Reconsidering the assessment method of Environmental implications of Circular Economy in the Built Environment

Abstract

Are we capable of addressing environmental consequences on societal scale of circular solutions for the Built Environment, or merely capable of addressing these impacts applying a narrow product/corporation perspective? Considering evaluations and quantifications of environmental implications associated with implementations of Circular Economy (CE) design processes in the Built Environment, we postulate that these solutions necessitate decision-support tool-advancement, as CE does not allow for business-as-usual (BAU) assessments only. The BAU assessments of environmental impacts in the built environment, seem to paint a certain picture of the circularity paradigm. The question, however, is whether, by relying on simplified assessments, we end up barely making it to the finish line, very late, and risking loosing focus and creating sectoral burden-shifting. Application of LCA has created a paradoxical situation in the building industry. Gaining more experience in application of LCA, the industry steadily increases the complexity level of the questions to be addressed by LCA, thus increasing scale and complexity of systems to be assessed. Hence, currently, large systems such as CE models for the built environment, are often assessed in the same manner as we assess single buildings and building parts, despite that CE models have a much higher potential to generate feedback effects, so that the system under assessment, changes due to the entity/service being assessed. The main question is hence whether life cycle assessors operating within the built environment are aware of the challenges they are facing when answering questions regarding CE, and if these are addressed, assessment wise, in the /appropriate manner? Secondly, we need to consider how we facilitate assessment of systems at various physical and temporal scales in such a way that it becomes economically and technically feasible for the industry to address complex sustainability questions. This paper discusses possible future application potentials of LCA and propose consistent scenario definition, and thus looks into the question: how come, that we assess almost all systems in a ‘static’ manner, while being completely aware of that we live in a dynamic world? Are we, within LCA, addressing the need for improving the realism of the models that we derive in a sufficient and applicable manner?