Supporting circularity in construction with performance-based deconstruction

Abstract

Growing needs for sustainable consumption and production of resources call for controlling substantial amounts of waste in the construction sector. Planned dismantling of structures (i.e., deconstruction) maximizes the utilization of resources and enables Circularity in Construction (CiC). Since there is a lack of comprehensive guidance for deconstruction, this paper aims to develop a conceptual model that extracts resources from the built environment through targeted deconstruction and helps to reuse them in new construction. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed to identify the stakeholders' needs and requirements; factors that strongly affect deconstruction processes; technologies to be adopted; and the guidelines to follow. The quantitative study included Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental analysis, Co-occurrence Network analysis, and interaction analysis. The results unveiled 37 unified barriers to CiC across six categories; 42 deconstruction-related factors among four categories: Feasibility, processes, profitability, and environmental impact; and 32 unique synergies between deconstruction-related factors and Construction 4.0 technologies. The proposed model formalizes the link between existing facilities' resources and new construction projects for efficient decision-making in the planning and execution of deconstruction. The novelty of this model lies in considering people, processes, technology, and guidelines at every step to ensure the desired change.