Reversibility and Durability as Potential Indicators for Circular Building Technologies

Ernesto Antonini, Andrea Boeri, Massimo Lauria and Francesca Giglio
Additional contact information
Ernesto Antonini: Department of Architecture, University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Andrea Boeri: Department of Architecture, University of Bologna, 40136 Bologna, Italy
Massimo Lauria: Department of Architecture and Territory dArTe, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, 89124 Reggio Calabria, Italy
Francesca Giglio: Department of Architecture and Territory dArTe, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, 89124 Reggio Calabria, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 18, 1-14

Abstract: According to the Circularity Gap Report 2020, a mere 8.6% of the global economy was circular in 2019. The Global Status Report 2018 declares that building construction and operations accounted for 36% of global final energy use and 39% of energy–related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The Paris Agreement demands that the building and construction sector decarbonizes globally by 2050. This requires strategies that minimize the environmental impact of buildings and practices extending the lifecycle of their constituents within a circular resource flow. To ensure that eective measures are applied, a suitable method is needed to assess compliance in materials, processes, and design strategies within circular economy principles. The study’s assumption is that synthetic and reliable indicators for that purpose could be based on reversibility and durability features. The paper provides an overview of building design issues within the circular economy perspective, highlighting the diculty in finding circular technologies which are suitable to enhance buildings’ service life while closing material loops. The results identify reversibility and durability as potential indicators for assessing circular building technologies. The next research stage aims to further develop the rating of circularity requirements for both building technologies and entire buildings.

Keywords: Circular Design; circular technologies; reversibility; durability; circular potential; indicators; service life; closed material loops (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/18/7659/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/18/7659/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:18:p:7659-:d:414532

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().