Circular Economy for Buildings and the Standards Developing Across Europe

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Circular Economy for Buildings and the Standards Developing Across Europe

Simon Guy • Sep 10, 2024

Evolving policies and standards relating to a more circular built environment is a fast-moving feast, even over the Summer months. So, it seems like an opportune moment to flag up a few developments that might have gone unnoticed in la grande rentrée. Gilli Hobbs of Reusefully writes.

In terms of standards, the European standards committee CEN TC/350 SC1 (Circular Economy in Construction) is a sub-committee of CEN TC 350 Sustainability of Construction Works. The overall vision SC 1 is to provide the construction sector with a uniform approach that will facilitate and strengthen the construction industry’s transition to a more sustainable, circular economy, such as developing a common language and harmonisation that will contribute to scalability through standards focusing on use and reuse of materials.

This Autumn sees the first meetings of new working groups covering aspects of circular data (including building and product/material passports), circularity assessment (including environmental performance and circularity indicators), reuse of construction products and materials, and designing for circularity (including reversibility, adaptability and reused content). A fifth working group will be established later in the year focused upon pre-demolition and pre-redevelopment audits.

Most British Standards are developed at an international level, either through organisations that work globally (e.g. ISO) or just within Europe (e.g. CEN). BSI is closely involved with these organisations and its technical committees can nominate members to participate in the development of international standards. BSI is obliged to adopt all European standards (ENs) and to withdraw any existing British Standards that conflict with them. It is also possible to develop British Standards entirely within the UK, where not covered by international standardisation.

EU Construction & Demolition Waste Management Protocol

I chair B/558/1 which is the BSI mirror committee to CEN TC350 SC1 Circular Economy in Construction and experts from this committee have been appointed to represent the UK on each of the existing and newly formed working groups. Standards work is mainly on a voluntary basis so this is only possible though the dedication of many individuals and organisations who donate valuable time to input their knowledge and help gain consensus.

A good example of where these groups can also input directly into policy development is the newly revised EU Construction & Demolition Waste Management Protocol including guidelines for pre-demolition and pre-renovation audits of construction works which was published last month. Various rounds of consultation enabled this update. B558/1 Circular Economy in Construction committee members contributed to this revision and it now contains guidance and templates for pre-demolition and pre-refurbishment audits. The previous guidance is referenced in EU Level (s), EU Taxonomy for demolition activities and many other policy documents, such as EU Circular Economy Action Plan 2020. These will be updated with references to the revised protocol in due course.

If you want to be kept up to date with the circular construction standards developing across the UK and Europe, sign up to our newsletter here, or contact us for more information.

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Circularity and Reuse in London: 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields – Event Summary

by Simon Guy • 16 Jul, 2024

London Climate Action Week is one of the world’s largest independent climate change events. Its goal is to provide a forum to promote collaboration between businesses, NGOs and civil society on a global platform to study and promote solutions to climate change for London and beyond. This year, Reusefully hosted a webinar on June 25th to discuss circularity and reuse – focusing on the adaptive reuse and circularity that is at the heart of the redevelopment underway at 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields.

What Did the Romans Ever Do for Circularity and Reuse?

by Simon Guy • 27 Jun, 2024

They gave us roads, sanitation systems, much of the basis of the language we speak, and how we calculate distances and numbers. They pioneered underfloor heating systems and introduced the idea of public baths, but to paraphrase the famous Monty Python sketch, what did the Romans ever do for circularity and reuse? The Roman Empire at its peak spanned three continents, stretching from Egypt in the south east to Roman Britain and Hadrian’s Wall in the north west. They created new forms of architectural design, constructing aqueducts, expansive villas and amphitheatres. They undertook complex and sophisticated civil engineering projects, designed to project and maintain the power of the Roman military and celebrate the glory of Rome. Roman builders utilised naturally occurring and locally available materials, chiefly stone, timber and marble. They also developed techniques for baking bricks and making some of the first concretes. They made long lasting mortars for brickwork and stone using quicklime, and it is a testament to Roman builders that we can still see the remains of Roman buildings and structures right across the expanse of the territories they conquered. There is plenty of Roman concrete surviving today, even in challenging environments. Volcanic dusts, called pozzolana, made the concrete more resistant to salt water than modern-day concrete. Examples include the ruins at Empúries in Catalonia , with further evidence of circularity in the harvesting of materials from the Greek settlement dating from 500 BC. As the photos below testify, concrete, bricks and even ceramic pipework can last for thousands of years…

Circularity and Reuse in London: 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields

by Simon Guy • 17 May, 2024

For London Climate Action Week this year we are focusing on the redevelopment of 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and the circularity and reuse ambitions that are at its heart. The building is formerly the home of the Royal College Surgeons, built shortly after the end of World War II, and is prominently located on the south side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields. It will become the Firoz Lalji Global Hub, which will be the final set-piece addition to the London School of Economics’ (LSE) central London campus. The building’s redevelopment will include conference facilities, academic and teaching spaces, digital labs, and a 300-seat theatre. The design embraces the ethos of the new centre through a strategy of adaptive re-use that will see large parts of the existing structure retained helping make it LSE’s first net zero carbon building. Our webinar on Tuesday 25th June will explore how the project team have addressed circularity and reuse throughout the project, from initial concept and design, through to the implementation of reuse. It will show how the client and project team have placed collaboration and innovation at the forefront, and discuss the project within the wider trends of circularity and reuse in London, driven by planning, client and stakeholder needs. You will hear from Reusefully’s Katherine Adams and Ben Cartwright , who will explore how the initial pre-demolition audit undertaken by Reusefully helped the team understand reuse opportunities and challenges, and how items were identified for reuse. This will also show how the audit fed through to the tracking and tracing of demolition materials. We’re delighted to be joined by Laura Burley of David Chipperfield Architects and Nastasia Bassil of BDP , who will discuss the design concept and the iterative process of working together. This will show the benefits of developing a closely collaborative relationship to ensure an approach and commitment to circularity within the project. The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A. You can register for the event (registration is free) here . The webinar will be held via Zoom from 11.00am-12.30pm, and a link will be sent to registered delegates 24/48hrs before the event.