Sustainability reporting in the built environment is facing increasing complexity, driven by rising transparency demands, fragmented data requirements, and misaligned reporting standards. The absence of a common digital framework for building and product data is creating inefficiencies, raising costs, and impeding progress toward decarbonisation and circularity.

“A Vision for Data in the Built Environment: Transforming Sustainability Reporting” presents the findings of a cross-sector workshop convened by BPIE, UCL, the Building Passport Alignment Project, the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), and Demo-BLog. The report explores how a harmonised, interoperable data ecosystem could reduce reporting burdens, improve decision-making, and accelerate the transition to a sustainable built environment.

Key conclusions & recommendations:

• The EU should lead the development of a common data dictionary to standardise sustainability reporting across regulations, simplifying compliance and improving data transparency.
• A federated data model should be implemented, ensuring secure, on-demand access to verified data while allowing ownership to remain with data producers.
• Regulatory bodies must align information requests and data requirements across policies to enhance efficiency and reduce costs.
• Industry actors should prepare for growing data demands by investing in digital solutions and engaging with sustainability frameworks.

The report highlights the role of Digital Building Logbooks (DBLs) as a key enabler of seamless data exchange across the real estate value chain. While DBLs have been introduced in the 2024 recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, their full potential remains untapped. Expanding their use beyond energy performance to align with broader policy objectives—such as climate neutrality, circularity, and green finance—could drive meaningful transformation.

To unlock this vision, cross-sector collaboration is essential. Policymakers, financial institutions, and industry leaders must work together to establish a transparent, efficient, and future-proof data ecosystem for the built environment.