CIRCULAR ECONOMY: THE CLIMATE IS CHANGING SO MUST

CONSTRUCTION.

Nature of the problem

The construction sector is based on standards of productivity that have not evolved
over the past 25 years. Linear and outdated production and demolition processes
caused a ratio of output to inputs worse than most industries. This inefficiency
coupled with huge resource requirements make construction one of the most
damaging human activities out there. Let's analyze the currently implemented take,
make, waste economic model.

Take: a constant demand for new buildings translates into an ever growing annual
extraction of non-renewable natural resources requiring massive use of energy, and
causing greenhouse gas emissions on top of other environmental damages like
deforestation, desertification, acidification and eutrophication, depletion of the
stratospheric ozone layer, air and water pollution.

Make: the making and use of a building also takes a heavy toll on the earth in terms
of land use and energy consumption, furthermore modern buildings have an average
lifespan of 100 years and yet they are still being constructed without sustainability
principles in mind, this means they will be a lifelong source of pollution, extremely
difficult and lengthy to rectify

Waste: there is no adequate management of construction and demolition waste or

recycled materials, often valuable resources like steel, aluminium, stone, concrete,
brick, ceramic and wood are not properly identified, separated and valued

Problem quantification

The construction industry is responsible for the emission of massive amounts of co2,
and heavily contributing to one of the central environmental problems of our time:
climate change.

Between 35 and 40 percent of the national energy in the US and Europe is used
annually to excavate the earth, transport raw materials and equipment, create
structural steel shapes, pump cement and perform all the other activities required to
complete a building. On top of the energy consumed during construction we cannot
ignore the ongoing co2 emissions that derive from the installation of outdated and
inefficient heating, ventilation, lighting and cooling systems.
Besides the need to choose more sustainable structural materials and designs,
construction also must improve its management processes as studies attest between
10 and 15 percent of resources used getting wasted due to inefficient operations.

The final critical area for improvement is the generation of untreated waste,
construction and demolition account for 25 to 30 percent of EU waste.

Circular practices tackling the linear paradigm

Design: advanced technologies are entering the industry helping engineers plan
according to principles of long lasting, easy maintenance, repair, reuse,
remanufacturing, refurbishing and recycling.

Radical real estate developers are coming up with eco village concepts capable of
producing renewable energy, self managing water and waste systems. Town
planners are also gradually adopting more flexible systemic urban planning
instruments and innovative governance, enabling the development of regenerative
cities where buildings continue to burn fossil fuels, but at a rate that can be
reabsorbed through bio sequestration in soils and forests.

Sourcing: garbology and an increasing quest for recovering discarded resources has
led to a variety of cheap, durable and green building materials seen in construction
today. Rammed earth tires are used to build solid and thick walls. About 480
thousand tons of recyclable shredded rubber become available every year,
newspaper wood is created by rolling up paper and solvent-free glue into something
not dissimilar to a log, over 1 million tons of paper and cardboard are recycled every
year in Northern Europe alone.

Recycling facilities, specifically designed for diapers and napkins, can separate
organic wastes from super absorbent polymers, the basis for fiber based materials
like roofing tiles. Resi blocks are bricks made from old plastic bags and can be used
as dividing walls inside a house or an office. Mycelium, the bacteria found in rotting
organisms like tree trunks and agricultural byproducts can be a great alternative for
wall insulation. If placed in a mold these organic matters rapidly grow to the desired
shape until halted through heat exposure.

Business and policy advice

Recommendations to business: various professions are generally involved in a

construction project and each category can, in its own way, support a transition
towards circularity, through retrofitting and creative thinking architects, designers and
engineers can conceive buildings to maximize resource use and energy efficiency,
contractors together with material and equipment suppliers can opt for waste free
construction resources and technologies as well as develop practices of reuse.

Recommendations to government: regenerative cities with never-ending production

cycles and remanufacturing processes will be at the heart of a true circular economy,
within this vision the construction sector can play a leading role, but groundbreaking
legislations must pass to guide the transformation by encouraging the correct
handling of hazardous materials as part of an adequate management of construction
and demolition waste, promoting a life cycle view of buildings that accounts for
design, construction, operations, demolition and waste treatment, supporting
high-quality retrofit programs and stimulate creativity to increase the economic value
of reused materials.

Ref.

(7) Construction industry & Circular Economy - YouTube