van Stijn, A and Gruis, V (2020) Towards a circular built environment: An integral design tool for circular building components. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 9(4), pp. 635-653. ISSN 2046-6099
Abstract
Purpose: The transition to a circular economy in the built environment is key to achieving a resource-effective society. The built environment can be made more circular by applying circular building components. The purpose of this paper is to present a design tool that can support industry in developing circular building components. Design/methodology/approach: The tool was developed and tested in five steps. In Step 1, the authors analysed existing circular design frameworks to identify gaps and develop requirements for the design tool (Step 2). In Step 3, the authors derived circular design parameters and options from existing frameworks. In Step 4, the authors combined and specified these to develop the “circular building components generator” (CBC-generator). In Step 5, the CBC-generator was applied in the development of an exemplary component: the circular kitchen and tested in a student workshop. Findings: The CBC-generator is a three-tiered design tool, consisting of a technical, industrial and business model generator. These generators are “parameter based”; they consist of a parameter-option matrix and design canvasses. Different variants for circular components can be synthesised by filling the canvasses through systematically “mixing and matching” design options. Research limitations/implications: The developed tool does not yet support establishing causal links between “parameter-options” and identification of the most circular design variant. Practical implications: The CBC-generator provides an important step to support the building industry in developing and implementing circular building components in the built environment. Originality/value: Whilst existing tools and frameworks are not comprehensive, nor specifically developed for designing circular building components, the CBC-generator successfully supports the integral design of circular building components. First, it provides all the design parameters which should be considered; second, it provides extensive design options per parameter; and third, it supports systematic synthesis of design options to a cohesive and comprehensive circular design.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building components; circular economy; circular kitchen; design tool |
| Index terms: | building component, methodology, society, design framework, option, built environment, business model, building industry, circular economy, design parameter, workshop |
| Subjects: | communities and social development, industry analysis, infrastructure and transport systems, design constraints, decision analysis, sustainable design, architectural elements, design practice, research methods, construction type, business |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Risk Management, Construction Technology, Sustainability, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Design Practice, Urban Studies |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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