An urban hospital base79,2d on the principles of circular economy: the case of Joseph Bracops hospital

Abstract

The building industry has mainly focused on improving operational energy consumption to minimise the environmental impacts of buildings which are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). However, considering the full life cycle of buildings, energy use and GHG emissions occur for reasons that extend beyond the operational phase and involve the embodied impacts of construction and disassembly. Circular building design can provide a holistic approach where the building’s whole life cycle is considered in a manner consistent with circular economy principles, minimizing global material consumption, reducing waste and insuring a more circular building material stock. To date, research on the wide-scale adoption of circular design and construction strategies in public projects is still lacking. On this basis, the case study of the new Joseph Bracops hospital in Brussels shows that circular building design principles can be applied in the healthcare sector within the framework of a public tender. The project integrates circular economy principles at different scales (city, site, building, element), optimises different material and energy flows and takes into account different timespans (short and long term). The study also offers insight and guidance for future research into how the urban hospital of tomorrow will be a resilient public venue. Such a venue can enable a more comprehensive approach of health promotion, reflected by the qualitative integration of circular economy principles both with a social and technical focus, connected to the community and capable to mutate over time.