Environmental design guidelines for circular building components based on LCA and MFA: Lessons from the circular kitchen and renovation façade

• Published in: Journal of cleaner production Vol. 357; p. 131375
• Main Authors: van Stijn, A., Eberhardt, L.C.M., Wouterszoon Jansen, B., Meijer, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 10.07.2022
• Subjects: Building components; CE; Circular economy; Design guidelines; LCA; Life cycle assessment; Material flow analysis; MFA; Multi-cycle; Life cycle assessment; CE; Circular economy; Design guidelines; Multi-cycle; MFA; Material flow analysis; LCA; Building components
• ISSN: 0959-6526; 1879-1786
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131375

The transition towards a Circular Economy (CE) in the built environment is vital to reduce environmental impacts, resource consumption and waste generation. The built environment can be made circular by replacing building components with more circular ones. There are many circular design options for building components and knowledge about which options perform better – from an environmental perspective – is limited. Existing guidelines focussed on single components, single circular design options, applied different assessment methods and provide conflicting guidelines. Therefore, in this article, we develop environmental design guidelines by comparing multiple circular design options for two building components: a kitchen (short service life) and renovation façade (medium service life). First, we synthesize design variants based on distinct circular pathways, such as renewable-, non-virgin material use, and modularity for reuse. Second, we compare their environmental performance to a ‘business-as-usual’ variant through Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and a multi-cycle Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) including extensive sensitivity analysis on circular parameters. Analysing the 78 LCAs and MFAs, we derive 8 lessons learned on the environmental design of circular building components. We compare our findings to existing guidelines, including those for circular building structures (long service life). Amongst other lessons, we found components with a short service life benefit more from prioritizing circular design options to slow and close future cycles, whilst components with a longer service life benefit more from reducing resources and slowing loops on site. However, applying circular design options does not always result in a better environmental performance. Tipping-points were identified based on the number of use cycles, lifespans and the assessment methods applied. •Concept designs for a circular kitchen and renovation façade are presented.•Environmental design guidelines for circular building components are derived from 78 LCAs and MFAs.•Components with a short service life benefit from prioritizing slowing and closing future cycles, and components with a longer service life from narrowing and slowing cycles on site.•Applying circular design options does not always result in a better environmental performance.•Applied assessment methods, assumptions and temporal uncertainties influence the ranking of circular design options.