Whole building circularity indicator: A circular economy assessment framework for promoting circularity and sustainability in buildings and construction

Khadim, Nouman; Agliata, Rosa; Thaheem, Muhammad Jamaluddin; Mollo, Luigi

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2023.110498

Cited by 14 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Furthermore, the emphasis on policy adoption and the percentage of carbon-neutral buildings highlights the pivotal role of regulatory frameworks and environmental impacts in steering the construction sector towards circularity [70]. The inclusion of indicators related to deconstruction planning and product utility further enriches the evaluative landscape, illustrating the participants' holistic approach to gauging the success and impact of circular initiatives in the built environment [71]. However, a corporate social responsibility (CSR) indicator system was not mentioned or perceived by the business stakeholder groups in our study as a tool for sustainability performance in construction companies [72][73][74].…”

Section: Mq6: Proposing New Circularity Indicators And/or Highlightin...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultivating Sustainable Construction: Stakeholder Insights Driving Circular Economy Innovation for Inclusive Resource Equity

Karaca,

Tleuken,

Pineda-Martos

et al. 2024

Buildings

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Due to its intricate production processes, complex supply chains, and industry-specific characteristics, the construction industry faces unique challenges in adopting circular economy (CE) principles that promote resource equity. To address this issue, this study aims to delve into identifying stakeholders’ opinions and perceptions regarding key CE strategies across different stages of the building life cycle (BLC). Both European and non-European stakeholders within the “CircularB” COST Action network and beyond participated in this research. Three methods were employed to assess stakeholders’ opinions: an online survey, a structured survey with a semi-guided workshop, and creative thinking round table discussions. Natural language processing (NLP), specifically topic modelling and sentiment analysis, was used to analyse the data collected from the online survey, which gathered text-based opinions from 209 participants on the cost-benefit aspects of circularity strategies. The structured survey, which collected data from 43 workshop participants, evaluated the perceived importance of CE strategies across various BLC phases and assessed the adoption of selected CE strategies in current or past projects. Finally, the Six Thinking Hats® activity, employed in the round table discussions, generated ideas from 25 professionals regarding the broader implementation challenges and opportunities of CE in construction. The research findings highlight the need to bridge the gap between theory and practice by fostering active industry stakeholder involvement in the transition to a CE model. The analyses of the collected stakeholder opinions through the three activities contribute to proactive and collaborative efforts aimed at advancing resource equity in the construction sector and promoting just and inclusive resource use. In summary, this research offers a comprehensive understanding of stakeholders’ opinions on CE strategies and provides guidance for the development of targeted policies and strategies to accelerate the integration of CE principles in the construction industry.

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Section: Mq6: Proposing New Circularity Indicators And/or Highlightin...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultivating Sustainable Construction: Stakeholder Insights Driving Circular Economy Innovation for Inclusive Resource Equity

Karaca,

Tleuken,

Pineda-Martos

et al. 2024

Buildings

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“…The evolving net-zero building standard in the UK is considering taking embodied carbon into account in addition to aiming at benchmarking the operational energy demand [1]. While the concept of circular economy emphasises maintaining, reducing, reusing, and recycling of materials [2,3], circularity at the end of life after multiple life cycles is also a concern. For the concept of circular economy to be coupled with the future net-zero standard, building materials should fully comply with the concept of sustainability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Analysis of Moisture-Dependent Thermal Conductivity, and Hygric Properties of Novel Hemp–shive Insulations with Numerical Assessment of Their In-Built Hygrothermal and Energy Performance

Latif

2024

Materials

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The use of lime as a binder in hemp–lime considerably increases the drying time of hemp–lime after casting. Furthermore, lime is a non-renewable mineral resource. As such, this paper explores the effectiveness of using an alternative non-mineral binder instead of lime to formulate a novel hemp–shive insulation. The moisture-dependent thermal conductivity, adsorption isotherm, vapour diffusion resistance factor, and in-built hygrothermal performance of four variants of a novel bio-based insulation were investigated. The hygrothermal performance of the novel hemp–shive insulation was compared with that of a previously developed novel hemp–lime insulation. No significant variation in thermal conductivity of hemp–shive insulations between the equilibrium moisture contents (EMC) at 0% and 50% relative humidity (RH) was observed, but there was a substantial increase in thermal conductivity hemp–shive insulations when the material reached the EMC at 98% RH. The average dry thermal conductivity values of hemp–shive and hemp–lime insulations were also similar. The adsorption isotherms of hemp–shive insulations were determined at 0%, 20%, 50%, 70%, 90%, and 98% relative humidity steps. At 98% RH, the moisture adsorption capacity of hemp–shive insulations was 4-to-5-times higher than that of hemp–lime insulation. Hemp–shive insulations’ vapour diffusion resistance factor (µ value) was about double the µ value of hemp–lime insulation. Hemp–shive insulations exhibited 4-to-5-times higher water absorption resistance than that of hemp–lime insulation. Numerically determined porosity values of hemp–shive agree with the values of wood-based insulation materials of similar density. Finally, using all experimentally acquired data as inputs, dynamic whole-building hygrothermal simulations were carried out and the results show that novel hemp–shive insulation materials perform at a similar level to the hemp–lime insulation in terms of heating and cooling energy demand but require 45% less energy for humidification. However, the relative humidity inside the hemp–shive wall remains higher than 70%, which can potentially induce mould growth.

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“…Contextually, it has to be highlighted that sustainability-oriented assessment methods do not overlap with techniques meant to measure CE. In the literature, some authors have compared results of sustainability and CE assessments for various systems (e.g., Li et al 2023) and have shown complementarity between the two (e.g., Khadim et al 2023). Sustainability and CE concepts have in fact similarities and differences, but ultimately, they both foster peculiar objectives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design issues concerning circular economy assessment methods at the product level: a comparative analysis through a case study of a mobile tiny house

Ruiz-Pastor,

Altavilla,

Borgianni

2024

Des. Sci.

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Sustainability evaluations are increasingly relevant in the design of products. Within sustainability-related frameworks, circular economy (CE) has gained attention in the last few years, and this has vastly affected design, leading, for example, to design for circularity. This article deals with the wide range of product-level CE assessment tools, out of which some are applied to a case study from the building sector, namely a tiny house made with hemp bricks. Attention was specifically paid to those methods through which a single circularity indicator could be extrapolated. Overall, the objective of this work is to study the convergence of existing CE assessment methods in providing consistent circularity performances. The results show similarities in the overall circularity scores despite differences in the variables used to achieve that final score. Thus, despite the lack of standard methods, the results suggest that many of these tools are sufficiently interchangeable, also in consideration of consistent indications to improve the circularity of the tiny house. This means that consistent inputs are provided to anyone willing to redesign the tiny house with the objective of making it more circular irrespective of the assessment tool used.

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Whole building circularity indicator: A circular economy assessment framework for promoting circularity and sustainability in buildings and construction

Cited by 14 publications

References 41 publications

Cultivating Sustainable Construction: Stakeholder Insights Driving Circular Economy Innovation for Inclusive Resource Equity

Cultivating Sustainable Construction: Stakeholder Insights Driving Circular Economy Innovation for Inclusive Resource Equity

Experimental Analysis of Moisture-Dependent Thermal Conductivity, and Hygric Properties of Novel Hemp–shive Insulations with Numerical Assessment of Their In-Built Hygrothermal and Energy Performance

Design issues concerning circular economy assessment methods at the product level: a comparative analysis through a case study of a mobile tiny house

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