INTEGRATED, CIRCULAR, AND DIGITALLY SUPPORTED SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR WASTE MINIMIZATION AND CARBON CAPTURE IN BUILDINGS AND THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR

Project Information

WOODCIRCLES

Grant agreement ID: 101082184

DOI

10.3030/101082184

EC signature date 27 April 2023

Start date 1 June 2023

End date 31 May 2027

Funded under

• Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment

Total cost

€ 7 056 273,56

EU contribution

€ 6 295 867,75

Coordinated by

TEKNOLOGISK INSTITUT
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WOODCIRCLES (INTEGRATED, CIRCULAR, AND DIGITALLY SUPPORTED SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR WASTE MINIMIZATION AND CARBON CAPTURE IN BUILDINGS AND THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR)

Reporting period: 2023-06-01 to 2024-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The construction sector is responsible for over 35% of the EU’s total waste generation, and accounts for about 50% of all extracted resources and an estimated at 5-12% of total GHG emissions. WOODCIRCLES contributes significantly to decreasing these numbers by developing innovative circular solutions for sustainable wood construction to help reduce Europe’s dependence on non-renewable resources, cut GHG emissions, reduce waste generation, and offer long-term carbon sinks and substitution of fossil-based and carbon-intensive products. WOODCIRCLES combines the considerable innovation power of the expert consortium consisting of key stakeholders from all parts of the value chain to release the full circular and sustainable potential of wood construction. Based on identified needs and market potentials, the consortium is developing new value-added value chains for upcycling of wood waste materials and optimized design-for-disassembly building system solutions to significantly increase recycling rates of wood in construction. An ‘Urban Sawmill’ sorting and production facility capable of turning in-homogenous low value wood construction waste into a standardized homogenous value-added, cost-effective baseline product, will be prototyped. WOODCIRCLES integrates digital tools and solutions in all developments and creates digital twins for the large-scale, real-life demonstrators – the Urban Sawmill and the building system prototypes to demonstrate the benefits of digital technology for circular construction. Active involvement of partner cities and their building ecosystems through technical and thematic co-engagement activities increases deployment. All developed materials, components and system prototypes will be demonstrated, piloted and fully documented – including sustainability assessment – for immediate market uptake. Based on developments, recommendations for new or updated European harmonised technical specifications and Eurocodes will be provided.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Work done so far include activities related to comprehensive mapping of wood resources embedded in existing buildings across Europe, supporting stakeholders in resource forecasting and recovery (WP1). Work is also progressing on the tranformation of recovered waste wood into high-value engineered wood products and insulation products, demonstrating practical applications for circular materials (WP1). Within design activities (WP2), a new circular building system is being developed adressing technical, financial, legal, and cultural barriers. This includes research on material sourcing, circularity metrics, and disassembly strategies, and the exploration of timber performance, connector designs for disassembly, and business cases. An analysis of best practices within design for disassembly and adaptability has been published and the preliminary design for a circular building system for wood construction has been defined. Digital technologies for (waste) wood resource estimation are under development as well as digital solutions to facilitate deconstruction processes (WP3). Robotic setups to enabe efficient waste wood recovery workflows sorting and reworking waste wood are being investigated with the goal of realizing the Urban Sawmill concept (WP3). Validation efforts are underway, including strength grading and adhesive testing of recycled timber to align with industry standards for non-recycled (virgin) materials (WP4). Investigations into the history and quality of recovered wood aim to ensure its reliability for reuse. A regulation analysis has been done containing a comparative analysis of EU and Member State regulatory requirements in relation to demolition sites, wood-waste recycling, engineered wood products, wood fibre insulation, and use of construction products that incorporate recycled materials (WP4). The project also focuses on sustainability assessment, addressing environmental, economic, and social impacts (WP5). A life cycle inventory database is under development, combining primary and secondary data to evaluate WOODCIRCLES solutions. Comparative analyses using LCA, LCC, and S-LCA methodologies will quantify the benefits of circular practices over conventional approaches.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project is targeting several Key Exploitable Results (KERs) that add commercial and societal value, addressing market demands and societal needs. At project month 18 out of 48, most of the results are still under development and will be reached at later dates. The targeted results include:
a) Technologies and solutions for valorising construction wood from the Urban Forest, b) new value-added engineered wood product and insulation products from the Urban Forest, c) design concepts and guidelines for wood based building systems designed for disassembly and adaptation, d) Digital tools for Urban Forest resource estimation and Urban Sawmill operation, e) pilots of the building system and Urban Sawmill, f) life cycle inventory database to provide increased knowledge of the environmental footprint of urban forest exploitation, g) guidelines and whitepaper on circularity in cities to support decision-making and policies on circularity, and h) long-term strategy and development framework for scaling WOODCIRCLES technologies to supports wider deployment and market uptake.