CARES Framework: A Circularity Assessment Method for Residential Building Structures

Alicia Vásquez-Cabrera (), Maria Victoria Montes and Carmen Llatas
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Alicia Vásquez-Cabrera: Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas I, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
Maria Victoria Montes: Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas II, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
Carmen Llatas: Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas I, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Sevilla, Spain

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-29

Abstract: The construction industry contributes to global waste through its “take-make-dispose” model. In response, the European Commission has developed Action Plans to promote a Circular Economy (CE). However, there is currently no standardised Circularity Indicator (CI). The main barrier thereof is the lack of consensus on assessment criteria, stemming from the dispersity of advancements among the methodologies available. The CARES Framework (CARES-F) has been designed to address this issue by integrating ISO standards, Level(s), and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) criteria into the traditional MCI framework. This innovative framework also introduces further variables from the CE perspective, such as transport impact, biomaterials, and quantitative Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Design for Disassembly (DfD) and Design for Adaptability (DfA). The validation is carried out on a typical Spanish residential building structure by applying the CARES-F and two micro-CIs based on the MCI. The results exhibit the low circularity of resource-intensive systems and highlight the need for secondary raw material in flow, as well as DfA criteria. These findings underscore the significance of the introduced quantitative KPIs in the CIs accuracy and demonstrate the feasibility of the CARES-F in the identification of circularity gaps and selection of optimal circular design strategies from early project stages.

Keywords: building circularity assessment; circularity indicator; circular economy; sustainable buildings; construction sector; design for disassembly; design for adaptability; technical innovations in construction; sustainable development goals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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