Introduction

Europe’s building renovation ecosystem is undergoing a period of transformation. Despite the clear need for deep renovations, the market remains hindered by fragmented data, limited coordination across the value chain, and a persistent gap between renovation planning and implementation. Building owners often lack clear, long-term renovation roadmaps, while professionals struggle with inconsistent data sources, limited interoperability, and the absence of reliable tools for assessing renovation options in terms of cost, energy performance, circularity and environmental impact. The revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) strengthens the role of renovation passports as a means of guiding building owners through a staged, long-term renovation plan. These passports are expected to incorporate technical assessments, renovation options, estimated performance gains, and life-cycle considerations. In parallel, the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan, Digital Product Passport developments, and the push for Digital Building Logbooks underscore the need for data-rich, interoperable tools capable of bridging material, building, and supply chain information.  

To fully unlock the potential of renovation passports, the renovation sector requires digital systems that can orchestrate complex datasets, support evidence-based scenario assessment, and enable transparent interaction between stakeholders. CRedIBlE responds to these needs by introducing a structured, interoperable, and circular-oriented digital ecosystem that redefines how renovation pathways are generated, evaluated, and communicated.

The CRedIBlE vision and objectives   

The CRedIBlE project builds on the idea that deep renovation must be both circular and data-driven to achieve the EU’s ambitious targets for energy performance, climate neutrality, and resource efficiency. Its central vision is to reshape renovation value chains by integrating material circularity, digitalisation, and lifecycle intelligence into a unified methodological and technological framework. 

CRedIBlE pursues a set of strategic objectives: 

• Develop a digital ecosystem that connects stakeholders and supports renovation decision-making based on lifecycle indicators, circularity metrics, and performance-based evaluation.
• Design methodological frameworks enabling renovation pathways that reduce material waste, promote reuse, and extend the lifecycle of building components.
• Enable interoperability across digital tools, datasets, and platforms, including alignment with Digital Building Logbooks, Digital Product Passports, BIM environments, and existing EU standards.
• Demonstrate the approach across diverse building typologies and European contexts, ensuring practical scalability and user relevance. 
   

Through these components, CRedIBlE contributes to enhancing the operational value of renovation passports, enabling them to evolve into more holistic tools that not only plan renovation actions but also support circular resource management and long-term performance optimisation. 

The CRedIBlE conceptual approach 

CRedIBlE adopts a comprehensive methodological approach that links digital innovation, circularity principles, and building performance assessment. The foundation of the methodology is the CRedIBlE digital ecosystem, a multi-layered platform that integrates data from materials, components, buildings and renovation works. This ecosystem is designed to support renovation passports with structured information that enhances traceability, decision-making, and long-term renovation planning. 

_{Figure 1: CRedIBlE Conceptual Approach. Source: CRedIBlE Project, 2025}
 

The approach includes the following key pillars: 

• The project employs BIM-based data structures, interoperability standards (for example, IFC), and linkages with Digital Building Logbooks to create consistent and reusable renovation datasets. Dynamic data models ensure that renovation options can be assessed against energy performance, embodied carbon, circularity indicators, and smart readiness attributes.
• CRedIBlE integrates life-cycle assessment (LCA), life-cycle costing (LCC), and circularity metrics to evaluate the environmental and material implications of renovation scenarios. These metrics help identify options that optimise resource use, reduce waste, and support material recovery and reuse.
• Renovation pathways are generated through a structured workflow that evaluates multiple scenarios based on performance targets, cost effectiveness, user needs, and environmental outcomes. The methodology supports staged renovation actions aligned with EPBD Renovation Passport requirements.
• CRedIBlE tests its methods across real buildings in multiple European contexts, ensuring applicability to different climates, markets, and renovation challenges. Demonstration activities validate the robustness of the digital ecosystem and refine the workflows for integration into renovation passports. 

Case studies and demonstration activities  

The practical application of the CRedIBlE methodology is validated through demonstration activities across a representative selection of European buildings. These case studies encompass multiple climate conditions, building typologies, and renovation challenges, ensuring that the digital ecosystem and methodological framework are robust, scalable, and adaptable to diverse contexts. 

Each demonstration follows a structured workflow that begins with data acquisition and building characterisation, using BIM models, on-site data, and digital logbook data. This allows the project team to capture the building’s current condition, material inventory, and performance baseline. Next, renovation scenarios are generated using CRedIBlE’s decision-support tools, which evaluate multiple renovation pathways in terms of energy performance, embodied environmental impacts and emissions, cost-effectiveness, and circularity potential. 

A distinctive feature of the demonstrations is the integration of circularity assessments, focusing on the reuse and recycling potential of materials and components. By quantifying resource flows and identifying opportunities for circular strategies, the project showcases how renovation passports can become instruments for driving market transformation towards resource-efficient renovation practices across the sector. 

Demonstration activities also highlight the importance of stakeholder involvement, as building owners, designers, auditors, and local authorities participate in evaluating and prioritising renovation options. This collaborative process ensures that the resulting renovation roadmaps align with users’ expectations, regulatory frameworks, and long-term performance objectives. 

The case studies provide evidence of the added value of CRedIBlE’s approach, including: 

• More precise identification of optimal renovation stages.
• Enhanced transparency of lifecycle impacts.
• Higher confidence in investment decisions.
• Stronger integration of circularity and digitalisation principles. 

These findings contribute directly to the improvement of Renovation Passport methodologies and demonstrate the potential for large-scale adoption across Europe. 

Renovation passports in the CRedIBlE framework  

Renovation passports are designed as instruments that provide building owners with a long-term, step-by-step renovation strategy. In CRedIBlE, this concept is expanded and strengthened through a digital and circularity-focused interpretation of renovation planning. The project positions the Renovation Passport as a dynamic, data-rich, and interoperable framework, moving beyond simple documentation towards a decision-support tool that captures the full life-cycle impacts of renovation interventions. 

CRedIBlE enhances renovation passports through a multi-layered data architecture that integrates material-level information, component attributes, building performance indicators, and renovation strategy data. This layered structure supports a more accurate evaluation of renovation scenarios and connects the passport with broader digital ecosystems such as Digital Building Logbooks and Digital Product Passports. By linking materials and components with their environmental profiles, CRedIBlE enables the passport to reflect not only operational energy performance, but also embodied impacts, circularity potential, and end-of-life scenarios. 

An innovative element of the CRedIBlE approach is the ability to incorporate circularity scoring and resource efficiency metrics into the passport workflow. These metrics help identify renovation actions that prioritise material reuse, extend component lifespans, reduce waste generation, and support circular value chains. Additionally, integration with smart readiness indicators ensures that deep renovation pathways also consider building automation, energy management, and grid-interactive capabilities. 

Through its decision-support tools, CRedIBlE enables the creation of dynamic renovation roadmaps that adapt to evolving user needs, technological advancements, and policy requirements. This goes beyond static renovation plans, offering a flexible and future-proofed strategy for staged renovation. The result is a Renovation Passport framework that supports informed choices, increases renovation quality, and enhances stakeholder collaboration across the renovation journey. 

Policy implications  

The insights generated through the CRedIBlE project offer several important implications for European renovation policy and the implementation of the revised EPBD.  First, the integration of circularity metrics into Renovation Passport workflows demonstrates the need for policy guidance that explicitly incorporates material reuse, embodied carbon assessment, and resource efficiency into renovation documentation. Policymakers may consider embedding these dimensions into national frameworks to ensure harmonised uptake across Member States. Second, the project highlights the importance of digital readiness. To fully leverage the potential of renovation passports, national systems must support data interoperability, the use of BIM, and integration with Digital Building Logbooks. This calls for investment in digital infrastructure, training programmes for professionals, and the development of clear data governance rules. Third, CRedIBlE’s demonstration activities underscore the value of long-term renovation planning, especially for staged deep renovations in residential and public buildings. Policymakers should promote incentives and financing schemes aligned with renovation roadmaps, encouraging building owners to follow structured and performance-based pathways. 

Finally, the project reveals that strengthening collaboration across the renovation value chain – through shared digital tools and transparent datasets – can accelerate market transformation towards higher renovation rates and improved renovation quality. By supporting these developments, EU and national authorities can position renovation passports as central instruments for achieving a climate-neutral and circular built environment.

Conclusions

The CRedIBlE project shows how digital renovation passports can be used more practically and systematically when planning renovation actions. By combining lifecycle and circularity considerations with clear renovation pathways and structured data, the approach helps to improve the quality and consistency of renovation decisions. Demonstration activities across different European contexts confirm that a shared digital framework can reduce uncertainty, improve transparency, and support long-term renovation planning. The results show that enhanced Renovation Passports can play a significant role in supporting renovation projects and contribute to more efficient and sustainable building renovations across Europe.