in situ concrete topping to the planks; external precast concrete panels; and the raised access floor. The digital passport for each element contains details of its geometry and location in the building, along with information on all the materials used in its formation. When asked whether any of the building services have materials passports Stella says: We havent yet considered passports for the building services; this would be one of the last things wed tackle because of their complexity. Waterman is using the knowledge gained from Edenica to create a protocol for producing and reporting materials passports across the UK. Its sustainability team has collaborated with EU circularity project CIRCuIT to standardise the passports, contents and process, details of which, Stella says, will be published this month and be freely available. The next step, she adds, is to create a materials passport standard, which could then be linked to the net zero standard. Over time, Stella says, the intention is to create a database and marketplace for used products and materials. Then, when refurbishment or demolition of a building is planned, the passported materials can be sourced by contractors looking to start work on a new project, reducing the amount of carbon spent manufacturing new materials. The passport database will be available when the Edenica development is completed in autumn 2024. CJ This might not be an office building in 40 years time, so we have addressed longevity through incorporating flexibility