Enabling Reuse in the Swedish Construction Sector; Development of Product Parameters

Abstract

The construction sector is one of the most resource intensive industries globally and contributes to massive waste generation, greenhouse gas emissions and the consumption of virgin materials. Reuse of building components has been identified as an important strategy to reduce the impact of the sector by extending products life cycle and preserving material value. Despite the growing interest in circular practices, implementation of reuse within the sector remains limited. Previous research on the subject has identified several barriers such as lack of standardized information, uncertainty and limited market structures for reused objects. The purpose of this report was to investigate how a development of product parameters can support reuse in the Swedish construction sector. The study was conducted using a qualitative and abductive research approach, combining a literature review, an analysis of AMA and empirical interview results from professionals in the industry. Based on these findings parameter frameworks for selected building components were developed to illustrate which information is considered to be most essential to support reuse practices. The results show that reuse is hindered by technical challenges but also things such as: uncertainty regarding component performance, lack of trustworthy information, logistical barriers, and the absence of standardized methods for describing reused components. The study also suggests that complex information systems might be too difficult to implement in practice. Instead a smaller and more focused parameter structure may provide a more realistic starting point for enabling reuse workflows. The proposed parameter framework therefore only contains the parameters considered most essential for reuse decision making rather than all available data of a component. The study concludes that standardized and structured information has the potential to increase reuse. However reuse should be understood as a socio technical transition requiring coordinated development of market structures, digital systems, regulations and industry practices.