Architecture towards "zero waste". Applying Circular Economy principles to construction design

Recent studies showed that global consumption of materials such as biomass, fossil fuels, metals and minerals is expected to double in the next forty years, while annual waste generation is estimated to increase by 70% by 2050. Building sector, in particular, is responsible for more than one-third of global resource consumption, about 11% of global energy related CO2 emissions and up to 40% of urban waste due to construction and demolition process. For these reasons traditional productive process and linear consume models, that still characterized many fields of our system, are no longer sustainable into the future; construction sector itself is marked by resource-hungry models, which concern processes of raw resources extraction, use and discharge of materials at the buildings end of lives. Transition from linear scheme economy toward circular models is the only possible answer to fight climate change, pollution, waste production and any other issues that currently affect our system: if we could build an economy that would use things rather than use them up, we could build a future that could work in the long term. The process affects every aspect of our system and have an impressive field of application in architecture and construction design, from different points of view. Materials reuse and recycle is one of those. A key conceptual shift toward circular transition is to start thinking of buildings not just for their primary purpose, considering them as mere infrastructures made to last as long as possible withstanding natural deterioration, but also as a method of storing thousands of tons of valuable products and materials, that can be traded and reused at the end of structure’s life, rather than just being discarded. According to this point of view, buildings can be no longer considered as mere resources’ consumers and waste producers, yet they become stocks for the construction of new buildings, ensuring longer life to the materials they’re made of. The thesis aims to investigate the possibilities of circular economy applications to architectural field, focusing on demolishment practices and construction waste generation, investigating scale up reuse and recycling possibilities. The work has been conducted through two different but related approaches: a theoretical process of research and a practical application of design project. The first part is based on a broad action of study and investigation of different aspects of the theme, in particular of CDW generation and current models of management compared to innovative practices of waste reduction, material reuse and recycle. Researches have been conducted both at a global scale, since waste generation represents an environmental issue that involves any building area of the planet and circular economy principles need to be adopted worldwide, and secondly focusing on the specific European background and Italian legislative framework. This process, characterized by documents, articles reviews and case studies detection, aims to define a solid background of surveys, fundamental for the development of the second part of the work, that is the practical demonstration of the efficiency of applying circular approach to construction sector and building design. The second part of the thesis involves the study of an existing building focusing on the inventory of its components and materials and their management, in order to reuse or recycle them for the construction of a new building on the same site. The final purpose of this approach is to show and demonstrate the opportunities related to CDW management and to define an efficient and repeatable method.