A review of the implementation of R-imperatives in circular construction

Abstract

Worldwide, the construction industry has the potential to implement circular economy (CE) principles and transform its practices to reduce the environmental impact of production and use of materials. Thus, numerous studies analysed CE implementations in the construction industry. This work expands the current research by providing insights in the current state of the distribution of R-imperative in articles about circular construction. These represent a series of strategies for the practical implementation of CE principles over the whole lifecycle of a product and range from reuse (R0) to recover (R9). This review paper aims to comprehensively review the current CE research, with a focus on the 9R framework by using systematic literature research. The R-imperatives are employed to analyse which imperatives are emphasized in existing research and at which specific stages in the lifecycle of buildings, building elements, and materials CE measures are applied. The review considers a wide range of literature resulting in analysing 182 articles. To clarify the approaches within the construction industry that align with the 9R strategies, a categorisation system is proposed. As a result, the review highlights the primary focus of circular construction research which has been found to be predominantly on recycling, followed by rethink and reuse. Little evidence of representation of the R-imperatives refuse, reduce, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose and recover was found in the reviewed literature. However, opportunities exist to reduce material demand and carbon footprint through the integration of sufficiency and material efficiency in construction, as suggested by several studies. Consequently, further attention could be directed towards the other R-imperatives, with a particular focus on extending the lifespan of buildings and materials through reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture and repurpose. The findings state that the practical implementation of CE in construction can be facilitated by the use of standardised material passports, stakeholder integration and building information modelling.