Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CIRC-BOOST (Boosting the uptake of circular integrated solutions in construction value chains)
Reporting period: 2023-06-01 to 2024-11-30
In order to upscale circular solutions in buildings and the construction sector in general, a concentrated research effort involving multiple actors and stakeholders is needed. This includes the development and deployment of both digital and technical solutions in building urban material databanks, digital twins, as well as demolition, decontamination and recycling and reuse of waste materials. With this in mind, the Circ-Boost project proposes to become a focal point and interaction node for different emerging technologies to foster circularity in buildings and the construction sector. The project's core consists of five pilot projects, deployed in different European regions, highlighting and demonstrating at large scale novel and integrated solutions for demolition, construction waste processing, management, and valorisation in new products. Transversal activities of digitalization will allow collaboration between the pilot projects and more efficient use of digital tools and platforms. Targeted activities are envisioned for boosting and maximising the pilot projects' commercial and business potential through effective exploitation measures. Furthermore, in order to ensure that the solutions demonstrated will actually be adopted by the industry, the project will support construction and design companies in educating and training their workforce to optimally use the new technologies as part of training activities. The Circ-Boost project will also leverage the partners' existing regional and international networks and connect with new networks, initiatives, and projects to disseminate and compare project results with a wide audience of construction stakeholders increasing the overall uptake potential of circular solutions. Finally, tailor-made communication and dissemination measures will further support the dissemination of project results with policy makers, and European-wide construction industry, as well as the promotion of the project's success.
Circ-Boost is structured into eight Work Packages (WPs) activities progress according to the work plan. The main technical and scientific activities are carried out within WP3 PILOT, dedicated to the execution of 5 pilot projects in Spain, France, Serbia, Norway and Czechia, WP4 ENABLE, dedicated to the development of a digital map tool for circularity modelling and assessment and WP5 EVALUATE, dedicated to the sustainability assessment of the integrated circular solutions employed.
The main achievements so far are, in WP3:
- Pilots operation plan and evaluation methodology (POP) – how exactly the pilots will be implemented;
- Established pilot baselines – what is the state of the art against which the pilots will be benchmarked;
- Pilots deployment. The first year of pilot activities was successfully completed with all activities on track.
In WP4:
- Advancement in CityGML (Geographic Markup Language) Modeling
- Advancement in CityGML Validation - Development of Methodology for LoD3 (Level of Development in Building Information Modelling) Reconstrction
- Examination of Estimation Models for Material Flow
- Examination of Potential for Map Expansion
In WP5:
- Definition of goal, scope and boundaries for the integrated sustainability assessment of the five pilots within WP3 and the web-based circularity material databank map within WP4.
- Initiation of life cycle inventory compilation for the analyses.
The main achievements so far are, in WP3:
- Pilots operation plan and evaluation methodology (POP) – how exactly the pilots will be implemented;
- Established pilot baselines – what is the state of the art against which the pilots will be benchmarked;
- Pilots deployment. The first year of pilot activities was successfully completed with all activities on track.
In WP4:
- Advancement in CityGML (Geographic Markup Language) Modeling
- Advancement in CityGML Validation - Development of Methodology for LoD3 (Level of Development in Building Information Modelling) Reconstrction
- Examination of Estimation Models for Material Flow
- Examination of Potential for Map Expansion
In WP5:
- Definition of goal, scope and boundaries for the integrated sustainability assessment of the five pilots within WP3 and the web-based circularity material databank map within WP4.
- Initiation of life cycle inventory compilation for the analyses.
The Circ-Boost project envisions specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (SMART) results (Rs) that go beyond the state of the art in critical circularity fields.
The project is still in its initial stage, with all integrated circular solutions still being under development and initial stages of implementation. So far, the most progress towards delivering scientific impact has been achieved in the development of protocols for generating web-based material databanks with circularity indicators, from terrestrial LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scanning, novel methods capable of removing >90% of soil contamination, development of structural concrete formulations with up to 50% of mixed recycled aggregates, as well as design solutions for modular demountable construction.
The project is still in its initial stage, with all integrated circular solutions still being under development and initial stages of implementation. So far, the most progress towards delivering scientific impact has been achieved in the development of protocols for generating web-based material databanks with circularity indicators, from terrestrial LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) scanning, novel methods capable of removing >90% of soil contamination, development of structural concrete formulations with up to 50% of mixed recycled aggregates, as well as design solutions for modular demountable construction.