Accelerating circularity in the built environment

A circular economy is critical to a more sustainable world, but many sectors have been slow to adapt – particularly construction and buildings. A new report published by the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) seeks to expedite this. Compiled with its global network, including technical partners WSP, the Circular Built Environment Playbook presents strategies for reducing resource consumption, alongside the latest ideas and real-world examples of how circular principles are being applied. 

The world is only 7.2% circular

According to Circle Economy, only 7.2% of the virgin materials we extract are recycled back into the economy. This means that 92.8% of everything we make is wasted after use. And the WorldGBC reports that the global built environment is responsible half of the resources extracted globally – heavily contributing to this problem.

The construction industry is currently based largely on a linear economy: the take-make-waste model. There is an urgent need to change the way we procure, design and reuse buildings to eliminate waste and, ultimately, enable us to live within planetary boundaries. This requires everyone in the supply chain to act.

Applying circular economy principles in the construction sector will be essential to meeting global climate targets. This will encompass many different activities, such as minimizing the extraction of materials, designing buildings as efficiently as possible, optimizing nature-based solutions, and repurposing and reusing buildings, their materials and technological assets. 

A comprehensive guide to circularity 

The Circular Built Environment Playbook provides a comprehensive guide to achieving circularity in the built environment. It presents more than 20 strategies, addressing all stages of the building lifecycle from design to maintenance to reuse, and emphasizing the importance of collaboration among industry stakeholders. 

Here are some of our key takeaways:

1. Design for adaptability and disassembly: design buildings and infrastructure to be flexible and adaptable to changing needs, and easily disassembled at the end of their first life.
2. Material transparency and optimization: use materials that have a low environmental impact, and ensure that their origin and composition are transparent.
3. Resource efficiency and circularity: prioritize the efficient use of resources and create closed-loop systems where waste is eliminated and materials continuously reused across a full asset lifecycle. Localize supply and skills in the value chain.
4. Challenge short-term thinking: as an industry we must take a long-term view, considering the past, present and future uses of buildings, their spaces, materials and technologies.
5. Regenerate nature: draw inspiration from natural systems in which nothing is wasted, implement nature-based solutions and protect water resources. Use materials that can eventually return nutrients to the biosphere.
6. Upskill, educate and collaborate: address knowledge gaps and foster collaboration among building industry stakeholders, including architects, engineers, developers and policymakers. 

It's time to think and act differently

The circular economy is a concept that requires all stakeholders to think and act differently, and so it is essential that we share knowledge and collaborate as an industry. 

We’re working to embed circular principles into our work, and the Playbook features four of our projects which highlight different aspects:

• Elephant and Castle Town Centre, London, UK – using digital technology to deliver steel’s full reuse potential (page 35)
• The Recycled Houses, Denmark – a condition assessment of three houses built 30 years ago from recycled materials (page 35)
• Centre Block Rehabilitation, Ottawa – Canada’s large heritage rehabilitation project (page 48)
• Arden Precinct, Melbourne, Australia – circular economy principles embedded into masterplanning and building design (page 71)

Download the Circular Built Environment Playbook here.