RECONSTRUCT : A Territorial Construction System for a Circular Low-Carbon Built Environment

Globally, the Construction industry is responsible for over 30% of the extraction of natural resources, 25% of solid waste generated and 40% of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions. Around a third of these emissions come from embodied carbon in construction. Cement and Steel are responsible for most of the embodied GHGs, representing >80% of the total. With recycling of cement and steel having a limited potential for further improving material efficiency, the focus is on replacing them with low-carbon alternatives and/or embedding them in reusable construction components. RECONSTRUCT will (i) develop low-carbon alternatives to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), to be used in both renovations and new buildings, and incorporate Construction & Demolition Waste (CDW) and other waste as much as possible, (ii) manufacture construction components that use such materials and are designed for modularity and dismantling so they can either be reused or easily disassembled and recycled, (iii) embed deconstruction in building design and construct circular lowcarbon buildings that produce near-zero CDW across their lifecycle