Making the building industry more sustainable
How can we accurately measure circularity potential? This is relatively well developed for consumer products, where making sustainable products is becoming the norm, but far less attention has been given to circularity potential assessment in the building industry.
Aiming to bridge this gap, IE School of Architecture and Design professor Matan Mayer proposes an assessment framework, published in the Journal of Physics, that quantifies recovery potential in buildings at both the product and assembly levels.
Using four evaluation criteria, the developed framework computes a Material Recovery Potential Index (MRPI) which ranks products and assemblies. The article demonstrates how the MRPI evaluation method could be used to produce assemblies with a higher potential of being reused or fully recycled.
Why this research matters: In a word: Sustainability. Single-family home construction is by far the largest and fastest growing sector in the U.S. building industry, yet this construction activity lacks any consideration of future end-of-use waste generation.
Access the journal article in full here.
Citation: Matan Mayer 2021 J. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 2042 012170