Achieving Circularity in the Built Environment
Written by May Al-Karooni, CEO and Founder
I am writing this blog based on our virtual panel discussion on how to achieve circularity within the built environment that we hosted last week during Circular Economy Week London. In the blogs, I will cover the draft circular economy statement, the challenges experienced with implementing CE and the key takeaways and examples of how to get it right.
Our webinar was based on the draft circular economy statement that has been recently released by the London Mayor, and we had Doug Simpson, the primary author on the call with us. The CE statement was written with the aim of being easily accessible to all within the construction sector and practical to implement. The importance of needing this document was highlighted by our poll outcome of 72% of the audience saying that lack of understanding and support was one of the main barriers to implementing CE.
Three years ago, London committed to work towards becoming leaders in the circular economy space. Currently, the construction sector is one of the largest producers of waste and user of raw materials. For this sector to move towards being more circular, the GLA recognised that it needed to address and engage all aspects of the built life cycle particularly the design phase, ensure CE is incorporated from the start. It is aligned with the draft London Plan Policy S17 and explains how to prepare a Circular Economy Statement, as well as emphasising the importance of buildings being designed in a way that is flexible, modular and lasts; we need to design beyond the first point of use and build up a residual asset base.
The statement is centred around three core principles:
- Conserving resources, increasing resource efficiency and sourcing sustainably
- Designing to eliminate waste (and for ease of maintenance), design for flexibility and modularity
- Managing waste sustainably and at the highest value
This is definitely not a guide that is purely focussed on the theory or another waste policy. Instead, it offers practical recommendations that allow for a smoother planning process, integrating existing tools, promoting reuse and repair as well as sourcing materials sustainably and not relying on purely using virgin material.
One of the principles encourages engaging with the design teams at the start of projects. This allows for better adoption, planning and reduction of waste. In the session, we discussed challenges such as lack of collaboration, education, transparency, standardised metrics and data as well as it’s benefits which include cost saving on materials and waste disposal, quicker planning process approval and BREEAM and LEED points.
I will be discussing these in more detail in my next blog.
Let me know what your main challenges are to adopting circular economy approaches.
The draft CE statement can be downloaded here.
