The document discusses the concept and importance of the circular economy in the construction sector, emphasizing its restorative design that maintains the utility and value of materials. It outlines key principles, monetary benefits, and the current performance of the UK construction sector in terms of resource consumption and waste generation. Furthermore, various strategies for implementing circular economy practices in construction are suggested, highlighting the need for industry collaboration and incremental change.

1. Part of the BRE Trust
Circular economy in the built environment
Katherine Adams
BRE & Loughborough University
20th January 2017
Circular Economy in Construction – 2nd Green Construction Board
Conference

2. Content
– Introduction
– Principles
– Benefits
– What the statistics tell us..
– Activities

3. What is the circular economy?

4. ‘A circular economy is one that is restorative and regenerative by design, and
which aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility
and value at all times, distinguishing between technical and biological cycles’
(Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013).
‘Systemic approach to the design of business models, enabling the sustainable
management of resources in products and services ‘
(BSI, 2015).
Definitions

5. UKCG, 2014

6. Circular economy principles
Principles (developed from literature)
Increasing the productivity of materials, products and
components by doing the same or more with less.
Eliminating waste by defining materials as either technical or
biological nutrients enabling them to be within material loops
Maintaining or increasing the value of materials,
environmentally and economically.
Thinking in systems by studying the flows of material through
industrialised systems, understanding the links, how they
influence each other and the consequences, enabling closed-
loop processes where waste serves as an input.

7. Why it is important in the construction sector
– Monetary gains
– £300 billion from primary resource benefits, including energy by 2030 in
Europe
– Amsterdam study – circular building chain can lead to 3% increase in
productivity growth – € 85 million/year
– Joint industry/Government commitment to reduce GHG emissions by 50%
by 2025
– Highly material intensive sector - 1.2 -1.8 mt of construction materials/year
for new buildings and refurbishment in Europe
– Material security e.g. aggregates (planning), certified timber
– Large amount of waste generated and most is down-cycled
– 821 million tonnes across Europe in 2012, a third of all waste generated

8. The national performance
– Decrease in raw material consumption in UK (547mt in 2001
compared to 410mt in 2014)
– Since 2000, raw material consumption per unit of GDP has
reduced
– Waste generation has decreased ( 298mt in 2004 compared
to 252mt in 2014)
– Only 20% of resources are from secondary sources in UK
– An estimated third of materials used ‘lost’ for further use in
UK
– Globally 6% of materials are ‘circular’

9. The UK’s construction sector performance
– Decrease in material use (196mt of non-metallic materials in
2013 compared to 288mt in 2003)
– 90% of construction and demolition (C&D) waste recovered
in 2014
– C&D waste generated relative to construction output is not
decreasing (34t/£m in 2012 compared to 48t/£m in 2014)
– 60% of all waste is from the construction sector
– Amount of reclaimed materials decreased from 1.8mt in 2007
to 750kt in 2011
– An increase of 10mt (58mt) of excavation waste generated in
2014 compared to 2012

10. Circular economy in the construction sector
– Not one magic bullet
– Different approaches and solutions required:
– Various types of buildings/infrastructure
– Majority of assets already built
– Asset (building) level v product level
– Short lived v long lived construction products
– Various developer/client approaches
– Accountancy and budgets
– Supply chain and contractual considerations
– Potential conflict of circular economy principles

11. Design Manufacture and
supply
Construction In use End of life
Design for
deconstruction
Design for adaptability
and flexibility
Design for
standardisation
Designing out waste
Modularity
Specifying reclaimed
materials
Specifying recycled
materials
Ecodesign principles
Using less
materials/optimising
material use
Using less hazardous
materials
Increasing the life span
Designing for disassembly
Designing for
standardisation
Using more secondary
materials
Take back schemes
Reverse logistics
Minimise
construction
waste
Procuring
reused
materials
Procuring
recycled
materials
Off site
construction
Minimise waste
Minimal
maintenance
Easy repair and
upgrade
Adaptability
Flexibility
Utilising assets
Deconstruction
Selective
demolition
Reuse of products
and components
Closed loop
recycling
Open loop
recycling
Management of information including metrics and datasets

12. What are the benefits in the construction sector?
– Life cycle thinking
– Different ways of creating value
– Forward thinking/ competitive advantage
– Drive innovation
– Risk reduction
– Cost reduction
– Improved relationships
– Assist with building assessment schemes

13. What CE activities are occurring?
http://bit.ly/CEthinking2017

14. Learning from 20 years of resource efficiency (1996 –
2016)
• Industry participation/buy in is crucial to develop practicable
solutions
• Drivers for change absolutely necessary or things won’t change
• It’s easier to make complicated solutions than simple ones
• Exemplars are often ‘cat walk’ , need to adapt for ‘high street’
• Incremental actual change is better than transformative theoretical –
should still aim high though

15. Thank you
E: Katherine.adams@bre.co.uk
E: k.adams@lboro.ac.uk
T: 07855 958712
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/katherine-
adams-02410a7