Custom material passport software for a donor skeleton
Appfront builds software for those who want to reuse the structure of buildings being demolished. For each element of the donor frame, such as columns, beams and floors, you record what it is, its dimensions and properties, its condition, and where it is now. This allows a structural engineer to see what fits a new design, lets you reserve elements for a project, and makes it possible to demonstrate afterwards where each reused part came from.
What is materials passport software for a donor frame?
A donor frame is the structure of a building being demolished, which is given a second life as a whole or in elements in a new building. Columns, beams, floors and walls are dismantled rather than crushed. This saves raw materials, but it requires knowing for each element what it is, what load it can carry, what condition it is in and where it is going. A materials passport records exactly that.
In practice, that knowledge sits in inspection reports, drawings of the old building and the demolition contractor's spreadsheets. A structural engineer creating a new design often has no clear view of what is available. Elements are dismantled without it being clear whether they will fit. And after construction it is hard to show which element came from where, yet that is exactly what is needed for the environmental performance calculation and for accounting to the client.
We build custom solutions because reuse of structures does not yet have a standard way of working: which properties you record, how you inspect, how you number and label elements, how you reserve them for projects, and which BIM environment the engineer uses. Building passport platforms also exist; we can connect to them or build the part they lack, such as inspection and reservation per element.
Every element recorded
For each column, beam or floor: the dimensions, material, strength, condition and photos, along with its location in the building.
From demolition to design
An overview of available elements that an engineer can set against a new design.
Provenance you can demonstrate
For each reused element: where it came from, how it was inspected and where it is now.
How we build software for a materials passport for a donor structure
We start with a building that is to be dismantled: which elements, which data, how inspection works, and who wants to reuse them.
Which elements, which properties, and how inspection and dismantling take place.
Elements with dimensions, material, strength, condition, photos and location, including on site.
An overview of available elements, and reservation per project.
Origin per element after construction, integration with BIM, and then management.
What software for a materials passport for a donor structure actually does
The components below come up in almost every structural reuse project. Which ones you need depends on your role.
Elements
Columns, beams, floors and walls with their properties.
Inspection and condition
Inspection, damage and condition per element, with photos.
On site
Location in the old building, after dismantling and in the new one.
Search and matching
Searching by dimensions, material and strength for a new design.
Reservation
Elements reserved per project, so they are not promised twice.
Provenance
The provenance and history of each reused element.
Who we build software for a materials passport for a donor structure
The software is intended for parties who want to reuse structures rather than demolish them.
Dismantling companies
Removing elements from buildings. Recording on site is the core.
Contractors and developers
New build with reuse. Reservation per project matters most.
Structural engineers
Designing with what is available. Searching and matching is what is needed.
Property owners
Buildings that will eventually be demolished. The passport in advance is the core.
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This page covers materials passports for donor structures. For BIM, see our page on BIM software; for demolition contractors, our page on demolition company software; and for construction, our page on software for construction companies. You can read about our approach at building software.
Why Appfront for your materials passport software for a donor structure?
An element that is not known is not reused. That is what we build on: every element recorded, available to those designing, and provenance that holds up afterwards.
More reuse
An engineer sees what is available, and designs with it.
No double promises
A reserved element is no longer available to another project.
Demonstrable
Provenance per element, for the client and for the calculation.
Security and privacy in software for a donor-frame material passport
The software holds data on buildings, owners and projects. Access is set up by role: a demolition contractor records, a structural engineer searches, and a client sees their own project.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily back-ups. On site, registration also works without a signal.
Frequently asked questions about software for a donor-frame material passport
Questions that demolition and construction firms ask before they get started.
It records the dimensions, material, strength, condition and location of each element of a structure, lets structural engineers search for what fits a new design, reserves elements per project, and keeps track of the provenance of every reused part.
The structure of a building being demolished, which is reused whole or in elements in a new building. Instead of being crushed, columns, beams and floors are dismantled.
Yes, platforms for building passports already exist. We can connect to them, or build the part that is missing for your way of working, such as on-site inspection, reservation per element and the handover between demolition contractor and builder.
The structural engineer can search by dimensions, material and strength, and can see the inspection and condition alongside it. Whether an element meets structural requirements in the new design is for the structural engineer to assess; the software provides the data for that.
Yes. Elements are recorded on site with photos and a label or QR code, even without a signal. After dismantling, the new location is recorded, for example a storage yard.
An integration with the designer's BIM environment is possible, for example to take elements from a model of the old building or to place selected elements in the new model. We'll look at what fits in the first step.
The software records the provenance of reused elements, and with it the data you need to include reuse. How that counts in a calculation is for you to determine with your adviser.
Reuse structures instead of demolishing them?
Tell us which building is being dismantled, which elements you want to reuse and who will be designing with them. We will show you what registration, searching and reservation look like.