Abstract
Natural resources are scarce and construction accounts for 40 percent of the material and energy consumption in Europe. This means that a switch to a circular future is necessary. ’Building a Circular Future’ maps out where we are, where we are going, and what is needed for this conversion to take place.
The construction industry is facing a major upheaval and must rethink both its business strategies and construction practice to be able to handle the new required market mechanisms and reap the rewards of the circular future. To facilitate this, there will be new companies with business strategies that do not yet exist, such as material exchanges, digital material managers and deconstruction experts.
A Proven Positive Business Case
Based on a specific 3XN project and existing construction practice at MT Højgaard, the project partners have developed and tested a business case based on the project’s strategies. The financial result is a profit of DKK 35 million on the structure alone in the demolition of a building built for the cost of DKK 860 million. The total potential for the whole building, calculated in projected material prices, is estimated to be up to 16% of the total construction cost. By incorporating and dismantling the new circular strategies from the start of construction, it is proven that there is an economic incentive and the demolition and construction waste can be made a positive business case.
Positive Effects Here and Now
The incentive for the implementation of the circular strategies is not only in the future. Increased flexibility, optimized operation and maintenance, as well as a healthier building, is low-hanging fruit that can be harvested today. The project’s principles can be implemented in industrialized construction in a large scale today. That is proven by the three 1:1 prototypes of building elements, which are designed for maximum reuse and circular economy, that has been developed as a result of the project. Several built projects and commercially available products support this assertion.
CIRCULAR PRINCIPLES
The focus throughout the book is how to build a circular future.
15 principles for how to build a circular future are developed as a result of the project and are seen as guidelines and strategies for working with reuse and circular economy in the building industry. The 15 principles represents 5 for ’Design for Disassembly’, 5 for ’Material Passport’ and 5 for ’Circular Economy’.
They are elaborated on each in their separate chapter and are referred to as reference points throughout the project.
The construction industry is facing a major upheaval and must rethink both its business strategies and construction practice to be able to handle the new required market mechanisms and reap the rewards of the circular future. To facilitate this, there will be new companies with business strategies that do not yet exist, such as material exchanges, digital material managers and deconstruction experts.
A Proven Positive Business Case
Based on a specific 3XN project and existing construction practice at MT Højgaard, the project partners have developed and tested a business case based on the project’s strategies. The financial result is a profit of DKK 35 million on the structure alone in the demolition of a building built for the cost of DKK 860 million. The total potential for the whole building, calculated in projected material prices, is estimated to be up to 16% of the total construction cost. By incorporating and dismantling the new circular strategies from the start of construction, it is proven that there is an economic incentive and the demolition and construction waste can be made a positive business case.
Positive Effects Here and Now
The incentive for the implementation of the circular strategies is not only in the future. Increased flexibility, optimized operation and maintenance, as well as a healthier building, is low-hanging fruit that can be harvested today. The project’s principles can be implemented in industrialized construction in a large scale today. That is proven by the three 1:1 prototypes of building elements, which are designed for maximum reuse and circular economy, that has been developed as a result of the project. Several built projects and commercially available products support this assertion.
CIRCULAR PRINCIPLES
The focus throughout the book is how to build a circular future.
15 principles for how to build a circular future are developed as a result of the project and are seen as guidelines and strategies for working with reuse and circular economy in the building industry. The 15 principles represents 5 for ’Design for Disassembly’, 5 for ’Material Passport’ and 5 for ’Circular Economy’.
They are elaborated on each in their separate chapter and are referred to as reference points throughout the project.
| Original language | English |
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| Place of Publication | Denmark |
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| Publisher | GXN |
| Volume | 248 |
| Edition | 1 |
| Number of pages | 248 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-87-998670-1-1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
Keywords
- Design for disassembly
- Cradle to Cradle
- Material passport
Artistic research
- No