Global Seminar | The Circular Economy Potential Model (CEP)

Overview:

The CEP model is a model and platform integrating multiple methods of assessment into a unified general framework. The methods of assessment it unifies are assessments that quantitatively link configurational properties of building configurations (e.g. the permeability of a floor plan, the connection types and connection layering of the building structure, or the design of the technical services) to desired properties related to the reuse of buildings, systems, components, or materials (e.g. the adaptability of the floor plan, the disassembly potential of a structure, or the maintainability of the technical services).

By combining such assessment methods into one framework (and a tool or tool platform based on that framework), the CEP model aims to help determine what the likely types of reuse outcomes are for a particular building (design) - e.g. 'large parts of the building can likely be reused, and of the resources that will be removed during adaptation, most will end up as recycled materials'. In other words, the model aims to help estimate potential construction material yields per reuse flow (reuse of buildings, reuse of systems, reuse of components, and reuse of materials) based on building configuration, linking construction and deconstruction decisions to the broader urban ecosystem - i.e. the circular economy in construction. In that way, the model is a step towards a conceptual shift from urban mining (reuse of unknown, discovered building resources in a city) to urban harvesting (reuse of predictable, plannable building resources in a city).

Presenter:

Dr Benjamin Sanchez
Postdoctoral researcher in the Circular Future Cities (CFC) module