Project R-13053

Implementation of Circular Economy in the Built Environment (Research)

Governments and society require a more efficient and sustainable built environment. An emergent trend is the Circular Economy (CE), which aims at decoupling economic growth from resource consumption. Construction has been identified as a field of action by the European Commission's Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP). However, the lack of a common understanding and open tools to classify buildings' circularity, at any stage in their lifecycle, is a barrier in the application of circular thinking. Thus, this Action aims at defining the methodology to develop an international circularity framework for new and existing buildings to support decision making and assess the implementation level of CEAP. It will be based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), selected according to international best practices, current CE state-of-the-art, CEAP, and COST countries' construction practices. The KPIs framework will be developed with enough flexibility to be locally applied by different COST countries or regions. To accomplish this, a benchmark database will be developed (based on each country conditions, culture and traditions), allowing for the direct use of the KPIs to support both designers in developing more sustainable buildings and national/local governments in assessing and promoting their CE targets, as well as evaluating how CEAP is being implemented in practice. The KPIs will also be integrated into the Open BIM workflow for use in BIM models. Construction, assembly, adaptability, de-construction, value chain management and CE business models guidelines will be developed for new and existing buildings to enhance and promote stakeholder's knowledge.

27 October 2022 - 26 October 2026