Built to last: repairing, adapting and reusing before building new
- Editorial Team SDG12
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
Published on 17 August 2026 at 02:10 GMT
By Editorial Team SDG12
Buildings are usually valued for the space they provide, while the materials locked inside them become visible only when demolition begins. Circular construction reverses that logic. It treats a building as a changing assembly whose structure, fittings and materials can be maintained, repaired, adapted and, eventually, taken apart for another use. The approach addresses both waste and the emissions created when virgin resources are extracted, processed and transported.
The climate case extends beyond heating and cooling. The United Nations Environment Programme and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction reported in May 2026 that the sector accounts for around 37 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions and nearly half of global material extraction. Avoiding unnecessary replacement can therefore affect the emissions embedded in construction as well as those produced during operation.
Designing for a longer life begins with repairability. Accessible service routes, replaceable finishes and components fixed mechanically rather than bonded permanently can allow worn parts to be removed without destroying those around them. A clear separation between a long-lived structural frame and shorter-lived services or interiors also lets a building change incrementally. Standardised connections and open layouts can accommodate new technologies or altered patterns of work and housing.
Adaptation can deliver savings before any component enters a reuse market. Converting an office into housing, dividing a large floor plate or intensifying the use of an existing space can defer new construction. A briefing by the European Environment Agency notes that more than 85 per cent of today's European buildings are likely to remain in use in 2050. Its modelling of circular renovation measures includes retrofitting buildings for new uses, repairing ageing structures, choosing longer-lived products and maximising reuse.
Renovation is not automatically low-impact. Deep energy upgrades can require substantial quantities of insulation, glazing and mechanical equipment, and the climate benefit depends on the existing building, the materials installed and the energy saved over time. Whole-life assessment exposes that trade-off. It also distinguishes direct reuse, in which a product retains its function and value, from recycling that may consume energy and yield a lower-grade material.
At the end of one use cycle, design for disassembly replaces the excavator's mixed rubble with a planned sequence of removal. Bolted steel, screwed timber panels, demountable partitions and dry-jointed facade systems can be separated more readily than composite products or assemblies held together by adhesives. Modular dimensions can make components transferable between projects, although a module designed around one proprietary system may have little value if compatible parts and documentation disappear.
The town hall in Brummen in the Netherlands is a widely cited demonstration. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the municipality commissioned a building for a defined 20-year need, and architect Thomas Rau developed a modular structure intended to allow 90 per cent of its materials to be dismantled and reused. Prefabricated timber elements replaced difficult-to-recycle concrete in parts of the design, while the structural assembly was recorded in a materials passport. The figure describes an intended design outcome rather than verified recovery after the building's eventual disassembly.
A market for reused building materials depends on more than careful removal. Salvaged beams, bricks, doors or raised floors have to be found at the right time, stored, transported and matched to a new design. Their dimensions and appearance may vary. Records may not establish loading history, chemical content or maintenance, while testing can cost more than buying a standard new product. Designers, contractors, insurers and building-control bodies may also be reluctant to accept responsibility when warranties and performance declarations are unclear.
These uncertainties explain the interest in material passports. A passport can record what a product is, where it sits, what it contains, how it was installed and how it might be removed, maintained or reused. Linked to building information modelling, the data could support maintenance during occupation and later turn an asset register into an inventory for deconstruction. Its value depends on common terminology, persistent identifiers, reliable updates and access that survives changes of owner, software provider and manufacturer.
The European Union's revised Construction Products Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2024/3110, creates a legal framework for digital product passports for construction products. It provides for interoperable, machine-readable information and says the system is to take account of information needed for reuse and remanufacturing. The detailed system still depends on delegated acts and product-specific rules, so the regulation does not by itself create complete passports for every product already installed in Europe's buildings.
Waste rules reveal another gap between recovery totals and circular value. The European Commission says construction and demolition waste accounts for more than a third of all waste generated in the EU, while reported recycling and material-recovery rates range from below 10 per cent to above 90 per cent. Those rates can include crushed material and backfilling, outcomes that do not preserve a window, beam or brick as a component. Differences in national definitions also restrict comparison.
Selective demolition and pre-demolition audits can identify hazardous substances and recoverable elements, but the Commission describes its construction and demolition waste protocol and audit guidelines as non-binding. Contamination, limited space for sorting, uncertain demand and a mismatch between demolition and construction schedules can still divert reusable products into lower-value processing. Procurement based on lowest initial price may likewise overlook future adaptability or residual value.
Technical standards and safety rules remain central because circularity does not remove obligations for structural stability, fire performance, health or accessibility. The unresolved issue is how established compliance systems for repeatable new products can recognise variable components recovered from an existing building without transferring disproportionate testing costs or risk to a single project. Digital records can reduce uncertainty, but they cannot substitute for inspection and, where necessary, testing.
Circular practice consequently spans several decisions: retaining a usable building, renovating it for another purpose, repairing replaceable layers, specifying reused products, and designing new assemblies for future separation. It is directly connected to SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production) because it seeks to reduce raw-material demand and waste across a building's life. Whether it becomes standard will depend on the alignment of design, data, procurement, liability, standards and markets over timeframes far longer than a normal construction contract.
Further information:
United Nations Environment Programme, Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction 2025-2026, supports the carbon dioxide and material extraction figures.
European Environment Agency, Building renovation: where circular economy and climate meet, supports the discussion of renovation, adaptation, longer lifespans, disassembly and reuse in Europe.
European Commission, Construction and demolition waste, supports the EU waste share, variation in recovery rates, selective demolition framework and status of EU guidance.
EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2024/3110, provides the legal basis and requirements for the EU construction digital product passport system.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation, A building that can be reused: Brummen Town Hall, supports the Brummen design, modular construction and materials-passport case study.
