How can you adopt green or circular construction models?

2 Why should you adopt green and circular construction models?

Adopting green and circular construction models can bring numerous advantages to your construction management practice, such as enhancing your reputation and competitiveness in the market by meeting the growing demand for sustainable solutions. It can also help reduce costs and risks by optimizing the use of materials and resources, avoiding waste disposal fees, and complying with environmental standards and regulations. Moreover, it can improve your performance and productivity by implementing best practices and technologies that enhance the quality, safety, and efficiency of your projects. Finally, it can contribute to social and environmental goals by creating buildings that improve the well-being of occupants and communities, conserve natural resources, and mitigate climate change.

3 How can you adopt green and circular construction models?

Adopting green and circular construction models requires a shift in mindset and culture, as well as a commitment to continuous learning and improvement. To start your journey, educate yourself and your team on the principles and practices of green and circular construction models through online courses, webinars, publications, and case studies from reputable sources. Additionally, assess your current situation to identify opportunities for improvement with tools such as the Green Building Rating System, the Circular Building Assessment Tool, or the Life Cycle Assessment. Set clear and realistic goals and strategies for implementing green and circular construction models using frameworks such as the LEED, BREEAM, or Living Building Challenge. Furthermore, collaborate with stakeholders and partners to ensure alignment and support by engaging with clients, suppliers, contractors, designers, and end-users. Lastly, monitor and report your progress with indicators such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the Material Circularity Indicator, or the Social Return on Investment.

4 What are some examples of green and circular construction models?

There are many inspiring examples of green and circular construction models around the world that demonstrate their feasibility and potential. For instance, the Edge in Amsterdam, Netherlands is a smart office building that uses solar panels, rainwater harvesting, geothermal energy, and sensor technology to achieve net-zero energy consumption and high levels of comfort and productivity. Additionally, the Brock Commons Tallwood House in Vancouver, Canada is a student residence that utilizes cross-laminated timber as the main structural material, reducing its carbon footprint. Furthermore, the 4th Mainland Bridge in Lagos, Nigeria is a planned infrastructure project that will use plastic waste as a raw material for building blocks, paving stones, and tiles. Lastly, the Waste House in Brighton, UK is a demonstration project that uses discarded materials such as toothbrushes, DVDs, and denim jeans as insulation and cladding. All of these projects showcase the possibilities of waste reuse and recycling.

5 What are some challenges and opportunities for green and circular construction models?

Adopting green and circular construction models can be challenging due to a lack of awareness and knowledge among stakeholders and professionals, resistance to change and innovation from traditional mindsets, higher upfront costs, limited availability of materials, technologies, and services, and fragmented policies and regulations. Nonetheless, these challenges also present opportunities for improvement such as increasing the demand and supply of green and circular models by raising awareness and creating incentives, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation by building trust and facilitating knowledge exchange, reducing costs and risks by optimizing design and construction processes, expanding availability of materials, technologies, and services by supporting research and development, and harmonizing policies to support the adoption of green and circular models.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?