9. Conclusions

Based on the above and drawing on the expertise within the project team, the barriers and opportunities have been prioritised and elaborated upon. The process directly connected specific solutions with broad problem areas.

Unsurprisingly, given that lack of knowledge and experience was identified as one of the essential barriers to tackle—this lack of knowledge and experience fundamentally minimises activity and, as it means that circular construction is a more time-consuming process, it also increases the costs of circular construction—increasing knowledge and experience was the most prominent opportunity for circular construction, prompting the largest number of specific suggestions.

What is clear from the mapping of the barriers is that they are heavily interlinked and often reinforcing. For example:

Lack of experience and knowledge within the sector stems from a lack of opportunity to gain that experience and knowledge, while that same lack of experience and knowledge means that it is difficult to commission projects with a circular focus. Lack of experience and knowledge also leads to longer project time frames and therefore higher expenses.
Lack of documentation leads to uncertainty about the quality and safety of products and buildings, so the allocation of responsibility becomes a key challenge, which is itself hampered by a lack of experience within the value chain for addressing responsibility in new ways.
The supply of products for reuse is hampered by the lack of knowledge and experience in terms of disassembly for reuse along with the additional costs associated with these practices and the lack of demand for reused products. The lack of demand for reused products stems at least in part from the uncertainty regarding supply and again about the potential for additional and potentially unknown/hidden costs.

Strategy and Planning

The circular approach to construction and the built environment is not integrated into the strategy and planning processes by planners and development decision makers.

OPPORTUNITIES

Plan for the future and design for flexibility, adaptability and disassembly.
Ensure that future generations do not have similar challenges maintaining the value of, adapting, and reusing their built environment.
Embed circularity at the core of the planning and decision-making process, on even footing with other sustainability consideration.
A circular approach is difficult to introduce as an add-on and provides more value and environmental benefit if integrated at the very start of the planning phase.
Synchronise demolition and construction across sites to facilitate reuse and minimise storage requirements.
Develop a long-term understanding of the demands on and for the built environment, the lifetime of existing assets, and develop synergies between renovation, demolition, and new construction activities.

This signifies that interventions are required throughout the entire value chain to ensure that a single issue in one area doesn’t block progress in all others.

The following presents the most pressing barriers as identified by the survey responses across the Nordic countries along with the challenges of integrating circular construction into strategy and planning processes. It pairs these challenges with forward-looking opportunities.

BARRIER 1: LACK OF KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE

Actors along the value chain do not have sufficient knowledge or experience of the methods, pro-cesses or routines required for Circular Construction.

OPPORTUNITIES

Pilot projects
Enable new actors to enter the circular construction market under favourable conditions, build experience, and develop and test new methods for all phases of circular construction.

Networks
Provide a meeting place for interested actors to expand their network and learn new competencies.

Knowledge centres
Provide central hubs that collect, collate, and communicate knowledge, experience, and best practices on circular construction.
Educational materials
Provide standardised learning within the sector, both though tertiary education and training, as well as apprenticeship training and education.
Case studies
Collect Nordic case studies of tangible and successful examples of circular construction done well, detailing not only the final product, but also the processes involved, and the challenges overcome, the solutions developed, and a contact reference for each of the responsible actors.
Public procurement
Drive the propagation of knowledge about circular construction in the industry through projects for public works.
Closer cooperation throughout the value chain
Build new relationships throughout the value chain with partners who work in circular construction. Communicate quality demands and negotiate responsibilities.

BARRIER 2: BUILDING REGULATIONS

The implementation of building regulations is geared toward building with new products and materials. The current system is ill-equipped to encompass reused products.

OPPORTUNITIES

Guidelines for both authorities and contractors
Make it easier for authorities and contractors to navigate the existing building regulations to enable and facilitate circular construction.
Revision of building regulations to better accommodate reuse
Facilitate and standardise the use of reused products in new settings while ensuring that existing safety standards are maintained.
Mandatory pre-demolition material mapping
Create a reliable and catalogued flow of reusable materials from end-of-life buildings, thus fostering a more stable marketplace for reused and recycled materials
Standardised and open data formats for both pre-demolition and material mapping
Consistency in material mapping and openness with the results will help establish a reliable and robust market for reused building products.

BARRIER 3: PRODUCT DOCUMENTATION

Reused products and materials lack the robust documentation demanded by the construction industry. For example: material passports, CE-labelling, EPDs etc.

OPPORTUNITIES

Develop recertification routines
Enable reused products to inspire the same level of confidence as new products through standardised recertification processes.
Work with EU to integrate reuse into existing product certification processes
Expand the scope of the demanded standard product information to include reuse-relevant parameters. This will make reusing products easier when they reach end-of-life.
Transferable warranty/guarantees
Standardised legal process for transferring warranty/guarantees (with or without modification) from original manufacturer to recovery agent of other party
Digital product passports
Increase the transparency of and access to information about a product for current and prospective users, thus facilitating easier maintenance during lifetime and more streamlined path to reuse at end of life.
Non-critical application
Increase reuse of elements by allowing and designing for reuse in non-critical elements, where the reused item lacks documentation (but passes the necessary screening for hazardous materials).

BARRIER 4: RISK/RESPONSIBILITY ALLOCATION

Existing approaches to allocating risk/responsibility are insufficient for the circular use of building products.

OPPORTUNITIES

Negotiated responsibility
New forms of cooperation and dialogue throughout the value chain facilitate a common understanding of where responsibility for reuse products and final buildings lie. Allows all actors to react with confidence throughout the value chain.
New roles in product sourcing
A broader approach to sourcing construction materials and products facilitates easier entry into circular construction for building and construction companies.
Standard contracts that reflect these new norms
Transforming new norms into standardised contracts stabilises circular processes within the construction industry broadly.
Public procurement
Public tenders help pave the way to developing many of these forms of collaboration, norms and standardised contracts, and allows for quicker propagation of these within the industry and along the value chain.

BARRIER 5: ECONOMY

Circular construction is more expensive than construction with new products and materials. This is primarily because of the additional time required to engage in circular processes throughout the value chain.

OPPORTUNITIES

Lowering/removing VAT on circular processes/products
Rendering the price of reused products more competitive with products made with virgin materials. Incentivising actors throughout the value chain to adopt reuse processes, particularly dismantling and preparing for reuse.
Enforcing existing waste regulations
Full compliance with separate collection and disposal demands increases the total costs associated with waste generation and raises the baseline costs for demolition, making disassembly and reuse more competitive.
Carbon tax
An economy-wide or industry-specific carbon tax increases the costs of virgin products and helps make reuse (and recycling) more competitive.
Targeted financial support
Direct injection of capital into the construction industry tied to circular construction projects. Needs to be targeted at projects that develop new knowledge or skills for best return.
Taxes/fees on virgin products/materials
Increases the total costs associated with new products and virgin materials, making reuse and recycling more financially competitive.
Focus on induced benefits
Incorporate the induced benefits (for example, increased employment) of circular approaches to construction into the total cost-benefit analyses and strategic decision making. Particularly relevant to projects for public authorities.
Public procurement
Specifying circular construction criteria in all public tenders for construction works provides a gateway for the industry to build capacities in new circular methods while maintaining economic viability.

BARRIER 6: CULTURE

The construction industry is culturally and institutionally risk averse (some would say conservative), and Circular Construction is an undesired interruption.

OPPORTUNITIES

National Programme for circular construction
Provides a clear declaration of intention for the construction industry that indicates not only the direction to take, but also the methods and milestones for transition and the underlying drivers making it necessary.
Fit circular construction practices into existing practices and routines
Stepwise integration of circular construction practices into existing processes to enable actors throughout the construction value chain to acclimatise to the concepts and tools associated with circular construction.
Integrate circular construction more deeply into existing (environmental) certification systems
Promote circular transition among the sector’s most ambitious actors, thus allowing concepts and methods to propagate from certification practitioners.
Education, networking, and knowledge centres
Develop, collect, and disseminate knowledge, best practices, standards, and norms through industry networks to ensure that circularity as a concept takes root in the industry.
Pilot projects with a broad range of actors
Integrating new actors into pilot projects to broaden the reach and knowledge of circular construction within the industry.