1. This project is part of the BAMB European research and innovation project "Building As Material Banks", which brought together eight European countries around the theme of circularity in construction. > Depletion of resources, an excessive carbon footprint and an energy crisis: caught up in an unforgiving reality, the construction sector is nowmaking amends by putting a stop to the bad habits of yesteryear. It’s no longer a question of ‘take, make, dispose’, as was the case for a long time in linear economics. Faced with the climate emergency, a radical change in construction practices is underway. All over the world, it is now time to take responsibility. In France, for example, the Anti-Waste for a Circular Economy Law (AGEC) aims to accelerate change in production and consumption in order to limit waste and preserve natural resources, biodiversity and the climate. To understand the concept of a circular economy, we must first outline what it means. All too often, circularity is summed up as simply the recycling of waste. But this is only the final part of the loop. Rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle Circularity includes the design of goods but also their production, use and end of life. It calls for new and more sustainable manufacturing practices, including waste reduction and reuse. In the construction sector, the philosophy of the four Rs: ’rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle’ begins in the design phase, by looking at the choice of raw materials and favoring secondary materials (those that are byproducts or recycled) or renewable materials. From an R&D point of view, circularity drives a new approach to innovation, to improve the composition of materials and promote reusing or recycling at the end of their life. Flexibility and reversibility In addition to the need to adapt formulations or uses, it is imperative to activate all the levers of eco-design and consider the entire life cycle of the building. Clearly, this includes the origin of materials, but also energy savings criteria. It is also beneficial to consider a building’s potential for scalability and reversibility and to guard against it becoming obsolete. Extending the lifespan of a building as long as possible is now a challenge of great importance. This means the building must be designed in a flexible, modular, even reversible way. That includes anticipating changes in functionality in order to prevent premature demolition: we have seen the limitations of buildings with a single function. New initiatives are now spreading around the world. In Belgium, the BRIC building (Build Reversible In Conception)1 was designed to be fully convertible. From an office in 2018, it became a shop in 2019, then an acoustic laboratory in 2020. In France, many reversible projects are under construction, such as the Paris 2024 Olympic Village. Built to accommodate some 14,000 athletes, it will be converted into housing, offices and retail space after the Olympic Games. In Bordeaux, the Tebio project (4000 m² over nine floors) designed by Canal Architecture will provide housing and host businesses and shops. But nothing is set in stone yet as the development will evolve with demand and use. A business space today can be transformed into the housing of tomorrow. A building today, a material bank tomorrow There remains the thorny question of the end of a building's life. Not all buildings have been designed with reversibility in mind, so there may be no choice but to deconstruct or demolish them. It is then a question of optimizing the reuse or recycling of materials, if possible in a closed loop. Following the example of ancient builders, who used the stones of the pyramids or cathedrals as open-air quarries, it is a question of considering whether an obsolete construction can be a ‘material bank’. 59 CONSTRUCTING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTA2Nw==