Integrated decision support for embodied impact assessment of circular and bio-based building components

The construction industry is accounted for one third of all waste generation in the European Union (EU) countries. The Interreg Circular Bio-Based Construction Industry (CBCI) project was conceived to explore the circular principles and bio-based materials for enhancing sustainability in construction industry. This study provides a new approach for decision support via a case study on early design phase of a demo terraced single family house; the living lab (LL) located in Ghent (Belgium). The decision support utilizes circularity tools and life cycle assessment (LCA) meth-odology. For this purpose, nine preliminary designs (PD) for the building envelope were assessed in a comparative study, which consists of three basic construction methods: masonry, light-weight steel and wood framing construction supplemented with bio-based materials. Environmental impact assessment was supported with the circularity tools focusing on the reuse and recyclability potential in the end-of-life (EoL) scenarios. The integration of LCA and circularity tools displayed that bio-based design PDs have an increased performance due to the avoided environmental impact through reuse and recycling in the EoL scenarios. As a result, a novel approach that in-tegrates circularity calculations with LCA methodology was provided to improve long-term impact analysis on circular buildings with more precision in end-of-life scenario development.

Automated summary

The study presents a new approach for decision support in the early design phase of a construction project by utilizing circularity tools and life cycle assessment methodology. Results show that bio-based designs have improved performance due to their reduced environmental impact through reuse and recycling.