Climate mitigation from circular and sharing economy in the buildings sector

Circular and sharing economy (C&SE) strategies in the building sector offer significant potential for climate mitigation but they remain underexploited. This editorial introduces nine papers of theSpecial Issue Climate Mitigation from Circular and Sharing Economy in the Buildings Sector that cover a range of related topics. Three of the papers focus on concrete, including modelling current and future quantities, and assessing the impacts of reuse and recycling. Four of the papers focus on waste recovery, including construction waste, wood waste for bio-concrete, urban mining (350 components) and building facades. The geographic scope of the studies covers Europe, North and South America. Together the papers provide further insights on the utilization of a series of C&SE strategies as climate mitigation solutions. Significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are demonstrated for utilising waste wood in bio-concrete, sharing offices, urban farming and recycling building facades. Recovery of C&DW is shown economically possible and environmentally beneficial. Urban mining could move beyond concrete and metals, with 350 components identified as being economically suitable for reuse or recycling. The papers highlight the need for accurate modelling of material and building stocks to enable effective planning. In addition, robust assessment methodologies such as life cycle assessment are necessary to capture the full benefits and potential trade-offs.

HARRIS Steve;  MATA Érika;  LUCENA Andre F.P.;  BERTOLDI Paolo; 

2023-02-28

ELSEVIER

JRC131964

0921-3449 (online),   

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344922005420,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC131964,   

10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106709 (online),