Awards
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> RECLAIMED
Keywords
Design for disassembly, Reuse, Digitisation, Service life, Connections
Project Duration
October 2024 – January 2026
Initiated by
R. Hartwell
Research Team
R. Hartwell, L.M. Mueller, M. Turrin, M.Overend
Collaborators
Scheldebouw / Permasteelisa, Autodesk
About
The Netherlands recycles 85% of its construction waste but there is no clear distinction on the type of recycling. The recovery of materials for open-loop recycling where materials are reprocessed into less functional secondary applications yields marginal environmental benefits. Significant reductions in the net environmental impact of the Dutch construction sector relies on facilitating direct reuse and closed-loop recycling, where materials are directly redeployed for an alternative application or reprocessed back to their original function. Practices in reuse and closed-loop recycling are largely under-exploited. The development and widescale uptake of new assessment methods and tools is essential for guiding decision-making in design for disassembly (DfD) strategies and identifying high-value material recovery strategies at the end-of-life stage.
Project RECLAIMED brings together industry and academia to develop an evidence-based quantitative design tool that will assess the influence of key design and specification decisions on resource use across multiple building life-cycles by measuring the reclamation potential (RP). The reclamation potential is a new method and metric which evaluates the avoided environmental impact in alternative reuse and recycling scenarios based on the initial design of building systems. The RP tool will indicate “hotspot” materials and interfaces that lead to reduced reclamation potential thus empowering designers with the knowledge to adapt and improve the reclamation potential of building systems. The tool will be developed through an iterative process and development stage steered by interactive workshops with end-users (architects, clients/developers, engineering consultants, and product manufacturers).
Funded by
TKI Bouw en Techniek, Autodesk, Scheldebouw
Publications
Hartwell, R. & Overend, M. Reclamation potential in the built environment: A method and metric for assessing environmental benefits beyond first use. Building and Environment (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111866
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