Rose, Colin (2019) Systems for reuse, repurposing and upcycling of existing building components. PhD thesis, University College London, UK.
Abstract
The construction industry uses natural resources intensively, and causes significant carbon emissions in processing resources to supply useful materials and components. Demolition generates considerable physical waste, accompanied by wastage of the impacts embodied in existing building components. This project explores the failure to capitalise on these embodied impacts, and adopts a mixed methods approach to develop interventions and identify potential mechanisms for change. The main contributions of the thesis are: Firstly, an exploration of the notion of 'component management'. This challenges the assumption that components removed from the building stock must either be: a) directly reused, which can often be impractical, and is rarely given due attention, or b) sent to waste management, which wastes embodied impacts. Instead, the role and implementation of repurposing and upcycling are described, alongside a procedure for comprehensively checking the practicality of direct reuse; Secondly, the development of an urban-level 'triage': a process to separate out components for reuse, repurposing and upcycling, from those for which downcycling or energy recovery are the best option. Key to the triage is an information system; the thesis reviews current means of understanding existing buildings as material banks and presents a new approach to gathering this information; Thirdly, a proposal for an innovative manufacturing enterprise using secondary timber in a new product: cross-laminated secondary timber. This provides an exemplar case study of the potential for industrial-scale upcycling. A proof of concept study is presented, with a preliminary examination of technical feasibility and leading the way for additional investigation of socio-economic and environmental sustainability, and, ideally, future pilot- and commercial-scale implementation. The implications of this product case study are synthesised with the other parts of the thesis in a discussion of areas for future research, policy and practical action to evolve a more nuanced and sustainable management of existing building components.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Stegemann, J and Duffour, P |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building stock; case study; commercial; demolition; information system; manufacturing; materials; natural resources; policy; reuse; sustainability; timber; waste management |
| Index terms: | building stock, proposal, information system, building component, environmental sustainability, exploration, waste management, sustainable management, natural resource, recovery, case study, carbon emission, mixed method, construction industry, implementation, option, investigation |
| Subjects: | waste management, climate science, contractual arrangements, project planning, operations management, environmental resource management, health safety and environment, architectural elements, asset management, data collection methods, industry analysis, information systems, decision analysis |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Business Strategy, Digital Applications, Design Practice, Sustainability, Procurement, Risk Management, Project Management, Health and Safety |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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