Adapting residential envelope assemblies for full circularity

Abstract

Residential external wall assemblies are among the key contributors to embodied carbon emissions in the building industry. Their design, however, is still largely oriented towards linear consumption trajectories of extraction-use-waste. Within this context, this paper investigates how established material recovery potential assessment metrics could be used to inform design decisions aimed at improving circularity in buildings. A redesign of a typical timber frame assembly is presented and its material recovery performance is compared to standard systems. Results show a 35%-47% improvement in material recovery potential.