Event Series: Full Circle to Reuse
05.11.2021
How do we promote the reuse of existing building stock and reclaimed construction materials to enable a circular economy and support a whole-life carbon approach in the built environment?
Following on from the launch of our Full Circle to Reuse guide, we ran a three-part series exploring the practical guidance for assessing the reuse potential of building materials, designing for deconstruction and establishing a circular economy for the construction industry.
The 12-step guide, which is mapped against the RIBA Plan of Work 2020, sets out an actionable framework to help architects, developers, construction, contractor and demolition firms take steps to implement reuse on their schemes.
The sessions were led by Penny Gowler, Director and Head of Sustainability.
Business as Usual
In the first session, we break down the issues with how construction materials are currently specified, sourced, used and reclaimed; and discuss the ways in which our thinking needs to change when it comes to designing for material reuse.
Barriers to Change
The second session focuses on the key barriers to reuse; legal, economic, technological, and how we can address them in order to develop a second-hand materials market for the construction industry.
Materials
The final of our three sessions looks in more detail at the deconstruction process and ways of evaluating the reuse potential of steel, timber, masonry, and concrete elements in existing buildings.