Lovrenčić Butković, L; Mihić, M and Sigmund, Z (2023) Assessment methods for evaluating circular economy projects in construction: A review of available tools. International Journal of Construction Management, 23(5), pp. 877-886. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
Increasing interests of circular economy (CE) principles applied into construction projects has led to the development of assessment methods for their justification. The use of smaller quantities of construction materials, materials of higher quality and durability, and recycling of construction waste are all requirements of today's aspiration for a circular economy, but it is necessary to assess their environmental and economic sustainability. This paper presents a review of the current assessment tools of circular economy projects applied to the construction industry, such as LCA, LCC and CBA. The main objectives of this study were to provide a categorization of CE concepts applied in the construction industry (CI) and to review assessment methods used for evaluating CE projects in CI. This paper selected and reviewed 96 published papers and classified them into one of five aspects of CE highlighted in this study: waste management, reducing the impact on the environment, material & product design, building design, and other. The results showed that the use of assessment methods in CE projects has increased in the recent years as well that an LCA was by far the most used assessment method and waste management the most common aspect of CE in CI.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | assessment tools; circular economy; construction projects; cost-benefit analysis; life cycle analysis; life cycle costing; literature review |
| Index terms: | building design, recycling, durability, life cycle, circular economy, economic sustainability, construction material, construction industry, costing, construction waste, product design, literature review, life cycle analysis, construction project, waste management |
| Subjects: | building materials, architectural design, material degradation and durability, economic analysis, innovation and technology management, data analysis and analytics, value management, environmental impact, waste management, industry analysis, accounting and finance, production management, sustainable design |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Engineering Principles, Construction Materials, Research Practice, Project Management, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here