Integrated decision support for embodied impact assessment of circular and bio-based building components

Abstract

The construction industry is accounted for one third of all waste generation in the European Union (EU) countries. The Interreg Circular Bio-Based Construction Industry (CBCI) project was conceived to explore the circular principles and bio-based materials for enhancing sustainability in construction industry. This study provides a new approach for decision support via a case study on early design phase of a demo terraced single family house; the living lab (LL) located in Ghent (Belgium). The decision support utilizes circularity tools and life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. For this purpose, nine preliminary designs (PD) for the building envelope were assessed in a comparative study, which consists of three basic construction methods: masonry, light-weight steel and wood framing construction supplemented with bio-based materials. Environmental impact assessment was supported with the circularity tools focusing on the reuse and recyclability potential in the end-of-life (EoL) scenarios. The integration of LCA and circularity tools displayed that bio-based design PDs have an increased performance due to the avoided environmental impact through reuse and recycling in the EoL scenarios. As a result, a novel approach that integrates circularity calculations with LCA methodology was provided to improve long-term impact analysis on circular buildings with more precision in end-of-life scenario development.