Scenario analysis of supply‐ and demand‐side solutions for circular economy and climate change mitigation in the global building sector

Abstract

Residential and non‐residential buildings are a major contributor to human well‐being. At the same time, buildings cause 30% of final energy use, 18% of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), and about 65% of material accumulation globally. With electrification and higher energy efficiency of buildings, material‐related emissions gain relevance. The circular economy (CE) strategies, narrow, slow, and close, together with wooden buildings, can reduce material‐related emissions. We provide a comprehensive set of building stock transformation scenarios for 10 world regions until 2060, using the resource efficiency climate change model of the stock–flow–service nexus and including the full CE spectrum plus wood‐intensive buildings. The 2020–2050 global cumulative new construction ranges from 150 to 280 billion m2 for residential and 70‐120 billion m2 for non‐residential buildings. Ambitious CE reduces cumulative 2020–2050 primary material demand from 80 to 30 gigatons (Gt) for cement and from 35 to 15 Gt for steel. Lowering floor space demand by 1 m2 per capita leads to global savings of 800‐2500 megatons (Mt) of cement, 300‐1000 Mt of steel, and 3‐10 Gt CO2‐eq, depending on industry decarbonization and CE roll‐out. Each additional Mt of structural timber leads to savings of 0.4‐0.55 Mt of cement, 0.6‐0.85 Mt of steel, and 0.8‐1.8 Mt CO2‐eq of system‐wide GHGE. CE reduces 2020–2050 cumulative GHGE by up to 44%, where the highest contribution comes from the narrow CE strategies, that is, lower floorspace and lightweight buildings. Very low carbon emission trajectories are possible only when combining supply‐ and demand‐side strategies. This article met the requirements for a gold‐gold JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges.