Mass timber in the circular economy: paradigm in practice?

Campbell, Adrian

doi:10.1680/jensu.17.00069

Cited by 34 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Three approaches have been highlighted and addressed according to the target audience, which are adaptability and service-life extension, waste reduction, and durability. The latter aspect has also been substantiated by several studies as a crucial factor by stressing the need for high-quality and durable materials to transition towards a circular built environment [27][28][29][30][31].These principles can be translated into practice as a better and wiser use of construction materials that are sustainably sourced or recovered, implementing collaboration across the built environment's value chain, and planning the end-of-life scenario of buildings and materials. [22]).…”

Section: Ce Principles In the Built Environmentmentioning

confidence: 95%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Selection Criteria for Building Materials and Components in Line with the Circular Economy Principles in the Built Environment—A Review of Current Trends

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A growing concern is given to the environmental impacts caused by the construction industry. Waste generation, resource consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions are the main drawbacks of the rapid urbanization that the world is witnessing. As a response to these pressing issues, policymakers and academia are exploring the concept of Circular Economy (CE) to manage resources better and achieve resource efficiency while eliminating waste. One of the strategies to implement CE in the built environment is to select the appropriate building materials and components from the early stages to carry out the concept’s principles along the value chain and create a closed-loop system. Therefore, this study aims at identifying selection criteria for building elements according to CE principles through a review of the latest research. Results have shown that little has been concretely achieved in terms of a paradigm shift to CE since the main focus of the literature is still the use of recycled products and the recyclability of building materials and components at their end-of-life. Although the present study is solely focused on the technical aspect of building materials and components, it outlines current adopted criteria to bring about a circular built environment and highlights the need for a more innovative approach to attain higher circularity levels.

show abstract

Section: Ce Principles In the Built Environmentmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The resistance of materials and components to deterioration over time while meeting the minimal requirements [6,[27][28][29][30]49,78,89,90,99,107,112,113,130,137,156,169] 17…”

Section: Durabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Selection Criteria for Building Materials and Components in Line with the Circular Economy Principles in the Built Environment—A Review of Current Trends

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Disassembling sections and parts from buildings into components and allowing their reassembling in a new combination is a better alternative to destroying buildings and systems from economic and environmental standpoints [45,64,74]. Practitioners and academia need to learn from the past to design for the future and adopt a DfCE strategy, since CE is deeply rooted on several schools of thought and consequently englobes numerous design strategies (Figure 2).…”

Section: Design For Cementioning

confidence: 99%

Implementing Circular Economy Strategies in Buildings—From Theory to Practice

Rahla

Mateus

Bragança

2021

ASI

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Population growth, along with a rapid urban expansion, is imposing a heavy pressure on the planet’s finite resources. It is widely acknowledged that the building industry consumes large amounts of raw materials while generating waste and emissions. To set apart economic growth from environmental repercussions, the Circular Economy (CE) arose as an innovative paradigm that can offer a fast-track towards a sustainable built environment. This paper will tackle a research gap that academia and policymakers often highlighted, which is how can we apply CE to assets that are predominantly meant to be demolished and their resources wasted when they reach their end-of-life. Globally, the paradigm aims at erasing the waste concept, relying on renewable and regenerative sources, and keeping the materials, components, and systems in use at their highest value as long as possible. The concept’s implementation would attempt to consider the built environment as a closed-loop system wherein resources are viewed as a scarce commodity. Although the CE seems straightforward, translating the circular thinking to the building level might be a hardship. The following paper will attempt to shed light on how to promote CE in buildings that will ultimately lead to healthier, more efficient, and more sustainable cities on a broader scale. The proposed framework considers CE implementation strategies throughout the building’s lifecycle and mainly deals with three innovative aspects: wise resource management, building design approaches, and digitalization of the building industry. In this sense, this study will explore these game-changing factors that are considered paramount to concretize the concept in practice and provide a smooth pathway for CE uptake in buildings.

show abstract

“…Using secondary timber stocks would contribute to policy goals: fostering a more circular economy with new employment in manufacturing [42] and reindustrialisation of the European (and British) economy [43][44][45], and production of net negative-or low-carbon building components. The lifespan at high value of timber in a circular economy could be further extended by designing the cross-laminated secondary timber (CLST) panels for deconstruction and reuse [46]. If CLST can replace conventional CLT, structural steel and reinforced concrete in some applications, this is enhancement of the performance of waste: upcycling into a new closed loop.Timber for different structural uses is graded based on its tree species, origin, strength-reducing characteristics and geometrical characteristics [47][48][49][50].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• What scale of operation is needed to be commercially viable? • Can conventional PUR and melamine-urea-formaldehyde adhesives be replaced with a non-toxic biodegradable alternative, or other joining technique (e.g., Brettstapel, friction-welding of wood [117][118][119][120][121]), for a product that is consistent with biological metabolism in a circular economy [46,122]?…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-Laminated Secondary Timber: Experimental Testing and Modelling the Effect of Defects and Reduced Feedstock Properties

Rose

Bergsagel²,

Dufresne

et al. 2018

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The construction industry creates significant volumes of waste timber, much of which has residual quality and value that dissipates in conventional waste management. This research explored the novel concept of reusing secondary timber as feedstock for cross-laminated timber (CLT). If cross-laminated secondary timber (CLST) can replace conventional CLT, structural steel and reinforced concrete in some applications, this constitutes upcycling to displace materials of greater environmental impacts. The fabrication process and mechanical properties of CLST were tested in small-scale laboratory experiments, which showed no significant difference between the compression stiffness and strength of CLST and a control. Finite element modelling suggested that typical minor defects in secondary timber have only a small effect on CLST panel stiffness in compression and bending. Mechanically Jointed Beams Theory calculations to examine the potential impacts of secondary timber ageing on CLST panels found that this has little effect on compression stiffness if only the crosswise lamellae are replaced. Since use of secondary timber to make CLST has a more significant effect on bending stiffness, effective combinations of primary and secondary timber and their appropriate structural applications are proposed. The article concludes with open research questions to advance this concept towards commercial application.

show abstract

Mass timber in the circular economy: paradigm in practice?

Cited by 34 publications

References 7 publications

Selection Criteria for Building Materials and Components in Line with the Circular Economy Principles in the Built Environment—A Review of Current Trends

Selection Criteria for Building Materials and Components in Line with the Circular Economy Principles in the Built Environment—A Review of Current Trends

Implementing Circular Economy Strategies in Buildings—From Theory to Practice

Cross-Laminated Secondary Timber: Experimental Testing and Modelling the Effect of Defects and Reduced Feedstock Properties

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About