1. Executive Summary
The built environment is a major contributor to current global problems of resource depletion, pollution
and climate change. It is an energy and material intensive sector that relies on the availability of resources.
It is an environment where multiple human activities come together that can have their direct and/or
indirect impacts within its environment in which the three pillars of sustainability (i.e. People, Planet,
Profit) are present. In the case of the Dutch building sector, here presents a challenge, as it is currently
highly reliant on the importation of these materials.
The concept of Circular Economy introduces new opportunities to become increasingly innovative and
becoming more material efficient. For the Dutch building sector in particular, this means becoming less
reliant on the importation of building materials. The concept promotes a resilient industrial economy that
is self-fulfilling, by relying on renewable energies, minimising wastage, and eliminating the usage of toxic
chemicals. There is a focus on developing new strategies for reduction, reuse and recycling of materials
and energy, also known as the ‘3R’ principles. It promotes the development of new business based on
performance over consumption, closing loops and using a systems approach. To change the traditional
discourse to such a circular approach a paradigm shift is necessary. As a consequence, the building sector
will need to challenge existing uncertainties and consider opportunities that a Circular Economy may offer.
To explore the opportunities in what way circular buildings could be beneficial in the building sector, three
cases (Town Hall Brummen, Circular Office Alliander and Cradle-to-Cradle City Hall Venlo) were analysed
in this thesis. Evidence from these case studies supported the hypothesis that asking the questions in terms
of functional performance needs instead of technical details promotes creativity. This can be achieved by
putting your vision and ambitions on the market for tendering. By asking for a vision and ambitions, the
specific requirements and conditions what normally are given were open for discussions, suggestion and
ideas. This creates more flexibility and adaptability for all the parties along the Circular Building Process,
which is also strengthened if a client is asking to design a building process instead of using a pre-designed
building adjusted for a Circular Economy. Asking the client to participate in the creation of the process
means that it becomes more important to explore the opportunities through collaboration and co-creation
in an open innovation network and finding the right partners to do so.
Living Labs is a concept that builds on the idea of open innovation networks. Its main focus is to use all the
external ideas as a source for supporting innovation processes through experimentations. It uses a user-
centric perspective to develop usable products and services. For the built environment it is obvious that a
user-centric perspective is necessary, because they determine what the building context will be. They are
often the ones who will be using the building according to their needs. However, involving the users
actively in the innovation process to reveal their ‘real’ needs is not always the case. Therefore, Urban Living
labs is a good starting point to explore and reveal the needs of the user for a Circular Economy in the
building sector. Therefore, the following definition is being developed for the building sector: Urban Living
Labs is a systematic approach that integrates research and innovation by collaborating with multiple
stakeholders (public-private-civic partnerships) to co-create, develop and validate new products, services,
businesses and technologies for sustainable value in territorial ecosystems in which the user is actively
involved.
Based on the concepts of Urban Living Labs and a Circular Economy the three cases are analysed to develop
a conceptual Circular Building Process that is seen as an example of a Collaborative Ecosystem. For this
conceptual model the circular building process is assumed to be an ideal process that is derived from the

2. case studies and supported by the findings of the interviews, workshop and literature. The aim is to
improve the traditional building process by embedding the principles of Urban Living Labs.
The Urban Living Labs principles are extended further within the execution phase. Where the focus of
Urban Living Labs is based on the experimentation by collaborating and co-creating in an open innovation
process, the focus of the execution phase is based on the translation of experimentations into viable
options towards a fully functioning product or service. The Circular Building Process as Collaborative
Ecosystem contains five phases: 1) Envisioning Phase, 2) Co-Creation & Exploration Phase, 3)
Experimentation Phase, 4) Execution Phase and 5) Monitoring & Evaluation. To guide the client towards a
circular building process, a practical facilitation tool is included in the model that incorporates these
phases, which helps the client by constructing circular buildings in a similar manner.
The tool is a sequential approach of decision-making that is focused on co-creation, collaboration, integral
designing and experimentation within a circular building network. It makes it practical by executing these
experiments by trial-and-error learning. This should incorporate a circular shared value design proposition.
The practical facilitation tool sees the Circular Building Process as a learning process where failures and
making mistakes are allowed as long as you are able to improve using lessons learned.
When creating such a setting, it is important to build a relationship with the stakeholders that is based on
trust and mutual benefits, which in the end of the process should result in a fully functional circular building
that is in line with the vision and ambitions of a client. By going back and forth in aligning the shared goals
between the client/user and the stakeholders, it makes the Circular Building Process Facilitation Tool
iterative by nature.
Whilst the Circular Building Process as a Collaborative Ecosystem with its Facilitation Tool is still conceptual
and not is being tested or validated yet, the proposed model does have the potential for adding value by
combining Urban Living Labs and Circular Economy concepts. It adds value by guiding the client through
the circular building process phases to make the right decisions, encouraging them not to be afraid to
make mistakes and to go beyond their boundaries. It also helps to find the right partners as client to
collaborate with a multidisciplinary consortium, explore new opportunities in Circular Economy through
experimenting and trial-and-error.
By introducing Urban Living Labs concepts to a Circular Economy a link is made to explore the
opportunities of open system innovation and new ways of doing business. Suggested further research
(see Chapter 7 for more recommendations) includes to test the proposed facilitation tool as a
standardised Circular Economy facilitation tool with more case studies and more ways in which Urban
Living Labs concepts and Circular Economy concepts can work in partnership. In the cases, the idea of
seeing buildings as resource depots was explored, but the challenge they were facing was to translate its
potential value to preserve the use of resources and reduce waste into practice. It is an area that is
underexplored, future research should study this field of interest to develop theories and concepts that
help the building sector to become circular and material/resource efficient without compromising the
quality of life.