Modular Building in a Circular Economy

Modular Building in a Circular Economy: An exploratory research

Potemans, Astrid (TU Delft Architecture and the Built Environment; TU Delft Management in the Built Environment)

Straub, Ad (mentor)
Prins, Matthijs (mentor)

Delft University of Technology

2017-07-06

A circular economy has gained attention as a potential solution to the tension between the increasing demand for and the limited supply of materials. The construction industry consumes a great amount of global resources and generates a great amount of waste, and can contribute to the shift towards a circular economy by means of a more circular building stock. In theory, modular building can contribute to a circular building stock, by securing the future utility of the stock. Multi-configuration modular building allows for adjustment and relocation of the building and deconstruction and reuse of its piece parts. Based on a collective cases study of five suppliers of modular building, the degree to which modular building can contribute to a circular economy depend on the reason for, the interpretation of and the operationalisation of modular building.

circular economy
modular building
exploratory research
case study

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:05093f76-2f59-4820-9517-35923720f20a

Student theses

master thesis

© 2017 Astrid Potemans