Buildings designed for systemic circularity: a comprehensive review of methodological taxonomies

Abstract

Circular economy (CE) principles have been appraised as the requisite approach to enhance buildings and construction process to achieve sustainable development. Hence, architects and other construction professionals have been urged to adopt the CE principles in design thinking, supply chain systems, production, operation, and end-of-life activities of buildings. However, as much as CE principles could be seen subjectively to benefit the environment, it is incumbent to determine and document this empirically to propel its seamless adoption and enforcement. Therefore, extant studies have proposed several methods, metrics, and indicators to assess the environmental impact, recovery, technical, cost, systems, and recyclability potentials of buildings designed for total circularity. Nonetheless, the complexity of CE requires that such assessment should consider the integration of different methods that should be able to assess the different dimensions of the lifecycle of a circularly designed building. In this study, a thorough systematic review was conducted to explore the existing means of measurement and propose a comprehensive methodological approach for assessing buildings designed for systemic circularity. The proposed approach should enhance CE methodological development and guide construction professionals and building designers in the effective adoption of CE principles throughout building lifecycles to attain sustainable development.