Cradle to Cradle and Whole-Life Carbon assessment - Barriers and opportunities towards a circular economic building sector

Abstract

The general awareness of climate change has been increasing steadily while buildings continue to be the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. To address the need for change in the building industry and transform its hazardous impacts on the environment to a positive footprint, circular economic design approaches and Whole-Life Carbon (WLC) assessment have been introduced. This paper analyses the main barriers for a successful implementation of the regenerative Cradle to Cradle (C2C) concept and WLC evaluation, identifying the lack of unified and measurable framework along with the deficiency of detailed case studies and post occupancy evaluation. In the context of the increasing demand for carbon accounting, obtaining comprehensive information on embodied carbon in buildings is challenging despite the existing Life Cycle Assessment structure. To link theory with practice, the paper discusses the London School of Economics Centre Buildings Redevelopment by RSH+P as case study. It reveals barriers and opportunities for WLC evaluation as well as the potential of life cycle cost optimization in environmental and economic terms. The paper concludes with a reflection on how the certification of materials through material passports may not only achieve a higher transparency but lead to a circular economic building industry by comprehensive WLC assessment and a closer implementation of reversible building design corresponding to the C2C principles. The potential of combining WLC evaluation with C2C strategies and translating them into a comprehensive, unified assessment framework for a circular building sector is identified.