Soft Technologies for the Circular Transition: Practical Experimentation of the Product “Material Passport”

Abstract

The change of mind regarding waste conceived as resource is possible if the transition toward circularity is actualized. Design and build in a reversible perspective allow to enable circular strategies on a constructive system at the end of its service life. These strategies and solutions toward reversibility are defined Hard and Soft Technologies. If the first ones are the reversible constructive technics used on different elements of the building; the second ones consist in the operative aspects, regarding to tools and methods that allow the realization of reversible processes, projects and products. Specifically, the MP is a Soft Technology that facilitates the second use of a constructive systems that has residual performances once disassembled. As tool, the Material Passport collects the technical and operative information about the product, tracing the resources employed, maintaining their value over time and reducing the grade of uncertain about the circular potentiality of disassembled elements. The paper demonstrates the importance of Soft Technologies for the development of Hard Technologies and reports the outcomes of a practical experimentation developed. The application consists in the development of the Material Passport of a product of the manufacturing company Cel Components and in the definition of reversible practices for the generation of the circular transition of the company. The MP is processed within the BIM model of a company-produced panel, used for façade, false ceiling, internal partition or flooring systems, to elaborate a framework for the data entry. The application provides a user-friendly framework for designers and manufacturers.