TY - GEN
T1 - Circling Towards Profit
T2 - 11th International Conference of Ar.Tec. (Scientific Society of Architectural Engineering), Colloqui.AT.e 2024
AU - Khadim, Nouman
AU - Agliata, Rosa
AU - Mollo, Luigi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.
PY - 2024/11/1
Y1 - 2024/11/1
N2 - The concept of Circular Economy (CE) has undergone a significant evolution, extending beyond the traditional 3R paradigm (reduce, reuse, recycle) to embrace a more holistic perspective that incorporates additional aspects. Previous research indicates the profound impact of circularity on the economic as well as the environmental domains of sustainability. Despite numerous efforts to integrate circularity metrics with established environmental and economic evaluation methods, a comprehensive framework that cohesively synthesizes circularity with both economic and environmental in a single unified framework is notably missing. To address this gap, this paper introduces the Cost of Circularity Assessment Tool (CoCAT), an innovative and integrated framework. CoCAT incorporates the Whole Building Circularity Indicator (WBCI) along with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) to simultaneously evaluate the economic as well as the environmental feasibility of various circular solutions. WBCI serves as the key metric on which the rest of the analysis is developed. The effective integration of WBCI with LCA has previously been demonstrated, and this study extends the methodology to encompass LCC through a rigorous literature review and critical analysis. The paper methodically explains this unified framework, aligning CE-based methodologies for all three assessments within the CoCAT in line with the existing standards. Additionally, it provides guidance on conducting integrated inventory analysis, combined interpretation, and visual representation of results, with a focus on whole-building level assessment. The research reveals that such integration streamlines the assessment process, saving time and effort. CoCAT can be used by stakeholders, companies and LCA practitioners to identify trade-offs between increased circularity and its impacts on sustainability performance (environmental and economic) for informed decision-making.
AB - The concept of Circular Economy (CE) has undergone a significant evolution, extending beyond the traditional 3R paradigm (reduce, reuse, recycle) to embrace a more holistic perspective that incorporates additional aspects. Previous research indicates the profound impact of circularity on the economic as well as the environmental domains of sustainability. Despite numerous efforts to integrate circularity metrics with established environmental and economic evaluation methods, a comprehensive framework that cohesively synthesizes circularity with both economic and environmental in a single unified framework is notably missing. To address this gap, this paper introduces the Cost of Circularity Assessment Tool (CoCAT), an innovative and integrated framework. CoCAT incorporates the Whole Building Circularity Indicator (WBCI) along with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) to simultaneously evaluate the economic as well as the environmental feasibility of various circular solutions. WBCI serves as the key metric on which the rest of the analysis is developed. The effective integration of WBCI with LCA has previously been demonstrated, and this study extends the methodology to encompass LCC through a rigorous literature review and critical analysis. The paper methodically explains this unified framework, aligning CE-based methodologies for all three assessments within the CoCAT in line with the existing standards. Additionally, it provides guidance on conducting integrated inventory analysis, combined interpretation, and visual representation of results, with a focus on whole-building level assessment. The research reveals that such integration streamlines the assessment process, saving time and effort. CoCAT can be used by stakeholders, companies and LCA practitioners to identify trade-offs between increased circularity and its impacts on sustainability performance (environmental and economic) for informed decision-making.
KW - Circular buildings
KW - Circular economy
KW - Circular life cycle costing
KW - Circularity assessment
KW - Cost of circularity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85209889070&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85209889070&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-031-71867-0_31
DO - 10.1007/978-3-031-71867-0_31
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85209889070
SN - 9783031718663
SN - 9783031718694
VL - 3
T3 - Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering
SP - 454
EP - 470
BT - Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of Ar.Tec. (Scientific Society of Architectural Engineering)
A2 - Corrao, Rossella
A2 - Campisi, Tiziana
A2 - Colajanni, Simona
A2 - Saeli, Manfredi
A2 - Vinci, Calogero
PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Y2 - 12 June 2024 through 15 June 2024
ER -