Circular Construction in Regenerative Cities (CIRCuIT)

Organisations from across London, Copenhagen, Hamburg and the Helsinki Region have partnered in a four-year (2019-2023) collaborative project funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme called CIRCuIT - Circular Construction in Regenerative Cities: https://www.circuit-project.eu/

The project aims are to:

• Increase the regenerative capacity of cities
• Reduce the yearly consumption of virgin raw material by 20% in new builds
• Show cost savings of 15%

This will in turn result in waste and carbon reduction.

Through the project three innovative interventions will be explored:

• Urban mining and reverse cycles (the re-use and recycling of materials);
• Extending building life through transformation and refurbishment; and
• Designing for disassembly and flexible construction (to make the other two interventions easier in the future).

These interventions will be implemented through nine demonstrations in each partner city which will aim to:

• Bridge the gap between implementation of individual pilots and realisation of actual circular and regenerative cities – so scaling up to show how circular building practice can transform cities and regions at scale
• Demonstrate the application of current and future developed tools and instruments for circular built environment – so converting cutting edge theory into practice

Knowledge and skills sharing are also a key aspect of the project. CIRCuIT will support cities in implementing circular construction solutions and initiate changes at system level through:

• Developing recommendations, tools and resources including public procurement criteria and roadmaps
• Establishing a Circularity Hub – a suite of data platforms including a data atlas, dashboard, citizen engagement portal, materials exchange platform and wiki
• Setting up a knowledge sharing structure which will include training focused at municipalities and establishing networks across Europe.

To keep up to date with the project you can join the project mailing list.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Carbon emissions reduction target CERT.
• Carbon Reduction Commitment.
• Refurbishing.
• Skills to build.
• Sustainability in building design and construction.
• What has the UK done about carbon reduction since the Paris Agreement?