DelftX: Circular Economy for a Sustainable Built Environment

At the end of the course you will be able to:

• Recognize the principles of circularity and their application to the built environment
• Identify the scales of the built environment from materials and products to cities and regions
• Identify the life-cycle phases of building products and how they can be circular
• Discuss design principles in building of products and key aspects such as stakeholders, incentives, time-frames, business models
• Discuss the circular design and development approach for buildings and recognize the impact of a building on society and the environment during its life-cycle
• Recognize the flows at different city scales and how they differ depending on the actors and the local context
• Reflect on the complexity and variety of possible circular solutions in terms of energy, water and waste management
• Analyze and map the different stages and value webs of building materials at the regional level
• Reflect on possible environmental impacts of the different building life-cycle stages and activities along the value web
• Explore the potential of intervening to steer the value web towards more circularity

The course is divided into six modules:

1. Introduction: Motivation for the Circular Built Environment and basic terms
   The massive existing building stock and constantly increasing housing demand requires new building technologies and design strategies. Is circularity the answer? We will discuss the principles of the Circular Economy and how the Circular Built Environment can apply to a number of systemic levels.
2. Building products: Materials and components
   This week focuses on the products and materials, the base ingredient of buildings. What their life-cycle is and how they determine the overall life-cycle performance of buildings. We will explore design for disassembly and how this process can extend the useful life of the built product or bring them back to the circle.
3. Architecture and building: Sustainable construction and operation
   This week we will discuss the buildings’ layers and their life-cycle and explore how the principles of Circular Economy influenced the design of the featured case study buildings. We discuss the role of business models within the design and development process.
4. Cities and neighborhoods: Buildings, infrastructure and resource flows
   Buildings cannot be seen as isolated entities. During this week we will explore how circularity is connected to the neighborhood and city level. We will discuss the three most important flows that enter, circulate and leave the urban environment every day: water, energy and waste. We acknowledge that potential circular solutions depend on scale (building block, neighborhood, city) and on the various ways in which solutions can be organized (individually, collectively or centrally).
5. Regions: From supply chains to value webs
   The week centers around one comprehensive assignment which aims to explore the different impacts of thinking through scales. Furthermore, the assignment focuses on the geographical value chains of building products and reflects on possible environmental impacts of the different life-cycle stages and activities along the value web.
6. Conclusion: Addressing the transition to a Circular Built Environment, a practical approach
   We will discuss how the various aspects learned are impacting the implementation of circular building principles. Finally, we will sum up and come to an integrated view on a future circular built environment.