Creating materials banks from digital urban mining

Project Information

SUM4Re

Grant agreement ID: 101129961

DOI

10.3030/101129961

EC signature date 27 May 2024

Start date 1 June 2024

End date 30 November 2027

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 5 999 897,22

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDAD DE VIGO
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SUM4Re (Creating materials banks from digital urban mining)

Reporting period: 2024-06-01 to 2025-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Project description:
Construction and demolition waste constitutes the largest waste stream in the EU, contributing significantly to environmental degradation and CO2 emissions. To address these challenges, the EU-funded SUM4Re project proposes a pioneering solution: the creation of materials banks through urban mining and advanced technologies. By integrating automated data acquisition and AI-driven material identification, SUM4Re aims to foster circular economy practices in construction, revolutionising how we manage and reuse building materials for a sustainable future.

Objective:
SUM4Re proposes a comprehensive approach to creating materials banks from the built environment by combining urban mining and technologies for automated on-site data acquisition and building materials identification and asset components. The project aims to develop a traceability system for building materials, a methodological framework to assess circular use of construction products, and smart digital solutions to identify construction entities and analyse their properties.
The approach is based on three main activities: identification, analysis and contribution to circularity. SUM4Re will develop software tools and databases supported by AI-assisted identification and aligned with circular economy principles such as Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle and Renovate. The project will also advance C-BIM to ensure interoperability with open standards and existing databases.
Three demonstration pilots will validate the methodology, supported by a strategy for workforce upskilling to facilitate uptake of the developed solutions. Overall, SUM4Re supports the transition towards circular construction practices and reduces the amount of construction and demolition waste sent to landfills.

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 performed and main achievements (WA1–WA6):
This section covers the updated status at M18 and summarises all technical and scientific activities and main achievements carried out during the first reporting period (M01–M18).

WA1 – Pre-requisites for smart data acquisition and interoperability in circular construction (WP1)
All tasks were completed. The work delivered the full set of definitions, classifications and standards needed for material identification, regulatory alignment and data interoperability. DMP, DPP and DBL structures were established, relevant standards mapped, and the economic and policy groundwork completed. GENIA, CIRDAX and CONCULAR were aligned through a first integration framework with API structure, data schemas and auxiliary data incorporation for pilots.

WA2 – Techniques & technologies for identification, analysis, digitalization (WP2, WP3)
All acquisition technologies were developed and deployed in the three pilots: AR-based RGB-iMMS scanning was completed with improved tagging and colourisation and first AI segmentation workflows. AHS produced calibrated datasets for timber. XRF generated a complete elemental library for concrete and asphalt. MFT delivered validated reconstructions and detection results. GPR-ECT characterised internal layers, reinforcement, defects and facilities. FOS systems were installed and calibrated, supported by FEM modelling and initial AI anomaly-detection architecture.

WA3 – Reduction in construction and demolition waste (WP4, WP5)
Material inventories and circularity assessments were completed for all case studies. The multisensory CDW characterisation system was fully developed and calibrated, producing a structured dataset of signals from controlled and real samples. Preparatory work for urban mining concepts and reusability assessments progressed in line with pilot data.

WA4 – Increased supply of secondary materials & improved facility to reuse/repair construction products (WP6, WP7)
The design of the C-BIM environment and DMP structures was finalised. Interoperability rules and prototype implementations for GENIA, CIRDAX and CONCULAR were produced. Economic and sustainability analyses were completed, synthesised in updated guidelines within the Circular Deconstruction Handbook and aligned with upcoming C-BIM integration steps.

WA5 – Improvements to labour productivity (WP8, WP9)
All analytical tasks were completed. Labour-productivity barriers, enablers and business models were identified through literature review, surveys and interviews across the three pilots. Technology-acceptance results and preliminary policy insights were produced. These results form the basis for the project’s circularity indicators and the next-phase evaluation models.

WA6 – Demonstrators in existing built works (WP10, WP11, WP12)
Baseline work for the three pilot sites was completed. All planned scans and measurements were carried out. Material samples were collected, mock-ups prepared and datasets consolidated. Technical alignment with data-platform and C-BIM development requirements progressed as expected, ensuring readiness for WP11 and WP12.

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)

During M01–M18 the project delivered early results that establish the foundations for future advances in digital circular construction. SUM4Re defined common methodological, regulatory and interoperability baselines, including harmonised DMP/DPP/DBL definitions and IFC 4.3 ADD2–aligned data structures. These elements provide the core framework needed for the next-phase development of AI workflows and C-BIM.

These results support the project’s impact pathways by preparing the technical and methodological conditions required for the evaluation of circularity, material recovery potential, labour productivity and regulatory readiness in later work packages. Further progress will require extended testing in pilots, full integration of AI models with the data acquisition technologies, consolidation of the C-BIM framework and continued alignment with regulatory and standardisation considerations identified in WP1 and WP8.

The project remains consistent with the expected impacts described in the Description of the Action, and the upcoming activities will provide the first measurable evidence of technical and societal relevance.