Realizing Circular Ambitions within the Built Environment: A Design Thinking Approach

Abstract

In recent years, the amount of resources consumed and the waste generated by the built environment has been growing at an alarming rate. The impacts of this are seen within our environment and felt by many. It can be said that the need to achieve circularity within the built environment is at its peak right now. Within the construction industry, the initiation and the pre-preparation phase for a circular building allow for greater flexibility for thinking and re-thinking the entire process of a circular building from the beginning to the end of life phase (re-use of components to identifying methods of disassembly). The addition of circular ambitions will escalate the trade-offs which have to be made between quality, price, sustainability and durability. Along with this the team is riled with a plethora of opportunities (re-use of components to methods of disassembly) to lead to different final outcomes, unlike a regular project where the project team can choose between well-understood options. In addition to the crucial trade-offs, the term circularity is perceived subjectively by stakeholders. Developing a consensus on the meaning of circularity and further operationalizing the ambitions can be remarked to be a daunting task. Further, the topic of circularity is still a novice in the construction industry and has the potential for high levels of innovation. To summarize, the addition of circular ambitions within the projects demands an environment of learning, exploration, ideation and experimentation. Implementation of a Stage gate or Waterfall approaches as a solution might not be an optimal solution. The lack of a commonly accepted strategy has resorted both clients and practitioners to try various methods thereby creating ambiguity regarding the process in the initiation. This could result in increasing the time spent upfront in trying to create a process for each project individually. Witnessing these problems, the research focuses on addressing the gap that there lacks a commonly accepted strategy to realize shared understanding and ambitions which are vital to incorporate circular principles within the built environment. The gap is explored within the solution space of design thinking. Within the scope of the research, a strategy is developed in which it becomes clear how the various design thinking methods available in theory can be implemented in the initiation phase. Through the developed strategy, a shared sense of understanding of the goals and ambitions will be created. Such an approach can be said to aid in realizing the circular ambitions of the commissioner. Using this strategy will also result in an exploration of other potential possibilities that are present within the project environment. Additionally, it serves as a structure that can be used by consultants for solving the client’s dilemma in the process of realizing circular ambitions. The strategy attempts at bringing order to the chaos by creating clarity within the initiation phase by prescribing design thinking attributes as a way to realize circular ambitions. The potential of this strategy lies within the initiation phase wherein extensive exploration and problem analysis through different perspectives or lenses are facilitated to achieve the highest level of circularity.