Open AccessConstruction Waste as a Resource in a Sustainable Built Environment
Author(s) -
Martina Zbašnik-Senegačnik,
Ljudmila Koprivec
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
igra ustvarjalnosti
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2350-3637
DOI - 10.15292/iu-cg.2020.08.028-036
Subject(s) - demolition , construction waste , demolition waste , circular economy , raw material , building material , resource recovery , resource (disambiguation) , waste management , engineering , architectural engineering , resource efficiency , process (computing) , construction engineering , sustainable design , sustainability , civil engineering , computer science , wastewater , ecology , computer network , chemistry , organic chemistry , biology , operating system
The built environment requires ever-increasing amounts of raw material resources and at the same time bears the responsibility for the resulting waste. Waste is generated throughout the life cycle. In the initial phases it is referred to as industrial waste, while during construction, reconstruction, and demolition it is called construction waste. Construction waste is most voluminous but it also has a great potential in circular economy that aims at the closed loop cycle where already used construction materials and components are recovered as raw materials. Sustainable building principles include four basic strategies, waste avoidance, construction materials and components re-use, continued use, and recycling. The possibility of construction waste treatment and its possible recovery in the building process depends on the type of prevailing materials that are contained in building elements as well as on detachability, separability and inseparability of structural joints and components. The architect plays a responsible role in decreasing the volume of construction waste as the conception of a building represents the key factor in sustainable construction waste management. Planning a construction with a good dismantling potential at the end of the building’s life cycle includes a number of factors such as the choice of building materials with a low environmental impact, the design of detachable composite materials and structures as well as the design of mono material structures. This article focuses on waste resulting from the built environment and discusses architectural concepts with a potential of reducing the volume of construction waste and its potential recovery as a construction resource.