Box 2 - The importance of an integrated approach

This paper considers the performance characteristics of a building at its completion. Although this
determines many aspects of its circularity, it presents a snapshot of the circular state at a certain moment in
time within a specific geographic scope. In order to ensure a fully integrated approach to the development
of circular buildings, it is crucial to consider interactions with four closely related processes:

• Construction of the building

• Use phase of the building
• End-of-life phase of the building
• Development of the area which surrounds the building

The actual construction process is impacted by the design and intended performance of the building. The
choice for certain more circular materials can result in an increase or decrease in the construction costs, time,
the amount of required energy and water, or the amount of construction waste that is produced during the
construction process. Moreover, when inadequate methods are used during the construction of a perfectly
circular design, such as applying certain types of glue or paint, then the resulting building won’t live up to its
circular performance potential.

The use phase is where the circular performance of a building is determined to a large extent through
the resource flows it consumes and produces and how it preserves the state of the resources that are
embedded in its stock. Not all of these resource stocks and flows can be fully influenced by the design of the
building at its completion. User-related influences have a large effect on resource flows such as energy use
for appliances, water use and the furniture that is bought and replaced. Within the more building-related
influences, the renovation cycles in a building should ideally be matched to the functional state of the
components and materials to prevent the loss of circular potential.

At the end of the functional lifetime the building will release (part of) the material stock that it has built up
and preserved over its lifetime as material flows. It is crucial in this fase that these materials, components and
elements are prepared for reuse at their highest quality. Next to meeting the initial precondition for eventual
reuse, such as design for disassembly, use of renewable materials and securing availability of material
information, it is equally important that the methods used at the end of the functional life should be geared
to actually disassembly rather than turning the material stock into waste, which is the case for a large part of
the current demolition practices.

A building is just a small part of the larger urban metabolism in which resource flows are exchanged,
converted and fixed. This spatial dimension determines at what scale different resource cycles can most
efficiently be closed. Energy cycles can for example often be closed on a building level, while water
and nutiënt flows typically require a larger scale for recovery. The choice for the most efficient degree of
decentralisation influences the way we should develop our buildings to benefit from the potential synergies
between building and area.

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