Circular Digital Built Environment

Circular Digital Built Environment: An Emerging Framework

Çetin, Sultan (TU Delft Housing Management)
De Wolf, C.E.L. (TU Delft Design & Construction Management; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich)
Bocken, Nancy (Universiteit Maastricht)

2021

Digital technologies are considered to be an essential enabler of the circular economy in various industries. However, to date, very few studies have investigated which digital technologies could enable the circular economy in the built environment. This study specifically focuses on the built environment as one of the largest, most energy- and material-intensive industries globally, and investigates the following question: which digital technologies potentially enable a circular economy in the built environment, and in what ways? The research uses an iterative stepwise method: (1) framework development based on regenerating, narrowing, slowing and closing resource loop principles; (2) expert workshops to understand the usage of digital technologies in a circular built environment; (3) a literature and practice review to further populate the emerging framework with relevant digital technologies; and (4) the final mapping of digital technologies onto the framework. This study develops a novel Circular Digital Built Environment framework. It identifies and maps ten enabling digital technologies to facilitate a circular economy in the built environment. These include: (1) additive/robotic manufacturing, (2) artificial intelligence, (3) big data and analytics, (4) blockchain technology, (5) building information modelling, (6) digital platforms/marketplaces, (7) digital twins, (8) the geographical information system, (9) material passports/databanks, and (10) the internet of things. The framework provides a fruitful starting point for the novel research avenue at the intersection of circular economy, digital technology and the built environment, and gives practitioners inspiration for sustainable innovation in the sector.

Buildings
Built environment
Circular business models
Circular design
Circular economy
Circular strategies
Construction
Digital technology
Digitalisation
Framework
Sustainability

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8d5f125f-0102-4a5f-8cab-bb15aee8d432

https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116348

2071-1050

Sustainability, 13 (11)

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2021 Sultan Çetin, C.E.L. De Wolf, Nancy Bocken