Challenges facing components reuse in industrialized housing: A literature review

Concerns over the earth’s ability to sustain itself over the long term as a consequence of human consumption of natural resources points towards sustainable development. Since a large proportion of human consumption is linked to buildings and construction, this means managing the construction process in more sustainable ways. Strategies that target greater material efficiency and which promote circular economy concepts are among several approaches that are gaining in popularity. The adoption of life-cycle thinking and practices in design, construction and end of life through the reuse of construction components and materials is one such action to achieve a sustainable built environment. Reuse is not a new concept and technical solutions do exist; however, practical realization is hampered by many interrelated challenges. This review paper is the result of a literature review for an exploratory study that aims to identify obstacles to the reuse of building components and materials. The context is industrialized housing, particularly timber-based construction, as this is a sector where modern manufacturing and onsite practices have become established. The main obstacles identified and corroborated in the literature, along with their potential solutions, are summarized and conclusions drawn on the future direction of research needs.

Can Precise Irrigation Support the Sustainability of Protected Cultivation? A Life-Cycle Assessment and Life-Cycle Cost Analysis

To address sustainability challenges, agricultural advances in Mediterranean horticultural systems will necessitate a paradigmatic shift toward smart technologies, the impacts of which from a life cycle perspective have to be explored. Using life cycle thinking approaches, this study evaluated the synergistic environmental and economic performance of precise irrigation in greenhouse Zucchini production following a cradle-to-farm gate perspective. A cloud-based decision support system and a sensor-based irrigation management system (both referred to as “smart irrigation” approaches) were analyzed and compared to the farmer’s experience-based irrigation. The potential environmental indicators were quantified using life cycle assessment (LCA) with the ReCiPe 2016 method. For the economic analysis, life cycle costing (LCC) was applied, accounting not only for private product costs but also for so-called “hidden” or “external” environmental costs by monetizing LCA results. Smart irrigation practices exhibited similar performance, consuming on average 38.2% less irrigation water and energy, thus generating environmental benefits ranging from 0.17% to 62%. Single score results indicated that life cycle environmental benefits are up to 13% per ton of product. The cost-benefit analysis results showed that even though the implementation of smart irrigation imposes upfront investment costs, these costs are offset by the benefits to water and energy conservation associated with these practices. The reduction of investment costs and higher water costs in future, and lower internal rate of return can further enhance the profitability of smart irrigation strategies. The overall results of this study highlight that smart and innovative irrigation practices can enhance water-energy efficiency, gaining an economic advantage while also reducing the environmental burdens of greenhouse cultivation in a Mediterranean context.

A Conceptual Framework for Biointelligent Production—Calling for Systemic Life Cycle Thinking in Cellular Units

A sustainable design of production systems is essential for the future viability of the economy. In this context, biointelligent production systems (BIS) are currently considered one of the most innovative paths for a comprehensive reorientation of existing industrial patterns. BIS are intended to enable a highly localized on-demand production of personalized goods via stand-alone non-expert systems. Recent studies in this field have primarily adopted a technical perspective; this paper addresses the larger picture by discussing the essential issues of integrated production system design. Following a normative logic, we introduce the basic principle of systemic life cycle thinking in cellular units as the foundation of a management framework for BIS. Thereupon, we develop a coherent theoretical model of a future decentralized production system and derive perspectives for future research and development in key areas of management.

Exploring Social Sustainability Handprint—Part 1: Handprint and Life Cycle Thinking and Approaches

Sustainable development and sustainability encompass a strong focus on the advancement of sustainable societies, social sustainability, and overall well-being of people both now and in the future. These goals also highlight sustainable social/society–environment relationships and interfaces to promote sustainable development of both people and the planet. The promotion of social sustainability requires leadership, management, and assessment by organizations and people. This study explored social sustainability handprints from the perspective of handprint and life cycle thinking and approaches using qualitative research approaches. It addressed a clear gap in research and aimed at exploring, discovering, analyzing and synthetizing the main implications of these frameworks for the creation and assessment of the social sustainability handprint development. It was recognized that there are multiple ways to create social sustainability handprints, such as positive changes, actions, innovations, and impacts. The same applies to assessments that can be based on, for example, handprint and life cycle thinking and approaches, sustainability management, assessment and indicators, and sustainability science. The findings highlight the broadness and diversity of approaches, opportunities, and possibilities related to both the creation and assessment of social sustainability handprints. Additionally, they suggest that particular focus is needed, for example, on comprehensive approaches that take into account specific contexts, locations, cultures, scales, conditions, characteristics, perspectives, and stakeholders.

Integrated Deep Renovation of Existing Buildings with Prefabricated Shell Exoskeleton

The European goal to reach carbon neutrality in 2050 has further put the focus on the construction sector, which is responsible for great impacts on the environment, and new sustainable solutions to renovate the existing building stock are currently under development. In this paper, the AdESA (Adeguamento Energetico Sismico ed Architettonico, in Italian) system, a holistic retrofit technique for the integrated renovation of the existing buildings, is presented. The system was developed by a consortium of enterprises and universities and was applied to a pilot building. The system consists of a dry, modular and flexible shell exoskeleton technique that implements different layers depending on the building retrofit needs (cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels for the structural retrofit, thermal insulation panels for the energy efficiency amelioration, and claddings for the architectural restyling). In order to foster actual sustainability, the solution contextually targets eco-efficiency, safety and resilience. To this end, the system not only couples the structural and energy interventions to reduce the operating costs, but it is also conceived in compliance with life cycle thinking (LCT) principles to reduce impacts throughout the remaining building service life (from retrofit time to the end of its life). The system is designed to be easily mountable and demountable to allow for the reuse/recycling of its components at the end of life by adopting macro-prefabricated dry components and standardized connections, to reduce damage caused by earthquakes by reducing the allowed inter-story drift, and by amassing the possible damage into sacrificial replaceable elements. The paper describes the AdESA system from a multidisciplinary perspective and its effective application for the deep renovation of an existing gymnasium hall.

Leadership of EU member States in building carbon footprint regulations and their role in promoting circular building design

European countries are working towards carbon neutrality of the building sector. Regulations and initiatives, including the European Green Deal, aim at promoting circular buildings and low carbon design. Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate the role of legislation in paving the way towards achieving the circularity of buildings design and construction. A systematic literature review is conducted to compare the current regulations in different EU member states that address carbon emissions and life cycle thinking to achieve circularity. The study aims to demonstrate how the low-carbon emissions regulations in leading countries can lead to making the construction sector’s circularity. The research is focused on five leading EU member states in low carbon buildings, including Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The study compares the performance indicators, metrics, and target thresholds found in the five selected states’ regulations and examines them across a circularity assessment framework developed earlier by the authors. This paper provides insights on low emission building regulations state-of-the-art. Moreover, it offers a better understanding of the relationship between low-carbon emissions regulations and building circularity. The article explains the role of the legislative landscape and its impact on circular building design practices. Key findings from the study will assist the European Commission to identify policy options to support the uptake of “Circular economy principles for buildings design” in European, national and local policies.