Sustainability through supply chain transparency in construction – Common standards for environmental and social sustainability across different construction product categories throughout the supply chain.

The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) has been in effect since January 1, 2023. At the same time, European bodies are deliberating on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). Many companies in the construction sector are facing new reporting formats. Increasingly, a larger portion of stakeholders are becoming subject to reporting requirements or are indirectly affected as suppliers. The sector is resource-intensive, which makes it relevant for issues regarding supply chain impacts.

The research project Sustainability in the Construction Supply Chain addresses the implementation of corporate due diligence in the construction sector. The findings confirm that greater transparency in construction product supply chains and declaration standards regarding sustainability goals—upholding human rights and protecting the environment, resources, and health—contribute to improvements along the entire supply chain.

A shared declaration platform—as a transparency tool—offers a practical approach here to inform companies in the construction industry and provide them with a tool for examining and declaring their own supply chains. Chain-of-custody labels provide integrable insights. They examine supply chains from the raw material source to the final product.

The platform establishes an easily understandable declaration standard that can be adopted by planners, product label issuers, or building certification systems. This makes supply chain quality more tangible and concretely strengthens the demand side.

Goal of the research project

The research project Sustainability in the Construction Supply Chain is funded by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) and aims to develop standards for environmental and social sustainability across different construction product categories throughout the supply chain. This project focuses on identifying potential risk materials and, through the active involvement of various stakeholders in this field and an evaluation of their previous experience, defining requirements for responsible resource extraction in construction. By incorporating existing labels and quality marks, the project aims to develop practical tools that can be used to verify these requirements across the entire supply chain.

The project will investigate the extent to which existing databases, including those from other industries, provide practical approaches for this purpose. The project results are intended to be integrated into federal instruments (BNB, ÖKOBAUDAT, WECOBIS) as well as the auditing practices of natureplus and other interested certifiers. Through intensive stakeholder participation, we expect high acceptance and broad public awareness for this topic.

Research report

Download: Research report: Sustainability in the Construction Supply Chain (NaLiBau)

‍Interim results

(As of May 2023)

By May 2023, the various aspects of transparent supply chains were analyzed in four stakeholder conferences in collaboration with around 50 civil society, public, and private institutions. Based on the feedback, a concept for a transparency tool for supply chain assessment was developed. The interim results of the research project were presented and discussed in workshops at the final conference held during the natureplus RE.THINK BUILDING 2023 specialist conference on June 30, 2023. This input was then incorporated into the final project results. The planned database is intended to be a state-operated declaration platform following a top-down approach, which is freely accessible to all responsible parties in the construction industry as well as end consumers. Verification of manufacturer data using independent third-party certificates could improve the transparency and risk assessment of building materials. To protect sensitive business information, a three-level concept is planned, providing different levels of detail for the respective stakeholders (manufacturers, verifiers, the public). The transparency tool concept was finalized at the end of the project on October 31, 2023. It provides a foundation for the future development of a supply chain database, "transbau.dat," analogous to the life cycle assessment database ökobau.dat.‍‍

Individual results from the stakeholder conferences:

1. Stakeholder conference: Sustainability in the Construction Supply Chain: "Certification systems for sustainability and transparency in the supply chain"
2. Stakeholder Conference on Sustainable Construction Supply Chains: "Supply Chains in the Construction Sector: Government Regulations and Instruments"
3. Stakeholder Conference on Sustainable Construction Supply Chains: "Database-supported Systems for Supply Chain Transparency"
4. Stakeholder Conference on Sustainable Construction Supply Chains: "Supply Chain in the Construction Sector: CSR and Industry Reporting"
5. Final conference and presentation of a concept for a transparency tool: Concept for a transparency tool for construction material supply chains
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Read the natureplus news regarding the NaLiBau final conference and the RE.THINK BUILDING 2023 specialist conference on June 30, 2023.

Further information

You can find further information on designing environmentally friendly and socially responsible supply chains via the Helpdesk on Business & Human Rights of the Agency for Business & Economic Development.