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Circular Construction: we need to rethink our needs
The circular economy flips the script on our old “use and dispose” model by focusing on sustainability, resource regeneration, and eliminating waste. And it is very much applicable to the construction industry as well! In the technical cycle of the circular economy, products and materials are kept in play through reuse, repair, and recycling. Meanwhile, the biological cycle returns biodegradable materials safely back to nature. The construction sector is a heavy user of resources and a major source of waste, making it a prime target for circular solutions: building for longevity, adaptability, and recyclability – and in general, considering buildings as “material banks”, which preserve resources for future use. This article discusses the approach of rethinking our construction needs and is based on the training material developed in the TOP CLeveR project for building professionals.
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The circular economy is gaining global momentum, in alignment with major agreements such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change as well as the New Urban Agenda. In the EU, initiatives like the Europe 2020 Strategy, the Circular Economy Action Plan, the European Green Deal, and various legislative measures (such as the Waste Directive and the Eco-design Directive) aim to improve resource efficiency, reduce waste, and boost competitiveness. Additionally, international and European technical standards are being developed to guide circular practices (e.g. by ISO/TC 323, CEN/TC 350/SC1). Frameworks like ReSOLVE (Regenerate, Share, Optimise, Re-circulate, Virtualise, Exchange) support sustainable business actions, while tools such as Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and material passports help measure and track the environmental impact of materials throughout their life cycle.
One approach within the circular economy is to minimise resource flows. Other circular economy strategies include slowing down resource flows by extending the lifetime of products and closing resource loops through reuse.
How is it possible to reduce resource flows in construction?
The same performance may be achieved by using fewer resources if we rethink our construction needs, assess the necessity of new construction and – whenever possible – use existing structures instead of newbuild. When opting for new construction, it is beneficial to design buildings in a way that uses resources sparingly and minimise resource use by constructing efficiently. The latter two approaches will be the subject of another article coming soon.
Rethinking construction needs involves optimizing the use of existing structures and questioning the necessity of new construction by:
- prioritizing building rehabilitation and adaptive reuse over demolition (and making the most of existing elements)
- maximizing the use of existing buildings and space, including urban infill and vertical extensions.
- increasing the average intensity of space usage by making use of abandoned buildings or using buildings more intensively throughout the day and week
Sufficiency should be one of the guiding principles, as seen in the figure below.
Figure 1: Decision-making pyramid1
It is important to note though, that the adaptive reuse of vacant buildings often requires replacements and refurbishments, which necessarily increase embodied carbon emissions. For example, their energy renovation is often essential for reducing their operational carbon emissions. However, the embodied carbon emissions of energy-renovated buildings are still about 85%2 lower than those of new construction. Even when structural renovations involve major changes—like adding internal walls or updating facades—research indicates that the embodied carbon emissions can still be reduced by 50% or more compared to building entirely new structures.3
Best practice examples for adaptive reuse include two vacant office blocks in Dublin, which have been transformed into 86 social housing units to provide homes for over 200 people. The four-storey buildings were expanded to five stories, with the addition of modern heating and ventilation systems powered by solar panels. They achieved 62% reduction of whole-life carbon (WLC) compared with a new building of similar type.4
A good example for increasing the intensity of space usage is the Belgian project 1Toit2Ages (1Roof2Ages), an inter-generational home-sharing programme, enabling seniors who have unused space in their homes to host students. The programme was launched in Brussels in 2009 and expanded to Wallonia in 2012. It has already facilitated more than 5,200 matches between seniors offering their homes and students in need of housing.5
As seen from the above examples, sufficiency measures not only help cut down on the use of materials and energy (and lower emissions) but they also reduce pressure on land resources. Additionally, they support social goals like easing housing shortages and lowering infrastructure costs for local governments.
TOP CLeveR (Training and Outreach Programmes for a Circular and Level(s) based Revolution) is a LIFE project aimed at equipping construction professionals and workers with the skills needed to address life cycle carbon challenges and the circular approach throughout a building’s life cycle. TOP CLeveR also supports the implementation of the Level(s) Framework by all actors in the value chain. Read more about the project here.
The project has received funding from the European Union’s LIFE22-CET program under Grant Agreement No 101121073.
1 BPIE (Buildings Performance Institute Europe) (2024). Prioritising Existing Buildings for People and Climate. Sufficiency as a strategy to address the housing crisis, achieve climate targets and protect resources. Available at: https://www.bpie.eu/ publication/prioritising-existing-buildings-for-people-and-climate/ Adapted from Zimmermann & Firat (2024): Building sufficiency – five measures for an unerring and just transition of the building sector. eceee 2024, BBSR (Ed.), 2023: Unterstützung von Suffizienzansätzen im Gebäudebereich (EN: Support of sufficiency approaches in the building sector). BBSR-Online-Publikation 09/2023, Bonn
2 “Sufficiency in the building sector - for the EU Whole Life Carbon Roandmap,” RAMBOLL and BPIE. European Commission, [Online]. Available: https://www.bpie.eu/publication/sufficiency-in-the-building-sector-for-the-whole-life-carbon-roadmap-final-report/
3 Ramboll, BPIE, KU Leuven, 2023, Supporting a Roadmap for the Reduction of Whole Life Carbon in Buildings. Technical background study. Available at: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/923706b7-8f41- 11ee-8aa6-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
4 “Sufficiency in the building sector - for the EU Whole Life Carbon Roandmap,” RAMBOLL and BPIE. European Commission, [Online]. Available: https://www.bpie.eu/publication/sufficiency-in-the-building-sector-for-the-whole-life-carbon-roadmap-final-report/
5 “Sufficiency in the building sector - for the EU Whole Life Carbon Roandmap,” RAMBOLL and BPIE. European Commission, [Online]. Available: https://www.bpie.eu/publication/sufficiency-in-the-building-sector-for-the-whole-life-carbon-roadmap-final-report/ https://www.1toit2ages.be/?lang=en
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