The built environment is the largest consumer of energy and resources as well as the biggest producer of emissions and waste. Buildings and construction account for about 50% of resource extraction, 39% of carbon dioxide emissions, and 40% of solid waste production globally (Architecture 2030. 2020. “The Carbon Issue.”
Architect, January 2020).
To overcome the social, economic, and environmental problems of this linear system, the concept of a circular economy is “a systemic approach to economic development” that is “restorative and regenerative by design and aims to keep assets, components, and materials at their highest utility and value at all times” (Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 2015. “Towards the Circular Economy.” London, UK: Ellen MacArthur Foundation).
The closing of production and consumption loops offers the possibility to end the loss of valuable finite resources, reduce dependencies on volatile global resource markets, prevent greenhouse gas emissions, and support new business models and green job opportunities. In this event, Professor Felix Heisel will discuss implications for the design and construction process, the supply and value chains within the construction industry, and data generation and management, all of which are focus areas of the research at the Cornell Circular Construction Lab.
RESOURCES / NEXT STEPS
CIRCULAR CONSTRUCTION LAB”Building Better - Less - Different: Circular Construction and Circular Economy”FELIX’S TOOLCR0WDSTRUCTURAL REUSE PAPER
