Mollaei, A; Bachmann, C and Haas, C (2025) Evaluating the potential impact of building design strategies on material recovery during deconstruction. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 151(6): 04025065, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Construction accounts for 11% of embodied carbon and generates around half of the solid waste in our economy. Recovering materials from deconstructed buildings at the end of their life cycles can reduce embodied carbon and waste over the long term. A methodology to evaluate the impact of common circular design and construction strategies on the future recovery potential from buildings is proposed in this paper. Four main strategies were identified and modeled using an example of a newly constructed modular building in Ontario to validate the evaluation methodology. Quantitative estimates are made of the impact of the strategies on future component recovery using a decision-support optimization tool. The tool helps select optimal end-of-life options for each building component, thereby resulting in maximum recovery rates and projected value from materials resale. Application of the methodology indicates that, among the diverse strategy outcomes observed, monomaterial construction has the highest end-of-life recovery potential and the lowest environmental impact. Further, the results show variability in end-of-life process costs among strategies for achieving equivalent recovery rates. Coupling such estimates with conventional construction cost and embodied energy estimates may become an important consideration during the initial design and construction phases. Construction stakeholders can leverage similar assessments to effectively understand the impact of applying alternative strategies to any building design. This methodology has the potential for broader application to emerging circular building design and construction strategies.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | building information modeling; buildings; construction; deconstruction; demolition; embodied carbon; material recovery; optimization; policy; urban mining |
| Index terms: | coupling, construction cost, material recovery, life cycle, modular building, building information modelling, building design, recovery, embodied energy, variability, option, estimate, design and construction, mining, strategy, embodied carbon, building component, environmental impact, methodology |
| Subjects: | environmental impact, contractual arrangements, architectural design, operations management, sustainable design, architectural elements, research methods, building construction, value management, energy systems, financial and cost management, management, systems engineering, statistical analysis, information systems, geotechnical engineering, decision analysis |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Project Management, Risk Management, Sustainability, Procurement, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Research Practice, Construction Technology, Digital Applications, Design Practice |
| 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