Easy and solid information exchange constitutes an important part in BIM-based projects. To conduct reliable simulations and optimizations, information about products, such as luminaries, windows, doors, etc., need to be provided by the manufacturing industries to the building designers at the early design stage. Several studies and ongoing researches presented the Semantic Web (SW) and Linked Data (LD) technologies as an interoperable and flexible approach for providing product information from the manufacturers during the design and construction stage as well as gathering consumers data to the manufacturers during the operation stage. A systematic literature review has been conducted to investigate benefits and limitations of using the SW and LD technologies for developing product data templates for information exchanges between the building and product manufacturing industries in comparison with the conventional approach of information exchanges using the openBIM standards. Results show that SW and LD could apport considerable benefits to the information exchange in the building sector. Moreover, SW and LD technologies enable the sharing of products' information from manufacturers to designers who can search product information, compare different products and take informed design decisions during the very beginning of the design process.

The construction industry is responsible for 32% of the world’s consumption of natural resources, causing 850 million tons of construction waste in the European Union alone. The construction and manufacturing industries mostly apply a linear economy model, where resources are used once and then disposed of. As a response, the concept of a circular economy (CE) was introduced with the aim of keeping materials within a closed loop and regaining their value in the end-of-life phase. This paper aims to investigate the different CE strategies in the construction industry and the related manufacturing industry and how these strategies can be supported by digital technology. The 11Rs framework has been used as a reference within the concept of CE through a scoping literature review, in which 117 articles were reviewed. The analysis focused on the frequency of the various Rs in papers, as well as their applications and possible implementation. Seven interviews were conducted with Swedish experts to obtain industry perspectives and thereby specify a potential research gap related to CE. According to the study, existing research for the application of CE by construction companies has not been fully explored. There is also a lack of knowledge about CE and its benefits, as well as poor collaboration between different stakeholders, both in information sharing and processes. Findings suggest that all stakeholders in the industries need to make efforts to change their strategies if the transition to CE is to occur.

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