From Linear Lock-In to Circular Default
An Ex-Ante Policy Evaluation of Incentivising Circular Construction of Dutch Public Buildings through Residual Value
R.C. Storm (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Lixia Chu – Graduation committee member (Wageningen University & Research)
T. Chatzivasileiadis – Mentor (TU Delft - Technology, Policy and Management)
K.B.J. Van den Berghe – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
Building on the possibility of applying circular depreciation within the Dutch BBV accounting framework, this thesis examines to what extent, and through which mechanisms, policy instruments affect the residual reuse value of Dutch public buildings in order to incentivise circular construction. Methodologically, the study combines literature review, policy document analysis, structured expert elicitation, and scenario and sensitivity analysis. Based on the literature review and policy document analysis identifying economic and governmental barriers to circular construction, three instruments are selected: a labour tax reduction, carbon pricing, and a detachability threshold. Two case studies, an office building and a primary school, are examined across four structural configurations representing conventional, detachable conventional, and bio-based materials. The results show that price-based instruments (labour tax reduction and carbon pricing) increase residual value by lowering the costs of material recovery and reuse, with labour tax having the strongest overall effect, and carbon pricing becoming the stronger lever for carbon-intensive materials such as steel and concrete once detachability is improved. The regulatory instrument, a detachability threshold, determines whether residual value can be realised at all, acting as a precondition for recoverability and reuse. Circular construction is therefore most effectively incentivised through price-based instruments, with regulatory requirements ensuring recoverability. The findings and research mechanisms suggest that circular construction can be incentivised by increasing the economic viability of bio-based materials and the design of conventional materials for disassembly.