Disruptive technologies for a circular building industry

This paper focuses on the circular economy (CE), the building industry, and on the disruptive technological innovations that intersect in these arenas. It outlines how disruptive, often digital, technologies can potentially enable a CE in the building industry, primarily within the two most wasteful phases of the building cycle, the construction and demolition phases. This is achieved through an analysis of the potential of each technology type to enable a CE, using existing literature and desktop research on applied examples of the technological solutions in question. The paper aims to clarify the implementation scenarios of digital technologies for the circular building industry and are organised according to technology type, CE principle, building phase, material family, estimated TRL, and type of application.

Automated summary

This paper focuses on the intersection of the circular economy, the building industry, and disruptive technological innovations. It analyzes how disruptive, often digital, technologies can enable a circular economy in the building industry, particularly in the construction and demolition phases.