URBAN MINING

Scepticism about the quality and reliability of reused or recycled materials from demolished buildings is one of the recurring reasons for not reducing construction and demolition waste through recycling and reuse. To counteract this, partners will deliver demonstrations in Copenhagen, Hamburg, Helsinki region and London to address pre-demolition audits, the demolition process and the reuse of materials or elements in new constructions.

 

There will be a total of eight actual pre-demolition audits, testing EU guidelines and other regional methodologies.

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To demonstrate potential, usability and positive environmental impacts, two cities will showcase the reuse of building elements, interior or exterior components such as; windows, wooden parts or bricks. And two other cities will showcase recycling of building materials such as concrete or gypsum in a new building.

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Partners will expand and automate the calculation of embodied energy and resource use in existing buildings by carrying out life-cycle assessments (LCAs) and cost analyses on demonstrations. This will include validating the recyclability of a new construction (and its components) and the integration of the reuse of components and recycled building materials into the Level(s) certification system.

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Based on analyses of CIRCuIT results and European and national regulations, guidelines, standards and certificates, partners will develop recommendations for procurement guidelines, funding schemes and fee structures to support the reuse and recycling of building materials and the reuse of building elements.