To transform buildings and the construction process in sustainable and circular way, different technologies can be applied. 

• Smart Buildings

Trough the implementation of electrical devices like sensor and the connection between them, smart buildings will help to reduce the environmental footprint of a building. Features like ventilation, cooling, heating, lighting, and the use of electrical devices in a building can be fitted to the use pattern of the inhabitant. This means for example, if no one is in the room, the room won’t be cooled or heated. Through the adaptation of this technologies, the energy consumption of houses can be reduced. Furthermore, buildings can be fitted with one-site power generation. Power can be generated through regenerative production processes and be stored in reservoir and then be used during peeks in demand to supplement the grid. The goal for this technology is to cover the buildings energy consumption through own production and storage, while maintain a high degree of comfortability. A building which can achieve this goal would be a zero-energy building. [9]

• Eco-friendly building materials

Another way to approach the problem is to use eco-friendly building material. So, to say material which have no negative impact on the environment. There are many different materials which do not harm the environment and can result in cost reduction for building and maintenance, no negative health impact and energy conservation. For example, bamboo which is already used to substitute plastic, asbestos, and steel for roofing. Bamboo mats have a high tolerance to extreme weather conditions, are low in cost and have rapid regenerative properties. [10]

• Raw material recovery

Another possibility which is currently develop at the Fraunhofer Institute for building physics is to separate the raw material from building materials like concrete. Concrete is one of the most sued substances on the planet. Every year, approximately 2 billion tons of concrete waste occur. Through electrodynamic fragmentation is possibly to break the concrete down into its base ingredients and make them reusable. The process can also separate the steel used for reinforced concrete to bring it back into the cycle. [11]

• Examples of innovative solutions (good practices)

The following part will look at some examples for circular buildings and building projects.

Venlo Municipal Office 

An example for a building designed and build on circular principles is the Venlo Municipal Office. The building finished construction in 2016 and is designed and equipped using the cradle-to-cradle principles.

This results in a decrease of 75% in power costs, and 10% savings on water.  In addition, a 2000m² green wall with more than 100 different plants has been installed.

The results in an improve of the air quality resulting in up to 30% less fine matter in the surrounding environment. Furthermore, it was possible to save over 400.000€ in material costs through circular sourcing. 

All the building materials like concrete, wood, steel, and aluminium are non-toxic and removable. This means, when a product reaches its end of useful life, the material can be easily recycled. [12]

Kerkrade super circular estate

Kerkrade is a region in the south-east of the Netherlands. In recent years, Kerkrade experienced a rapid decline of population. In the 1960 a lot of high-rise buildings were constructed to created affordable housing. Now most of these buildings are empty and no longer in use. The project “Kerkrade super circular estate” deconstructs those buildings and uses the materials to build affordable and sustainable public houses.

Until now there where 130 new public houses constructed, fully from reused materials. In addition, a parking garage was constructed, by deconstruction a parking garage from Amsterdam and rebuilding it at its new destination. This way the whole building was reused. Furthermore, the new buildings have a closed water circulation. Rainwater is collected on the roofs and other surfaces and stored in an underground reservoir. There the water is processes into drinking water and pumped back into the buildings. All inhabitants are connected and involved in the project and can contribute to the project’s success. [13]