Towards Circular Building Key Performance Indicators

Abstract

The concept of circular economy (CE) nowadays garners considerable attention as strategy for resource management and waste reduction. The principles of circular economy have emerged as a promising framework for minimizing environmental impacts while maximizing resource efficiency across the entire life cycle of a building. To effectively assess and monitor the progress towards circularity in buildings, the development and implementation of appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs) are crucial. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of circular economy KPIs in the building sector, aiming at supporting industry professionals, policymakers, and researchers in understanding and implementing effective measurement and evaluation frameworks. The study identified several indicators related to circular buildings and categorized them based on building types and layers. The study findings indicate lack of robustness to comprehensively evaluate the circularity and socio-economic impacts of circular practices that highlight the need for more comprehensive and universally accepted KPIs. Such indicators could guide stakeholders, enabling them to assess progress towards circularity, identify areas for improvement, inform their decisions, and actively promote the transition towards more circular building practices.