TY - JOUR
T1 - Toward a low-carbon and circular building sector
T2 - Building strategies and urbanization pathways for the Netherlands
AU - van Oorschot, Janneke
AU - Sprecher, Benjamin
AU - Rijken, Bart
AU - Witteveen, Pieter
AU - Blok, Merlijn
AU - Schouten, Nico
AU - van der Voet, Ester
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Buildings are an important part of society's environmental impacts, both in the construction and in the use phase. As the energy performance of buildings improve, construction materials become more important as a cause of environmental impact. Less attention has been given to those materials. We explore, as an alternative for conventional buildings, the use of biobased materials and circular building practices. In addition to building design, we analyze the effect of urbanization. We assess the potential to close material cycles together with the material related impact, between 2018 and 2050 in the Netherlands. Our results show a limited potential to close material cycles until 2050, as a result of slow stock turnover and growth of the building stock. At present, end-of-life recycling rates are low, further limiting circularity. Primary material demand can be lowered when shifting toward biobased or circular construction. This shift also reduces material related carbon emissions. Large-scale implementation of biobased construction, however, drastically increases land area required for wood production. Material demand differs strongly spatially and depends on the degree of urbanization. Urbanization results in higher building replacement rates, but constructed dwellings are generally small compared to scenarios with more rural developments. The approach presented in this work can be used to analyze strategies aimed at closing material cycles in the building sector and lowering buildings' embodied environmental impact, at different spatial scales.
AB - Buildings are an important part of society's environmental impacts, both in the construction and in the use phase. As the energy performance of buildings improve, construction materials become more important as a cause of environmental impact. Less attention has been given to those materials. We explore, as an alternative for conventional buildings, the use of biobased materials and circular building practices. In addition to building design, we analyze the effect of urbanization. We assess the potential to close material cycles together with the material related impact, between 2018 and 2050 in the Netherlands. Our results show a limited potential to close material cycles until 2050, as a result of slow stock turnover and growth of the building stock. At present, end-of-life recycling rates are low, further limiting circularity. Primary material demand can be lowered when shifting toward biobased or circular construction. This shift also reduces material related carbon emissions. Large-scale implementation of biobased construction, however, drastically increases land area required for wood production. Material demand differs strongly spatially and depends on the degree of urbanization. Urbanization results in higher building replacement rates, but constructed dwellings are generally small compared to scenarios with more rural developments. The approach presented in this work can be used to analyze strategies aimed at closing material cycles in the building sector and lowering buildings' embodied environmental impact, at different spatial scales.
KW - building material
KW - circular economy
KW - climate change
KW - geographic information systems
KW - industrial ecology
KW - material flow analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85145725759&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/jiec.13375
DO - 10.1111/jiec.13375
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85145725759
SN - 1088-1980
VL - 27
SP - 535
EP - 547
JO - Journal of Industrial Ecology
JF - Journal of Industrial Ecology
IS - 2
ER -