Designing buildings to close the material resource loop

Abstract

Making use of recycled and reused building materials and products in the building industry is well understood as an effective way of reducing the environmental impacts associated with materials. To facilitate the recycling of materials, buildings should be designed as recyclable buildings—buildings that enable the dismantling and the reuse or recycling of building elements and materials. However, currently buildings are seldom designed in this way. Environmental benefits have proved insufficient to encourage the production of recyclable buildings, and other benefits, in particular economic and social benefits, appear to be key in increasing the production of such buildings. This paper reports on a study of the social and economic benefits of recyclable buildings. The study investigates current building materials and components and their ability to be dismantled and reused or recycled. A questionnaire and interviews with building designers were used to investigate the potential and the barriers to the use of recyclable materials and components as well as identifying methods to overcome the barriers and promote the technology. The paper considers how legislation and the provision of information can act as drivers for change and also suggests that to maximise the environmental benefits, buildings should in fact be designed to create a closed-loop material cycle. It concludes by pointing to a few new examples of buildings designed for reuse and recycling, which may suggest a move towards recyclable building in the construction industry.