The Importance of Data Traceability in Material Circularity
A recent article published in the Journal of Building Engineering examined the barriers to building material circularity and proposed strategies to address them. The study identified eight key themes for achieving material circularity, with design, informational, and technological factors emerging as the most significant.
Prerequisites for Material Circularity
Reclaiming building materials has the potential to significantly reduce the construction industry’s energy consumption, resource depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste generation. However, fully realizing these benefits depends on the use of building materials designed with circular principles.
Materials designed for circularity are essential for achieving circular construction. By leveraging innovative production methods, techniques, and architectural planning, these materials are created to be recyclable, reusable, durable, biodegradable, and adaptable. They also incorporate high recycled content, maintainability, and flexibility, enabling efficient recycling, reuse, refurbishment, or natural decomposition.
Transitioning to material circularity also requires adopting circular economy strategies. Key approaches include designing for deconstruction and easy disassembly, using modular and standardized components, substituting materials, reducing material use, and embracing product stewardship throughout the lifecycle of building components.
Economic feasibility and incentives are critical but often neglected prerequisites for circularity. Governments should encourage the use of secondary materials by providing financial incentives, reducing costs compared to new materials, and establishing robust international standards to address concerns about the quality and performance of recycled materials.
Finally, comprehensive material data, including detailed usage histories, is vital for informed decision-making at the end-of-life stage. This data supports the establishment of standards, accurate assessment of secondary materials, implementation of legal frameworks, and identification of recyclability, reusability, and efficient deconstruction or disassembly processes.
Obstacles to Material Circularity
The demand for circular construction methods faces significant challenges throughout the supply chain, hindering progress toward material circularity. Design-related issues such as complex disassembly, inefficient demolition, poor material recovery, and short material lifespans make it difficult to deconstruct buildings effectively at the end of their lifecycle. As a result, materials are often sent directly to landfills.
Landfill dumping reduces the availability of secondary materials for reuse in new construction. At the same time, limited government support for circular methods leaves stakeholders to bear the costs, making secondary materials more expensive than new ones. This cost disparity, along with the lack of incentives, presents a major economic barrier to material reclamation.
The absence of comprehensive material data and established standards for secondary materials further limits their use. Without clear guidelines, concerns about quality and performance deter end users and slow the development of a structured market. Additionally, insufficient awareness and education programs contribute to social and behavioral resistance, adding another layer of complexity to achieving material circularity.
The Role of Data Traceability
Comprehensive material data—covering properties, origin, environmental impact, design, maintenance, lifespan, circularity potential, and recycling or demolition methods—is crucial for making informed decisions aligned with circular principles. This data also plays a key role in addressing barriers to material reclamation.
Despite its importance, documenting, tracing, and sharing material data is challenging due to the fragmented nature of supply chains and the long timelines of construction projects. Digitalization offers a promising solution, helping to overcome issues with data accessibility and traceability in the construction sector.
Digital tools like building information modeling (BIM), material passports, IoT, digital twins, blockchain, and artificial intelligence are increasingly being adopted to enhance material lifecycle management and promote circularity. By utilizing cyber-physical data, these tools enable tracking, inspection, and sharing of reusable materials more effectively.
However, many existing digital platforms cannot provide real-time insights into reclaimable materials, such as their condition, location, suitability, performance, and availability. To fully enable material circularity, digital solutions must prioritize secure, transparent, and accurate data sharing while fostering trust, collaboration, and integration among stakeholders.
Conclusion and Future Prospects
The researchers conducted a systematic literature review to identify key obstacles to material circularity in the construction industry and proposed actionable solutions. Among these obstacles, the lack of comprehensive material data stands out as a significant barrier to informed decision-making, recycling, and reuse of building materials.
To tackle this issue, the study emphasized the importance of ensuring robust data accessibility and traceability across the supply chain. Comprehensive material data was shown to play a pivotal role in establishing industry standards, supporting legal frameworks, and fostering a structured secondary market for reclaimed materials. It also facilitated the alignment of building designs with material specifications, boosted consumer confidence in reclaimed materials, and helped to drive innovation in sustainable material production.
The study concluded that the adoption of digital technologies is essential for overcoming these barriers. These technologies enable material data traceability, providing the construction industry with the tools needed to accelerate its shift toward a circular economy.
Journal Reference
Ranasinghe, N., Domingo, N., & Kahandawa, R. (2024). Enhancing building material circularity: A systematic review on prerequisites, obstacles and the critical role of data traceability. Journal of Building Engineering, 111136. DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2024.111136, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352710224027049
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