Material stock-service and circularity prospects of buildings in Singapore

Abstract

Estimates of city-scale building material stocks and flows can contribute towards resource circularity opportunities. A bottom-up material flow analysis is carried out to track concrete, steel and embodied carbon in all Singapore buildings, from 2010 to 2020. Most inflows were directed to residential buildings, while the largest outflow originated from the demolition of private industrial buildings. In 2020, 472 million tonnes of concrete and steel stocks were embodied in buildings. Embodied carbon in public residential buildings is the highest (58.4 MtCO2e) among all building types. Resource efficiency of residential and industrial buildings, in terms of material use per service index, remained flat over the past decade, while that for commercial buildings rose. The cumulative outflows for the next 10 years can meet 17 % of projected material demand and deliver significant emissions savings. Efforts to promote material reuse and recycling can help deliver a low-carbon and circular built environment.