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The 1995 MBB initiative was aimed at bringing increased rigour to such processes and
‘mainstreaming’ environmental performance across all relevant products, manufacturers,
practices and trades. Also in 1995, the Energy Performance Coefficient (EPC) was introduced,
whereby newly built houses were required to incorporate energy efficiency measures to meet
EPC requirements. These energy performance standards are now updated every few years. In
1996, the Dutch government in cooperation with more than 14 building associations initiated
the development of standardised sustainable construction options incorporating environmen-
tal criteria (Jansen 1996). In 1998, the environment was added as the fifth pillar of the princi-
ples underpinning housing regulation.
By the late 1990s, the development of methodologies for LCA of materials, energy and
buildings was being actively pursued by the Dutch government. LCA was chosen as a means of
providing a level playing field while adopting widely accepted, rigorous methodologies and
science, and promoting full functionality-based comparison of options across all building life
cycle stages. The vehicle chosen was the MRPI system, which has its origins in 1997 when it was
first commissioned by the Nederlands Verbond Toelevering Bouw (NVTB), the association of
Dutch building products suppliers. By mid-1999, the first edition of the MRPI manual was
complete and the first manufacturers were having their products assessed and reviewed. In late
November 1999, the MRPI was formally introduced and 30 MRPI certificates were presented.
Soon after the introduction of MRPI, the MRPI Foundation secured cooperation with the
Stichting Experimentele Volkshuisvesting (SEV, the steering committee for experiments in
public housing) and Stichting Bouwresearch (SBR, the foundation for building research) who
are the initiators of Eco-Quantum, a tool that calculates the environmental performance of
buildings (IVAM 2007). In 2000, MRPI and Eco-Quantum became compatible, enabling
MRPI results to be entered directly into Eco-Quantum. As manufacturers produced new or
updated MRPI certificates, their information could be added to the Eco-Quantum database.
However, the process was slow and during 2001 to 2002, development was also slow in both
Eco-Quantum and the addition of MRPI certificates to the database. In 2002, Eco-Quantum
version 2 was introduced with a simplified interface for users.
Concurrently, other tools became established, including Greencalc, used particularly by
local governments, and the Materiaalgebonden Milieuprofiel van Gebouwen (MMG, ‘mate-
rial-related environmental profiles for buildings’). MMG was developed by Nederlands Nor-
malisatie Instituut (NEN, the standards institute for the Netherlands), using LCA methodology
and building on experience from the MRPI and Eco-Quantum. For many practitioners, the
MMG initiative marked a logical extension of LCA into the regulatory context, since the aim
was to introduce a performance requirement into the building code and thus mandate the use
of MMGs. However, this initiative failed in 2003, when it was withdrawn due to lack of support
at the policy level. The project was left with a longer term goal of applying MRPI in a European
context (e.g. by the International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee
TC59/SC 17, Sustainability in Building Construction).
It is timely and relevant to reflect briefly on the Dutch experience with the application of
LCA to building materials, especially the attempt to set standards and develop mandatory regu-
lations based on LCA-derived specifications for the environmental performance of building
materials. Undoubtedly, institutional and political factors in the Netherlands had a significant
role in both the planning and early adoption of the LCA-based strategy, and in its subsequent
demise. These factors vary from place to place and are not the main consideration here. Suffice
to say that the support of a range of individuals and agencies, organised in a strategic manner,
would be an essential precondition for LCA to have a successful regulatory role in Australia.
There were also clear technical reasons that the strategy ran into problems. These included
classic LCA challenges, such as the technique requiring many assumptions and choices to be

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