Improving Concrete Management with GS1 Standards for Sustainability

The construction industry faces a pressing need to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and lower carbon emissions—especially in concrete use, which is a major contributor to the built environment’s carbon footprint. GS1 standards, already widely adopted in other industries, offer a transformative solution by leveraging 2D barcodes, GTINs, and Digital Product Passports (DPPs) to track and verify real-time product information.

By applying GS1’s Digital Link Standard, manufacturers, contractors, and engineers can digitise rebar and concrete tracking, ensuring transparency, reducing rework, and enhancing lifecycle carbon assessments from fabrication to demolition. This approach aligns with global sustainability mandates like CSRD, CSDDD, and the EU’s Green Deal, facilitating traceability and auditability for carbon reporting.

Here we present 12 key takeaways for Architects, Engineers, and Contractors, demonstrating how adopting GS1 standards in concrete and rebar management can enhance productivity, quality, and sustainability.

12 Key Takeaways for Industry Leaders

1. Concrete’s Carbon Footprint Must Be Managed in a Smarter Way

• Concrete is a major contributor to CO₂ emissions in buildings, and the industry must adopt better tracking and verification methods to manage its impact.
• Embodied carbon from concrete, steel, and aluminium accounts for 15% of total emissions, requiring urgent attention.

2. GS1 Digital Link and 2D Barcodes Enable a Trusted Data Flow

• GS1 Digital Link and 2D QR codes will soon replace traditional 1D barcodes, improving data accessibility across the supply chain.
• This approach mirrors the Golden Thread principle established in the UK to ensure product traceability.

3. Digital Product Passports (DPPs) Will Become Mandatory

• The EU’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) will be rolled out from 2026, standardising product data flow across construction materials.
• These passports will enable trusted, verifiable, standardised, and auditable product information.

4. The Construction Industry is Lagging in Productivity

• 30% of construction work is rework, while labour is only utilised 40-60% of the time—a massive inefficiency.
• Compared to other industries, construction has failed to achieve the same productivity gains, impacting affordability and delivery speed.

5. Smarter Materials Tracking Can Drive Cost Savings

• A 1% increase in construction efficiency could save €120 billion—equivalent to 480,000 additional homes delivered at no extra cost.
• Rebar and concrete tracking using GS1 standards can reduce waste and inefficiencies, and improve material usage.

6. Robotics & BIM Information Management 

• The industry must shift from a manual, error-prone process to robot-assisted prefabrication, reducing waste, labour costs, and delays.
• The focus must be on the "I" in BIM—information that is structured, accessible, and actionable.

7. Offsite Rebar Fabrication with Digital Tracking Reduces Waste

• Companies like Midland Steel in Portlaoise, Ireland have demonstrated:
  • 75% reduction in fabrication time
  • 80% reduction in manual labour
  • 30% reduction in site preliminaries
  • Significant CO₂ savings using "Europe’s greenest steel"
• These efficiencies cut project schedules by up to 6 weeks, reducing costs and carbon footprints.

8. QR Codes Assist with Seamless Tracking from Fabrication to Site

• Every rebar cage, beam, and slab should be tagged with a GS1 Digital Link QR code to ensure seamless tracking.
• Scanning the QR code provides tailored data sets for stakeholders (architects, engineers, contractors, auditors).

9. Standardized Digital Tracking Enhances On-Site Efficiency

• Real-time tracking means the Resident Engineer (RE) can scan a QR code to verify compliance before concrete is poured.
• Planners can update schedules dynamically, improving coordination between suppliers, fabricators, and on-site teams.

10. Circular Economy Considerations Must Be Built In

• CSRD & CSDDD regulations demand full material traceability from construction through end-of-life recycling.
• Demolition teams in 60-100 years will need accurate data on embedded steel quantities to assess recovery value.

11. Digitalisation Prevents Carbon Reporting Guesswork

• Carbon footprint calculations must move from estimates to verifiable data.
• Tracking materials allow auditors to confirm concrete and steel usage, ensuring accurate CSRD reporting.

12. The Construction Industry Must Build the Same Trust as Retail

• Consumers trust retail barcoding systems with pricing and managing inventory—construction must adopt the same trust model.
• QR codes, structured data, and GS1 standards help ensure that everyone is working from the same verified source of truth.

Final Thoughts

The construction industry is at a critical juncture—the challenges of labour shortages, carbon reduction, and cost efficiency demand a more innovative, digital-first approach. By implementing GS1 Digital Link, 2D barcodes, and structured BIM data, architects, engineers, and contractors can achieve:

✅ Greater productivity

✅ Reduced rework and waste

✅ Improved sustainability and carbon tracking

✅ Seamless regulatory compliance

The future of construction is digital, traceable, and standardised. GS1’s proven technologies can drive this transformation, ensuring better buildings built faster with lower costs and emissions.

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