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Guide: Circular Building Implementation

The construction sector plays a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, resource consumption, and waste production. Circular building practices are a key lever in achieving these reductions. On behalf of the State Institute for Environment Baden-Württemberg (LUBW), we developed a guide for decision-makers, project managers, and planners who aim to create an environment for circular construction or successfully implement circular building projects.

Circular Building: Introduction, Context, and Practical Tips

The guide provides an introduction to circular construction, its importance, and the regulatory framework. It also offers valuable insights into the key aspects, challenges, and levers necessary to enable circular construction.


The second part focuses on practical applications: How can circularity be integrated into the project phases? How can sustainable material selection and construction methods be achieved? The practical tips are complemented by helpful checklists and best practice examples.


The final part addresses circular building in public tenders and refers to relevant legal regulations. The appendix includes newly developed text modules that can be used to optimally integrate the requirements into tenders.

Not Just Relevant for German Decision-Makers

Although the guide is a project of a German state agency, it partly refers to the specific situation in Germany, such as when summarizing the legal framework. However, most of the guide contains general insights relevant to the entire German-speaking region. Additionally, the remarks on circularity across the phases of the project, according to the German Fee Structure for Architects and Engineers (HOAI), can easily be adapted to those in Austria and Switzerland.

An overview of key aspects of circular construction that must be considered by various stakeholders throughout the project phases.

Key Messages of the Guide

Circular building must be integrated into projects from the very beginning. The guide offers practical help on how to ensure this process succeeds.

The three central approaches of circular building are

  • preserving and enhancing existing structures,
  • reusing materials, and
  • resource-efficient design.

Project managers can advance circular building practices through potential analyses for existing buildings, consideration in tenders and procurement, and the introduction of building resource passports

To ensure the long-term circularity of buildings, digital documentation is fundamental. By capturing circularity aspects through methods like a circularity index, circular construction becomes measurable and comparable, gaining greater visibility.

Frauke Scholvin
29. October 2024

Contact

Manager Business Division Sustainable Building (GER)
Management Board Member

Matthias Palloch

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