Constraining and enabling factors that influence core practices embedded within the supply processes of circular building hubs; A Social Practice Theory approach

Abstract

The construction industry's substantial consumption of materials, CO2 emissions, and construction and demolition waste underscore the pressing need for change. One promising solution is the reuse of secondary building components, which has the potential to signifi-cantly mitigate these environmental impacts. Circular Building Hubs (CBHs) have emerged as a novel business concept that could facili-tate the collection and processing of these components, thereby promoting their reuse. However, effectively scaling up their operation-al secondary building component supply processes (supply processes) requires changes in the practices embedded in these processes. Therefore, this exploratory research aimed to identify the extend to which constraining and enabling factors influence the scalability of core practices embedded in supply processes of these CBHs. The core practices are those considered to be essential for the CBH concept. As such, it intended at contributing to new and more comprehensive understanding on the effects of these factors and thereby contrib-ute to the development and scaling up of these processes. Hence, the main research question is as follow: ‘What are core practices em-bedded within the secondary supply processes for circular building hubs, and to what extent are involved constraining and enabling factors influencing the scalability of these practices?’ This research adopts a qualitative case study research approach, centered around a conceptual framework based upon Social Practice Theory (SPT) and hypothesized supply processes. This study incorporates semi-structured interviews with seven experts, four observations, and one focus group discussion (FGD), all conducted in the Netherlands. The results conclude that throughout 10 different supply processes, 37 different core practices are performed that contribute to the supply of secondary building components for CBHs. Furthermore, the research revealed that these core practices are affected by at least 29 constraining and 26 enabling factors. The research categorizes the influence of factors on core practices as low, medium, or high impact based on quantitative data from CBH supply process experts. The FGD emphasized that constraining and enabling factors affecting core practices in CBHs are highly complex and context-dependent. These factors are influenced by various contextual aspects, business strategies, and specific project conditions. In conclusion, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, highlighting the importance of customized strategies to address constraining factorsand enhance enabling factors for scaling core practices within the supply process-es of CBHs. Further research is required on exploring CBHs with diverse historical backgrounds to identify new constraining and ena-bling factors specific to their context.