Dexes, Cirkelstad and Madaster, together, win the competition for an open, honest and reliable data market in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area

Last year, the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area and the Amsterdam Economic Board organised a competition to look for the best idea for an open, honest and reliable data market. Dexes entered the competition to facilitate data sharing by public, private and public-private organisations by removing technical and legal barriers. Madaster and Cirkelstad indicated their intention to set up an environmental register to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy.
 
After all, access to data on materials encourages owners, builders, researchers and supervisors to use and reuse materials in such a way that waste can be prevented. From marketplaces to urban developers, from engineers to project developers and from neighbourhood residents to maintenance departments, everyone should be able to use this environmental register of materials. We are extremely proud to have won this competition, which gives us the opportunity to realise our circular ambitions together with Cirkelstad and Dexes.

Guidance on ‘Passports for the construction sector’ 2.0

Material passports have an important role in accelerating the transition towards a circular economy — providing insight into the materials used in buildings as well as making it easier for those materials to be reused. A situation should be avoided where different systems lead to different types of passports that would prevent proper comparison and exchange of data. Reason for Platform CB’23, together with the team ‘Passports for the construction sector’, to work on a harmonised, uniform framework that can serve as the basis for all passports. Platform CB’23 recently published a draft version of the updated guidance ‘Passports for the construction sector 2.0’. In order to increase support, a period of public consultation was organised during which those involved in circular construction were able to provide feedback. The guidance documents 2.0 will be presented at the beginning of July after which they will be publicly available for use. We are proud to have been able to contribute within the project team 'Passports for the construction sector'. Madaster is closely following the developments, to be able to continue to provide answers to questions about the various requirements and methods of circular construction. And, of course, we will keep you informed of those developments!

New release Madaster platform

Madaster is working hard on the further development and continuous improvement of the platform. Our partners and clients as well as the guidelines from CB’23 are crucial in determining the direction in which the platform will develop. For example, our clients and partners felt the need for more flexibility in setting up and designing the digital real estate portfolio within Madaster. In this way, they can determine their own structure as users, for example, by also including data sets on regions and business locations. Madaster has combined this need with the guidelines by CB'23 and incorporated them into the design of a first version of an entirely new User Interface. In combination with an adjusted technical infrastructure, this provides the required flexibility, improves the user-friendliness and also significantly increases the processing rate. These major changes will be made available to our users in various stages, before the beginning of summer. More information on this subject will follow soon. For an overview of the most recent adjustments, please see our release notes on the Madaster website.

Increasing interest in the Madaster’s Educational Platform

Madaster has recently launched an online educational environment for students to test the degree of circularity of their designs. The Alfa-college in Hoogeveen is the first Dutch educational institute to work in this environment. The educational platform is a unique combination of learning and working in practice, with a focus on circularity. Education and the business community will both profit from this. The platform has also attracted international attention. Cornell University in the United States, for example, indicated an interest in using the Madaster Educational Platform in their design courses. In the coming six months, students and teachers of the Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning will be experimenting with the software, to study the possibilities of conducting a joint project with Madaster, exchanging experience and feedback, as well as sharing design ideas.   
 
‘The circular economy requires a transformation in the way buildings are designed and constructed. This requires a radical change in how we handle raw materials. Architectural education must adapt to this new reality and teach students to be critical and technically literate thinkers.’
Felix Heisel, Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture
Director of the Circular Construction Lab 
Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP)

Drees & Sommer Switzerland AG new Kennedy Madaster Switzerland

Drees & Sommer Switzerland AG is the new Kennedy from Madaster Switzerland. With its membership, the consulting, planning and project management company wants to further promote the topic of circular construction and real estate in Switzerland and further strengthen the idea of using "buildings as raw material storage". With its expertise in the field of "Material Passport", Drees & Sommer supports the cataloguing of materials and products of buildings in the Madaster online database. Madaster offers Drees & Sommer Schweiz AG added value not only in the recording of material passports for new buildings, but also in the implementation of cradle-to-cradle construction projects.