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Creative Reuse for Furniture and the Built Environment

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:58:40 GMT

We are in the middle of a quiet revolution in how the design and construction industries think about materials. For decades, the story of a building or an office fit-out followed a familiar arc: specify new, install, and when the lease runs out or the brand refresh arrives, strip it all out and dispose of it. That model is no longer tenable — environmentally, economically, or ethically. Reusefully's Theo Simondetti explains how creative reuse is becoming a powerful tool available to designers.

Image above: Tipping Point East is a new circular construction hub in Newham. One of its aims is to store and make available materials that could be used for creative reuse.

Creative reuse — the practice of extending the productive life of materials, components, and furniture through adaptation, restoration, and reimagination — is emerging as one of the most powerful tools available to architects, interior designers, and their clients. It sits at the intersection of sustainability, craftsmanship, and design intelligence. And it is being pioneered by makers who understand that the most valuable material is often the one that is already in the room.

The Problem with 'New

The construction and interiors industry has a carbon problem that is hiding in plain sight. Today, the harvesting, manufacture, and transportation of the raw materials used in building construction account for around 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions — a figure that rivals the operational energy use of buildings themselves, especially as we decarbonise our buildings.

Furniture is a significant contributor. A typical commercial office fit-out replaces desks, storage units, and seating on a cycle of roughly five to ten years — sometimes less as lease structures shorten. When those pieces are discarded, their embodied carbon is released. It remains in the atmosphere for a century or more. According to research from Gensler, the simple reuse of an office desk can reduce its carbon footprint by 36%. Remanufacturing — returning furniture to as-new condition — has been found to reduce carbon emissions by up to 80% compared with buying new.

Beyond carbon, there is a resource efficiency argument. The construction industry accounts for over 30% of global resource extraction and generates around 25% of all solid waste, both having massive impacts on biodiversity. Much of that waste is not end-of-life material — it is nearly-new material that simply became inconvenient.

What 'Creative Reuse' Actually Means

The term creative reuse covers a wide spectrum of approaches, from the relatively simple to the genuinely transformative. Understanding the distinctions matters, because different situations call for different strategies.

Reuse

At its most straightforward, reuse means incorporating existing materials or components directly into new work. This might involve salvaged timber being integrated into new joinery, or existing furniture carcasses being disassembled and their components specified as raw material for new pieces. The embodied carbon of those materials resets to near-zero; the energy cost of a new extraction and manufacturing cycle is avoided entirely. The design challenge is finding ways to incorporate materials with a history into something that feels intentional rather than makeshift — which is where craft and design skill become essential.

Restoration

Restoration is the art of returning something worn or outdated to active service. A surface refinish — re-veneering a credenza, respraying a set of storage units in a new corporate palette — can bring ten more years of useful life to a piece that might otherwise have been skipped. Restoration can also mean upgrading the functional innards of furniture: replacing obsolete integrated power units with modern USB-C and wireless charging solutions, or adapting fixed configurations to meet the way people now use space. Crucially, restoration need not be limited to furniture made by the original manufacturer. A skilled maker can assess and restore pieces from any origin.

Reimagination

Reimagination is the most ambitious of the three, and arguably the most interesting from a design perspective. It involves completely reconfiguring existing pieces — not just refinishing them, but physically transforming them into something new. A boardroom table becomes a series of collaborative touchdown desks. A bank of fixed storage units is disassembled and rebuilt as a flexible room divider with integrated display. The material is retained; the object is reinvented. Done well, reimagined furniture carries with it a layered quality — a sense of institutional memory, of continuity across the life of a building — that new pieces simply cannot replicate.

Case Study: Opus Magnum's ReCrafting™ Initiative

Few commercial furniture makers in the UK have thought as systematically about creative reuse as Opus Magnum, the London-based bespoke furniture manufacturer founded in 1989 and now employee-owned. The company works at the upper end of the commercial market — clients include the Palace of Westminster, the Weston Library in Oxford, the Natural History Museum, and major financial institutions in the City — and has spent decades building furniture designed to last in complex, high-use environments.

In recent years, Opus Magnum has formalised its approach to reuse through a trademarked initiative called ReCrafting™. The framework organises the company's reuse offer into three parallel pathways — Reuse, Restore, and Reimagine — each addressing a different degree of intervention and a different type of client need. It is a rare example of a commercial manufacturer treating the post-first-life of its products as a structured design opportunity rather than an afterthought.

A few weeks ago the Reusefully team took a trip down to the workshop to see the ReCrafting process in action. It was inspiring to speak to the team and hear first hand their desire to create a more circular furniture construction model, and witness the creative techniques they are using to ‘hide’ the old in the new. Developing products that seamlessly incorporate the past under sleek new finishes that meet the demands of their corporate clients, unlike a lot of current upcycled products such as pallet furniture, which overtly celebrate their rugged previous life. The team left with a renewed intrigue for the breadth of approaches that can be taken to address material and product reuse within our own projects.

Left: The internal structure of the base is made using the same original material, mixed with other end of life boards. Right: The original veneer is removed by a CNC router, carefully removing the top millimetre, leaving a perfectly flat surface.

Reuse: Incorporating the Existing

Under Opus Magnum's Reuse pathway, existing materials are incorporated into the structure of new furniture. Those materials can be sourced from the client's own existing pieces — a redundant boardroom table, a set of storage units from a previous fit-out — or from off-cuts and waste generated within Opus Magnum's own Wandsworth workshop. The process requires careful material assessment, but the principle is straightforward: before anything new is specified, ask what already exists and whether it has a future role.

This approach directly addresses one of the more wasteful dynamics in commercial interiors: the tendency for high-quality, durable components to be discarded simply because their immediate context has changed. A solid timber worktop from a decommissioned trading floor may be perfectly serviceable as a feature element in a new collaborative lounge. The carbon has already been spent; the craft is in finding the right new form for the material.

Restore: Extending Active Life

The Restore pathway focuses on refinishing and functional upgrading. Surface refinishes — reveneering, respraying, relacquering — address the visible wear that accumulates in high-traffic commercial environments and can make otherwise sound furniture feel tired. Opus Magnum also offers upgrades to integrated technology: replacing outmoded power and data infrastructure with solutions that meet current office standards.

Significantly, the company is open to working with furniture that was not originally made by them. This is an important distinction. Many manufacturers will only service their own products, creating a commercial incentive to recommend replacement over restoration. Opus Magnum's willingness to work with pieces from any origin reflects a genuine commitment to reuse as a principle rather than a marketing exercise.

Design for the Future Life

Opus Magnum designs its new furniture with future reuse in mind. Components are dry-jointed rather than glued, so they can be disassembled, repaired, or reworked with new finishes without destroying the underlying structure. This is the circular economy logic applied at the making stage: furniture conceived not as a product with an end-of-life, but as a material resource in an ongoing cycle.

The company holds ISO 14001 certification, operates a biomass boiler fuelled by workshop waste, generates around a third of its electricity from rooftop solar panels, and uses FSC-certified timber as standard. These are not peripheral additions to the business; they are part of a consistent environmental philosophy.

Creative Reuse in the Wider Built Environment

Furniture is a microcosm of a much larger challenge — and opportunity — in the built environment. The same logic that makes furniture reuse compelling applies at every scale, from the fitting out of individual rooms to the repurposing of entire buildings.

Adaptive reuse of buildings — converting redundant offices into residential units, repurposing industrial structures as cultural venues, rehabilitating historic buildings for contemporary use — is increasingly recognised as one of the most effective decarbonisation strategies available to the construction sector. Retaining the embodied carbon already invested in a building's foundations and primary structure avoids an enormous manufacturing burden. It also preserves the cultural continuity of the built environment — the accumulated character of streets and neighbourhoods that new construction takes generations to replicate.

Design for disassembly — the practice of specifying building components that can be taken apart and reused at end of life — is gaining traction in progressive architectural practice. Where buildings have historically been assemblies of materials that are effectively inseparable once constructed, a new generation of designers is treating structures as material banks: repositories of resources that can be drawn upon and reconfigured as needs change.

The barriers to wider adoption remain significant. As research into the furniture sector illustrates, they include high refurbishment costs relative to cheap new products, limited infrastructure for collection and reverse logistics, fragmented supply chains, and procurement frameworks that default to new. Overcoming them will require coordination across manufacturers, designers, clients, and policymakers — as well as makers willing to treat reuse as a serious design discipline rather than a niche offering.

The Design Opportunity

There is a tendency to frame creative reuse in terms of constraint — as something designers do because they must, not because they want to. That framing misses the point. The most interesting work emerging from the reuse movement is genuinely ambitious: pieces and spaces that carry complexity, history, and material richness that virgin resources simply cannot provide.

Working with existing materials demands a different kind of design intelligence. It requires close reading of what is already there, an understanding of what can be unlocked through skilled making, and the imagination to see a credenza not as a redundant asset but as raw material for something new. Those are design skills worth cultivating — and they produce outcomes worth celebrating.

Advancing Construction Circularity in Scotland

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 07:20:15 GMT

The Scottish Government launched its Circular Economy Strategy towards the end of last month, with the built environment identified as one of five areas of priority.

A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland will, it says, encourage sustainable growth, increase supply chain resilience, create jobs and encourage innovation. For each of five priority areas, Scottish Government is aiming to work with in partnership with stakeholders to develop roadmaps to accelerate circularity.

The built environment is in fact, seen as being pivotal in shaping social, economic and environmental outcomes. As one of the largest consumers of resources and contributors to waste, the construction sector is critical.

The roadmap that is to be created for the built environment is expected to include the adoption of low carbon materials and circular economy practices, overcoming barriers such as lack of confidence and less established supply chains. It will focus on the conditions needed for construction businesses to adopt a greater range of circular economy practices and unlock economic opportunities.

Whilst the strategy highlights how the construction sector in Scotland has made good progress to reduce waste and increase recycling rates, there is a need to promote activity further up the waste hierarchy by encouraging greater reuse of materials, and is looking at a range of measures to help enable this. It highlights the fact that Zero Waste Scotland has recently unveiled a new Circular Construction Hub , which will be designed to facilitate reuse through both a physical and digital platform, as a good example of how things are starting to change.

We are also seeing over drivers for circularity in the built environment including Glasgow’s Tall Building Design Guidance, the Circular Economy Route Map for Glasgow 2025-2030 and via carbon requirements, the Net Zero Public Sector Buildings Standard and national Planning Policy .

Reuse and Circularity in Action Across Scotland – Reusefully Projects

Outside of London, Scotland is one of the most active areas of work for Reusefully, with interest in circularity and reuse driven by interested clients and project teams. We have a wealth of projects underway in major urban areas such as Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as further afield.

One of the more interesting projects we were involved with is the redevelopment of one of Scotland’s most famous whisky distillery sites on Speyside. The owners wished to understand options for potential retention of buildings due for potential demolition, and the options for reuse of materials for any demolition which took place.

We have also worked on numerous office developments in Glasgow and Edinburgh, ranging from light touch refurbishments to more involved repurposing of buildings including some partial planned demolition.

Planning for Circular Construction - Event Summary

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 20:16:23 GMT

How can planning policy influence and support the development of the circular economy in construction and what actions can municipalities take to support circularity and reuse?

At the end of January, Reusefully hosted a webinar on this topic with contributions from more than 100 attendees who joined from across the UK, Denmark and beyond.

The event featured an impressive group of speakers which included Gilli Hobbs , co-founder and director of Reusefully, who also chairs of the British Standards working group on Circular Economy in Construction and is co-lead for the European working group looking at standards for pre-deconstruction audits. Hrabrina Nikolova-Laxness of Westminster City Council, who have now formally adopted a ‘Retrofit First’ policy and Pernille Kernel of the Capital Region of Denmark, who leads on a broad range of project collaborations to create a circular transformation of the construction sector.

Hrabrina’s presentation was entitled ‘Retrofit-First for Circular Construction’ . She described how Westminster comprises one of the densest and highest profiles areas of London with some of the most significant historic buildings - almost 80% of Westminster, in fact, sits within a conservation area.

Westminster’s new policy is going further than these regional requirements by requiring all schemes to submit assessments regardless of size, if they are proposing any demolition of a building over one storey. New proposals will also need to meet upfront carbon benchmarks.

The philosophy underlying Westminster’s approach is placing major emphasis on reducing primary resource use and preventing waste in the first place. Within ‘Retrofit First’ they have defined levels of redevelopment, which for retrofit involves demolition from 0-10% of the current floor area of a building, to partial demolition and substantial demolition involving more than 50% of floor area. The latter being classified as new build.

In line with GLA requirements, a Pre-Redevelopment Audit is also required for all new buildings and major demolitions, which will require the developer to justify any potential demolition and prove that they cannot achieve their aims through retention and retrofit. Westminster have further defined the ‘tests’ that need to be undertaken as part of this upfront decision making process.

The carbon benchmarks that have been adopted apply at different levels depending on the size and type of development, and these are based on a methodology developed by the UK’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveys (RICS).

In practice, Hrabrina said, this policy is already leading to a higher level of innovation. She quoted an example of 63 New Bond Street which is the former Fenwicks department store in Mayfair, which was presented for planning approval with more than 50% slab retention and 70% facade retention.

The design proposals had to address a number of challenges, particularly as the building was made up of eight different structures, dating back to the 1800s up to the 1980s. The solution adopted by the client and design team was to jack up parts of the existing structures thus allowing alignment of different floor and ceiling heights.

Westminster themselves were also involved in innovative concrete reuse trial at their own major housing development at Ebury Bridge , aiming to set a new standard in estate regeneration.

Pernille described how municipalities in Denmark have a role in circularity, both as major building owners (with over 2.5 million square metres), as promoters and supporters of regional development, and as the ‘raw material authorities’ deciding where and when raw materials can be extracted.

In addition, more generally across Denmark the wider adoption of a life-cycle carbon assessments (LCA) is supporting reuse as reused materials currently count as zero in the carbon emissions calculation.

Other measures under consideration include the creation of local ‘material stations’ across Denmark, which are physical storage hubs which also may include some aspects of reprocessing.

The Capital Region are currently directly supporting a number of development through 25 hours free consultancy, alongside a Task Force for Circular Construction projects. Other actions include bringing together public/private partnerships, as well as considering the legal issues surrounding this. A ‘donor building’ platform is currently being developed, mapping future resource availability, which is being financed under the Danish public digitisation fund.

Gilli Hobbs completed the presentations by describing how Reusefully are brought in to help developers and design teams meet the increasingly stringent requirements laid down by Westminster and other local authorities in the UK, against the backdrop and with the aim of achieving greater retention and reuse. In some projects, drivers also include the client’s own sustainability commitments (for example, ESG strategies linked to wider stakeholder concerns), which is starting to become more apparent in some areas. Additionally, there may be a need to meet the requirements of certification standards such as BREEAM or SKA.

Overall, the requirements for granularity and detail within Pre-Deconstruction Audits - a first step to achieving greater circularity - is now growing, and this is a trend which is a welcome development. There are moves within a European standards working group (CEN TC 350 SC1) addressing how you should measure circularity and effectively enable reuse which will contribute towards this. This standards work is ongoing, and we will start to see Technical Reports and Standards being published in late 2026, and into 2027.

Gilli presented Reusefully’s ‘Reuse Pathway’ diagram which is an effective way of addressing and communicating the practical actions needed to move from reuse potential to ‘reuse reality’. This comprises a ten-step process, helping clients, together with their design and project teams understand what they need to address and identify the most effective and appropriate action to take.

Gilli quoted an example of Reusefully’s work at 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields (which is situated within Westminster planning jurisdiction), on behalf of the client (the London School of Economics) and a design team led by David Chipperfield Architects, and now working closely during construction with the contractors McLaren Construction.

A large proportion of the existing building was retained (more than 7,500 tonnes) and over 540 tonnes of reuse and higher value recycling is being achieved. This includes the reuse of bricks onsite, stone cladding, ceramic tiles and wooden flooring. A critical factor in this was the detail and granularity of the original audit undertaken by Reusefully, and close collaboration and commitment within the whole project team.

A lively exchange of questions and comments followed the speaker presentations, with questions focusing on topics such as the carbon limits that are being adopted by Westminster and other local authorities, how these are worked out and how they are applied.

For both Westminster and Denmark, the emphasis is on proving that demolition is really necessary, and setting carbon limits for development, with developers needing to show what is the public benefit from new build. Hrabrina also described how these limits are based on a methodology developed by the UK’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the long process of detailed consultation and data gathering that Westminster went through.

It was a similar story in Denmark, with consultation and discussion around what would be required to meet carbon reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement. Pernille also described how municipalities in Denmark are seeking to restrict new development in housing, encouraging retention of existing buildings with retrofit or extensions, in favour of demolition.

The role of green building standards such as BREEAM, SKA and DGNB was discussed, together with some of the specifics of the concrete reuse pilot that Westminster are engaged with.

Issues such as insurance and warranty for reused products came up, and it was acknowledged as a challenging area. Gilli highlighted developments in the reuse of steel and areas such as reused raised access flooring and lighting where warranty schemes are starting to be adopted. She also highlighted the development of standards to support aspects of reuse, PDAs, circular design, circularity assessment, building and product passports. These should help with the provision of warranties and insurance cover once published.

For further information on any issues raised in this webinar, please contact Reusefully on hello@reusefully.co.uk .

Additionally, you can download a copy of the presentations from the speakers here .

COP30’s Final Day: A Story About Homes, Climate and Lessons from Brazil

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 13:51:59 GMT

As COP30 closes today in Brazil, most headlines have centred on forests and energy. But there’s another critical question we must ask "where will people live in a climate-safe future? Gilli Hobbs of Reusefully and Ana Quintas of Sustenuto reflect on affordable housing, sustainability and quality.

Affordable housing isn’t only a social priority, it’s a climate imperative. Sustainable development can only succeed if construction, housing, and social impact move forward together.

Around 11 years ago, whilst at BRE, we were invited to a pan government and industry workshop to discuss affordable housing and priorities to improve sustainability and quality in the next (highly ambitious) phases of the Minha Casa Minha Vida programme.

There had already been around 3 million homes built over 7 years. An impressive feat that resulted in millions of Brazilians having formal housing for the first time. However, there were issues arising from these developments that needed to be resolved prior to the next wave of developments. In 2015, we launched a programme with Caixa Econômica Federal and UNDP to strengthen sustainability in Brazil’s social housing sector - Advancing the Sustainability of Social Housing Developments in Brazil. The goal was to raise environmental performance and building quality in Brazil’s Minha Casa Minha Vida programme, which has provided millions of homes for low-income families.

These earlier housing developments offer important lessons, while future programmes present opportunities to embed higher sustainability standards from the start. To support this evolution, our team and partners developed a set of tools and methodologies:

Sustainability Standard for Social Housing : A framework to support governance, tools, training, and guidance to programme managers and operators.
Balanced Scorecard : A holistic evaluation approach covering infrastructure, services, and the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of communities.
Post-Occupancy Evaluation : A robust methodology adapted to the Brazilian context, enabling consistent data collection on housing performance and resident experience.
Impact Assessment : Although data gaps limited a full evaluation, we provided strategic guidance to strengthen future assessments.
Dissemination Phase : Workshops with industry, associations, and residents, supported by CAIXA, UNDP, and the Ministry of Cities, ensured wide engagement and knowledge sharing.

This work marked the beginning of a long-term journey: embedding sustainability not just in buildings, but in governance, urban planning, and community development. Watch this short video on how Brazil approached sustainable housing challenges a decade ago.

Why this matters today

Buildings account for nearly 40% of global energy-related emissions. Every affordable home built without sustainability locks in decades of inefficiency, higher costs, and increased climate risk for families who can least afford it. As COP30 ends, the real work begins. Climate justice isn’t only about forests and energy transitions . It’s also about homes—where people live, raise families, and build their futures. Sustainable development only succeeds when housing, construction, climate resilience, and social impact move hand in hand. COP30 reminds us of a simple truth: climate justice starts at home.

What did we learn?

Our project was quite intense, involving many stakeholders from across Brazil. The level of collaboration and determination to provide more sustainable and resilient homes for the poorest segment of society was very impressive – for which it won an award as you can see below.

Also, Brazil has at least 5 distinct climatic zones, which meant that some aspects needed to be tailored in a way that supported significant variance in temperatures, environmental risks and considerations, e.g. water scarcity.

Ultimately, the consideration of multiple sustainability and quality issues was a learning journey for everyone, highlighting issues and achieving a consensus on how to raise performance in a consistent and verifiable way. All of this within the incredibly tight financial constraints of not increasing the base cost of the homes. It can be done where an equal playing field is created with clear rules of the game (and a good referee)!

A call to action

As we reflect on this year’s outcomes from COP30, let’s ask ourselves w hat policies, partnerships, and innovations can make housing both affordable and climate-smart? Because building homes means building futures.

The choices we make today will shape communities and the climate for decades to come. If you’re working in housing, sustainability, or urban development, we’d welcome your perspective in the comments.

45 Waterloo Street – Reuse in Action in Glasgow’s Financial Services District

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 13:55:37 GMT

45 Waterloo Street is a 95,500 sq ft office building acquired by RoundShield and CEG Group earlier this year which is currently undergoing refurbishment by the new owners. This includes a full internal refurbishment, refreshed external elevations, a new external roof terrace and removal of the large, glazed atrium to the rear of the building. The building is situated in Glasgow’s busy financial services district.

Innes Building Consultancy engaged Reusefully to carry out a pre-refurbishment audit to maximise the circularity and reuse opportunities in the redevelopment. This was especially important for BREEAM purposes and to help achieve the project’s strong sustainability and circularity aspirations.

The audit and workshop facilitated discussions that meant that a number of opportunities were quickly identified. Items including raised access flooring, emergency exit lights, switch gear equipment, decorative pebbles and timber skirting board, were assessed and deemed suitable for onsite reuse.

Innes Building Consultancy highlighted items such as glass partitions, glass doors, and feature lighting, that can be designed into other projects that they are working on, providing a great example of how buildings can be used as material banks.

The strip out commenced at the start of November, and the team is intending to track the project’s progress, actual reuse, and the embodied carbon avoided through reuse. Once the project is complete, we will be able to produce comparison data from estimated to actual reuse, and share our successes, so stay tuned!

Driving Reuse – Emphasising the Positives

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 14:36:55 GMT

Part of driving the transition to a circular economy is highlighting the truth about the effect that we’re having on the environment, the challenges we are facing, and the issues that need to be addressed.

Reusefully's Zoe Culverhouse reflects on some of the learning from the recent ASBP Reuse Summit, and the need to focus on the positives we are starting to see.

For most of us, and certainly for those of us who attended the ASBP Reuse Summit, the scary truths are enough to make us change our ways and work to find solutions. It is also true however, that for some having access to this information is not enough to spur them to create change. So, the question I’m sure we all want answered is, what will?

Leading by example, highlighting the benefits, sharing successes, and proving possibilities were key themes and drivers discussed throughout many of the talks.

There are lots of positive things happening in the world of circularity and sustainability; global risks for climate change are being recognised, there has been growth is renewables, embodied carbon legislation is improving, we are seeing successful reuse of numerous materials and products, and The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion that climate inaction can be a breach of international law, to name a short few.

Potentially one of the most exciting things to see is that there is so much innovation in this space, many of the speakers spoke about the idea of ‘possibilism’ and these innovative projects are showcasing just that.

At Euston Tower, Arup and 3XN GXN are extracting panels of the concrete floor for reuse in another structure. At the Brunswick Centre Hub, Heyne Tillett Steel are jacking and lowering floor slabs to increase floor to ceiling heights, and at Resource Rows, Lendager cut out and reassembled old cement-mortar brick facades into new facade modules. Reusefully were involved with one of these projects, proving the initial pre-demolition audit for Euston Tower.

Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer to our question of what will drive change, but I can share with you some of the topics shared at the ASBP Reuse Summit.

Salvatore Gangemi and Ivo Kolchev, sustainability managers at McLaren, spoke about some of the risks of inaction around sustainability and circularity that organisations may be facing now and in the future. These include regulatory, reputational, and operational risks and may be key drivers for those who I fear will otherwise make no attempt at change.

Though risk is a big driver it is not ideal to force people into change, so how do we make them want to?

Many of the speakers shared ways in which we might do so; we need to get them involved, we can challenge norms around procurement and business as usual, lead by example and share our successes and possibilities, share the benefits (like winning awards, professional pride, and faster planning processes), and one of my favourite suggestions, we can trick them! Well not really, but this idea stemmed from discussion around renaming reuse and shifting terminology to change perception, dubbed ‘sneaky reuse’. Some suggestions included renaming reused materials as ‘carbon free materials’, ‘pre-loved’, or ‘extended life products’.

A great example of success is Durley Chine Environmental Hub, designed by Footprint Architects. It is an amazing building that has the power to get people excited about reuse. When Philip O’Leary, Director at Filros Timber Consultancy and Board Member of Woodknowlege Wales, shared this case study with the group you could hear the amazement at its beauty. Some may be surprised to know that it is partially constructed and clad with reclaimed timber. You may not think you’re interested in ‘timber reuse’ but I have no doubt that this building interests you, the reuse of the reclaimed timber alongside other sustainable elements don’t just make it beautiful, they give it a story. It is now an exemplar and award-winning building for sustainability.

Though it may sometimes feel like it, most people aren’t actively trying to push against circularity and reuse. Ben Holmes Associate Director & Head of Sustainability at Elliott Wood, spoke about how giving people the tools to succeed is key. His implementation toolkit shows us that to be successful project teams need, capability, motivation, and opportunity. Capability can be built by providing tools that can be used to reduce the information gap. Opportunity can be created by processes such as getting an audit done as early as possible and following up through the project. Motivation can be sustained through storytelling, gamification, workshops and competitions.

So, my main takeaways from this event are, to focus on the positives and the successes we have already seen, share the bright and beautiful side of reuse, remember to stay excited about progress and innovation, and base your world view around what is possible.

Some further reading and information:

Euston Tower , Arup and 3XN GXN

Heyne Tillet Steel

Lendager’s Resource Rows

Durley Chine Environmental Hub , Footprint Architects

ASBP’s Reuse Now campaign

You can connect with Zoe Culverhouse on LinkedIn

A Vision for Greater Circularity for Fit-Outs and Interiors

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:14:34 GMT

We spend 80-90% of our time indoors, and the workplaces, leisure spaces and retail outlets we use are of fundamental importance to our lives, our health, wellbeing and our economy. However the market that supports the creation and management of interior spaces is highly wasteful and carbon heavy.

Fit-out alone is thought to be responsible for 300 tonnes of waste going to landfill per day in the UK. Much of this waste is arising from the strip-out phase, with many products and materials being fit for reuse or high-value recycling but typically sent to low-grade recycling or energy from waste routes, rather than retaining their inherent value.

Overbury’s “Counting the Upfront Carbon in Cat B Office Fit-Out Report” (2024) estimates the average upfront carbon performance level of Cat B office fit-out as 190kg CO2e/m2 GIA. Overbury uses LETI (Low Energy Transformation Initiative) Band D carbon targets for offices as a comparison at 775kg CO2e/m2 GIA for shell and core.

It’s a startling fact to consider that a Cat B fit-out can quickly produce a higher cumulative carbon than the original building, if its fitted out more than 5 times in its lifetime.

There are particular aspects and practices associated with both CAT A and CAT B fit-outs that will amplify the production of waste. In some CAT A buildings, tenants will simply want to remove items that the landlord or developer has included without even being used, and that removal is often done quickly and at a high environmental cost (i.e. zero reuse and often very little recycling). Landlords might also do a CAT A+ fit-out, whereby parts of a building (say a single floor of a building) are fitted out more akin to a CAT B standard, and then again those items are removed and wasted when the tenant moves in. This can, on some occasions, lead to the complete waste of brand new or unused materials and products.

In a perfect world, reuse would be synonymous with fit-out, and reuse would be the first choice for all product selection with spaces being designed to ensure products are reused over and over again. However we don’t live in a perfect world and we are still a long way from this.

But what is needed to scale this and make reuse the first choice in all fit-out projects? The responsibilities and actions lie with all of us involved in the manufacture and supply of products, design of spaces, fitting out spaces, and who own, manage and occupy these spaces. Responsibilities also lie with those that hold the levers to drive action - local and national governments, planning authorities and investors, with an environmental imperative to act. So what can we do?

Here’s an eight-point plan for setting us off on the road to making fit-outs and interiors more circular:

Clients and design teams need to play a bigger role: Put simply, if the client asks for reuse, it will happen. This needs to be made clear in project briefs and contracts with a greater understanding of any potential increases in time and resource (and cost) for careful disassembly. The cost of reuse needs to be better understood, this includes the trade-offs for any careful disassembly, testing, storage and logistics. Designers need to be inventive and open-minded, using a reclamation design and inventory-led approach. Not everything needs to look the same; smaller spaces and zones can be designed with different reused materials such as boardrooms, break out areas etc. Confidence in the use of these materials, particularly where there are strong aesthetic demands needs to be clearly demonstrated. A second-hand item can and should be a well-loved item and not seen as inferior to new.

We need to rethink warranties: Are warranties always needed? And for how long? How often do companies claim against warranties for interior products? Flexibility is needed as well as models that provide these warranties for reused products ensuring that they meet performance criteria. This may mean the development of protocols for testing and assurance.

More material passporting: Providing information which lives with the product i.e. product passports will aid future reuse, reduce uncertainties and the time it can take to find out this information. This should be a given with all interior products placed on the market. Moreover, this information needs to be maintained and accessible – for this to happen the value of the information needs to be communicated.

Rethink the business model: Leasing of items to match the lease of the fit-out, should be a viable model. Leases can be as short as 1 year in some cases – there is plenty of life left in many products; and manufacturers/suppliers can save money and resources by leasing these products again and again and not manufacturing new every time. Moreover, spaces should be designed with the next lease (lifecycle) in mind.

Understand the real costs of reuse: The cost of reuse needs to be better understood especially in comparison with new products over more than one lifecycle and linked to carbon pricing. Building owners and tenants should have a good appreciation of the financial and carbon value of their products.

Circular Economy Week 2025 – Making it Happen

Our theme for this year for ReLondon’s Circular Economy Week 2025 was ‘Making it Happen’, how we address the circularity and reuse challenges for the interiors sector. We hosted an online webinar on the subject of making fit-outs and interiors more circular.

Introduced by our Katherine Adams, we heard from an excellent group of speakers. Elina Grigoriou, of Grigoriou Interiors, described the latest update to the SKA rating scheme which provides a framework to drive the sustainability and circularity of fit-out projects. Ray Molony spoke about the End Cat A Lighting Waste campaign and Recolight reuse scheme for the lighting industry.

James Ivin of Overbury provided a contractor’s perspective on the practical realities of reuse, and what is needed to make this happen at greater scale.

You can download a copy of the speaker presentations from the event here

Manufacturers need to step up: Manufacturers need to be making ‘circular’ products. This is not only through the sourcing of renewable, reused and recycled raw materials and designing for end of life but also includes being able to reuse and recycle these products in the future. How different components can be separated from each other is a key consideration. Ban materials that can’t be reused! Should fit-out products be allowed on to the marketplace if they are not reusable and/or recyclable? Manufacturers can take more responsibility for their products when they reach the end of their first life. However, this is not always easy - manufacturers need to have a better understanding of what happens to their products when they are removed from buildings.

Use new technology: Utilising technology for the visualisation of space may help with the reduction of waste from removing items from a CAT A where the tenant wants changes. Technology is developing rapidly when it comes to scanning buildings and identifying products.

Share, share and share!: We need to share the good news stories – this provides confidence that reuse and circularity can work; but we can also sometimes learn from why it did not work, we should equally share these findings. While it would be nice to do everything on every project this is not feasible. It is important to start with the quick wins, provide confidence to the project team and make this business as usual.

Finally, below are some useful links and useful sources of related information:

ASBP Reuse Campaign
End CAT A Lighting Waste Campaign
FIS Project Reuse
SKA rating to assess fit-out projects against sustainability criteria

Using Circular Economy Thinking and Industrial Symbiosis to Support Net-Zero

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 14:17:44 GMT

A pioneering scheme to create a pathway to net zero carbon emissions for a North Yorkshire industrial estate is providing a viable model for decarbonisation in rural industrial estates.

The Decarbonising Dalton project was supported with funding from Innovate UK and match funded by Dalton Business Partners, carried out a 12-month feasibility study at Dalton Industrial Estate near Thirsk. The study examined emissions associated with power, heat, transport and the circular economy, developing strategies to reduce them effectively.

The study provided individual assessments for each business on the estate, resulting in a tailored action plans to achieve net zero while minimising the need for carbon offsetting.

The initiative was delivered in five key phases: business needs assessments, quick-win reductions, shared onsite opportunities, offsite interventions, and collation and knowledge sharing.

Following the circular economy work package undertaken by Reusefully (which focused on the individual business’ material procurement needs) the Dalton Industrial Estate Exploitation Plan highlights that in 2026 partners should promote industry symbiosis across the estate.

The Plan highlights how businesses can collaborate to agree on common material requirements, enabling them to share resources more efficiently. By aligning their procurement strategies and identifying opportunities for material reuse, businesses can significantly reduce waste and reliance on external suppliers. This cooperative approach would not only enhance sustainability but also create a more resilient and interconnected industrial ecosystem, driving further progress towards the Estate’s decarbonisation goals.

Business leaders involved in the project have now outlined a clear pathway to net-zero, which can serve as a blueprint for other industrial estates across the UK.

The project was led by a partnership including North Yorkshire Council, six key businesses from the Dalton Industrial Estate – Cleveland Steel and Tubes Limited, Wetherby Stone Products Limited, Severfield PLC, Inspired Pet Nutrition Limited, Citivale Group Holdings Ltd, and National Tube Stockholders Limited – along with Distribution Network Operator, Northern Powergrid.

Michaela Lindridge, partnership spokesperson and head of ESG at Severfield plc, said “We are proud to have taken part in this project to advance the decarbonisation of industry. This project has enabled us to explore and implement sustainability initiatives that align with our ongoing commitments to reducing carbon emissions. Sustainability is at the heart of how we do business, and through collaboration, we have supported carbon-neutral manufacturing in the region. Sharing expertise in green technologies and sustainable production practices has reinforced our commitment to energy-efficient manufacturing and a lower carbon footprint. This initiative has provided valuable insights and practical solutions that we hope will inspire and inform similar projects elsewhere.”

Roy Fishwick, Managing Director, Cleveland Steel and Tubes, said “We have had a great experience working with Reusefully on this project. Circular Economy is the principle upon which our business was based 50 years ago so it was a pleasure to work with people with such great knowledge and outlook. They were professional and communicative and hopefully we will have achieved some great circular outcomes for the industrial estate”

The Decarbonising Dalton project has been recognised as a key step towards a more sustainable industrial future, with findings set to be shared with other estates seeking to transition to net zero as part of this announcement. Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, continues to support business-led projects across all sectors to drive sustainable advancements.

You can read more about the work undertaken at Dalton on a dedicated website here which includes an introduction to the various partners involved and a summary of the various work packages. Feel free to contact Reusefully to find out more, and to discuss the opportunities that industrial symbiosis provides in reducing carbon and achieving net-zero.

Making Reuse Happen at Black Swan

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 14:26:02 GMT

Black Swan is a 191,000 sq. ft warehouse and office space owned by Aviva Investors, which is currently undergoing refurbishment including the removal of internal finishes such as carpet tiles and ceiling tiles, some internal doors, lighting and MEP equipment, the large 3 storey mezzanine, and warehouse racking.

Working on behalf of Aviva, Spring Building Consultancy instructed Reusefully to undertake a pre-refurbishment audit to maximise the circularity and reuse opportunities in the redevelopment. It was especially important for this to align with Aviva’s Sustainable Design Brief, and provide a focus for the reuse of materials and components resulting from the refurbishment.

Reusefully undertook the initial pre-refurbishment audit in August 2024, identifying a high reuse potential including the large 3 storey mezzanine in the building and a vast amount of warehouse racking. Other items deemed suitable for reuse included ceiling tiles, carpet tiles, doors, lighting, hand dryers, sinks, toilets, and mirrors.

Spring reviewed the audit as well as a Resources Tracker that was produced to accompany the audit, and collectively the team involved with the refurbishment used these tools to carry forward recommendations for reuse, both in the context of onsite retention and reuse offsite.

With multiple opportunities identified, the Resources Tracker was particularly useful, providing clarity on the reuse pathways for materials, and continual updates to reflect the project progress and material flows. Reusefully worked alongside General Demolition – brought in by Spring Building Consultancy to undertake the strip-out – who worked diligently to maximise the reuse and recovery of the items on-site. The team attended monthly meetings onsite, arranged to discuss and review the projects progress.

Through these discussions decisions like increasing onsite reuse of carpet tiles and LED square panel lights were made – highlighting the importance of these processes and levels of communication.

Green Building Design – the MEP designers working on the project – also contributed by advising on the reuse potential of lighting and MEP items, and their expertise also allowed for the retention of other services throughout the site.

General Demolition worked hard to facilitate reuse of the mezzanine and warehouse racking – painstakingly dismantling the mezzanine floor by floor. They meticulously uplifted, sorted and stacked carpet tiles and ceiling tiles, alongside carefully removing and storing other reuseable items.

Reusefully also worked to enable the reuse of other items on site through creating Linked-In posts, contacting charities and posting to online platforms such as Enviromate.

One recipient of items was the Northampton Hope Centre , the charity supporting the homeless and families in hardship in the area. They collected sinks, toilets, carpet tiles, and hand dryers which will be used to fit out their offices. There was also some success posting items on Enviromate – with several mirrors collected from site.

Once the refurbishment project is fully completed the Resource Tracker will be able to be used to compare our estimated and actual arisings and waste streams – producing useful data for all parties and highlighting wins as well as areas for improvement. We are also now also looking at other warehouse type spaces with the aim of continuing to push for circularity within these and all projects.

The latest news from Reusefully

Fri, 25 Apr 2025 15:53:13 GMT

Read about some of the latest projects we're undertaking and the organisations we're collaborating with.

Digital Meets Deconstruction : Maconda and Reusefully Unite to Drive Circular Construction in London

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 07:54:43 GMT

Maconda and Reusefully, two innovators in circular construction, are teaming up to tackle the industry’s greatest challenge – how to turn London’s buildings into digital material banks.

ROMULUS is unique in engaging a collaborative platform with dynamic real-life insights, offering users access to:

An exclusive community for resource reuse that will use shared audit data and material passports to achieve an unparalleled level of building transparency
First-hand engagement with live developments, including access to collaborative stakeholder meetings to share and learn from circular best practice
Real time studies of circular economy building projects across London.

“Reusefully have long been recognised as the gold standard in building audits and it is my great pleasure to announce our partnership. As the UK pioneers in Material Passports, Maconda are excited to work with experts who wrote the book on pre-demolition and pre-deconstruction audits. Combining our expertise in digital solutions and material exchange with Reusefully’s longstanding experience in audits will further our joint vision in establishing the circular economy within London’s built environment” says James Adams, Maconda Solutions.

“We provide detailed, high quality audits which, when combined with our reuse recommendations for all material types, can make a powerful difference, both for circularity and resource use, and for carbon and cost savings. We’re further enhancing the granularity of our data gathering to meet the evolving requirements of pre-deconstruction audits and improve reporting analytics. We are constantly evolving our material reuse pathways and are looking at the introduction of innovative AI technology into our audit process. Our collaboration with Maconda will help elevate and accelerate this” says Reusefully co-founder and director Gilli Hobbs.

Reusefully undertook more than sixty pre-deconstruction/pre-demolition audits in 2024, with projects ranging from large commercial spaces down to smaller residential units. These audits identified materials for reuse ranging from heavyweight structural components including steel and concrete, down to lightweight fixtures and fittings. Last year over 16,500 tonnes of embodied carbon savings were identified through reuse opportunities on Reusefully’s audits.

To learn more about ROMULUS and how to get involved, contact laure@macondasolutions.com . To commission a ROMULUS compliant audit, contact simon@reusefully.co.uk.

About Maconda

Maconda Solutions is an innovative consultancy helping drive circular economy practices into the built environment and manage the transition to a low carbon future. As the UK’s first pioneers of Material Passports, Maconda use digital solutions to improve decision-making, enhance operational efficiency and drive business growth. Maconda is a member of the UK Green Building Council and the ReLondon Circular Community and a licensee with the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. Further information on Maconda can be found here .

Maconda’s platform is now used by planning authorities including the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The initiative has been developed by Maconda in collaboration with Upcyclea, as well as leading experts from UK universities within the BuildZero initiative. ROMULUS offers robust data on the environmental impact of decisions made by its users – tracking potential savings in carbon, water and waste for recovered materials, as well as financial savings. These learnings are shared at monthly Forum meetings with interested parties invited to apply for membership.

Reuse Now!

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 14:08:10 GMT

The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP) held its second Reuse Summit at the Building Centre, London on 14th November. The Summit is part of ASBP’s targeted effort to champion circular economy throu gh its Reuse Now campa ign which is supported by Reusefully. This initiative promotes the reuse of construction materials and aims to enable uptake of reuse through collaboration and the creation of practical resources. Harriet Couch of Reusefully provides a summary of proceedings.

One year on for ASBPs last Reuse Summit, I was keen to find out what progress had been made. Highlights from this year’s event included Tina Paillet , President of RICS and co-founder of Circotrade, who kicked off proceedings highlighting the role professionals in the built environment have in enabling a circular economy revolution. She also highlighted the central role reuse of materials has in achieving overall decarbonisation.

ASBP’s Katherine Adams and Debbie Ward gave an update on what ASBP have been doing since last year, including the practicalities of reusing interior glass partitions and DISRUPT II , the steel reuse project. Leandra Hope from Grosvenor showcased their work in reuse and the need for businesses such as Resource Xchange to provide storage solutions between strip-out and fit-out phases of developments. Tom Shillingshaw from Lazari Investments gave great insight into the practical challenges of the reuse of materials in their portfolio. He described the difficulties in reusing fire doors that would need

re-testing and re-certification.

Roy Fishwick of Cleveland Steel and Tubes described how they have undertaken EPDs to provide granular detail of the carbon emissions for individual reused steel products. Howard Button, ex-CEO of NFDC and now a Reusefully Associate, showed images of how reuse was commonplace historically although health and safety measures have improved considerably!

Stephen Dorer from Deconstruct UK presented a flagship project at 20 Giltspur Street. Steelwork from the original structure was reused in the extension, and the floors were ‘jacked’ (raised). This process, which took just three days, saved £2 million and 30 weeks on the programme which was really impressive. Debbie Ward from ASBP then went on to highlight the Rebuild Site in Wolverhampton, a community reuse initiative, and Darcy Arnold-Jones of Marks Barfield Architects the Circular Do Tank initiative.

Flavie Lowres from the Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS) closed the event, highlighting the reuse potential in the fit-out sector, which accounts for 11% of construction costs. With buildings undergoing around 30 fit-outs in their lifetime, and refurbishments every 5-7 years on average, the impact of reusing fit-out materials are huge. FIS are calling for donations of luminaries and metal ceiling tiles for their pilot reuse project.

So how much progress had been made? The pace of change does seem to have increased year-on-year, witnessed by the rise of intelligent platforms to record inventories of buildings as materials banks which are surely a step in the right direction.

However a number of challenges still remain which mean we need to redouble our efforts. Issues such as how to include the cost of climate change in the full economic value of assets, and how to reduce the cost of reusing materials need further attention.

Overall, the key facts from ASBP’s campaign speak for themselves. Every 10 minutes globally we will extract 50,000 tonnes of iron ore, 5 million bricks will be produced and the construction and demolition industry will create 38,000 tonnes of waste. In just one year the industry emits approximately 10 gigatonnes of CO2, the equivalent of around 30 million Boeing 747 jets, so there is still much to be done!

Ghosts of Christmases Past and Ringing the Bell for 2025!

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 08:04:29 GMT

No, we haven’t turned into Scrooge, although he was an early adopter of resource efficiency.

Gilli Hobbs, co-founder and Director of Reusefully reflects on the year that is coming to an end, and decades of trial and error that can instruct the disruptive thinking and innovation we need to embrace in 2025.

It’s that time of year again when we look back on the year in circularity for Reusefully, and the milestones and achievements of the last twelve months.

We’ve worked on projects up and down the country identifying reuse opportunities in redevelopment and refurbishment projects including offices, schools and university buildings, industrial sites, retail, residential and leisure. We’re particularly proud of our wor k at 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields wo rking alongside a fantastic team including David Chipperfield Architects, BDP, contractors McLaren and Deconstruct UK. Overall this year we’ve identified embodied carbon savings of more than 16,500 tonnes through reuse opportunities for the projects we have worked on.

But no SME is an island, and there have been some significant developments in the wider world of circularity, including:

A tightening of the circularity economy requirements by many London boroughs, with some setting reuse targets of as much as 30%.

A new regime for construction products regulation for Europe. We may not formally be part of the EU anymore, but developments across Europe will continue to impact the UK - Conference on the new Construction Products Regulation 2024 - European Commission

Iconic projects and sustainable retrofits such as the Rylands Building are much more commonplace, and a number of commercial developers and asset owners are starting to set more demanding reuse and sustainability targets, for example GPE recently announced 40% for reused materials .

Being a mixture of vintage and young blood, we often reflect on progress made in the past few years in relation to the projects that formed our way of thinking some twenty or so years ago. For example, it’s now over ten years since we got together with other European partners to draft the proposal for the Buildings as Material Banks (BAMB) project – and the concept of buildings as material banks is now common parlance and innovations developed during this project are also embedded into commercial developments today in the form of material passport systems.

Even further back in 1996, we undertook our first pilot Pre-Demolition Audit on the redundant building that preceded

BRE’s Environmental Building . This later led to the adoption on ‘pre-dems’ in certification schemes such as BREEAM and the Code of Practice for Pre-redevelopment Audits , as now referenced in GLA’s Circular Economy Statement Guidance .

Even over the last year, our ‘pre-dems’ have changed from one-off auditing exercises to much more dynamic and iterative projects, working much more closely with the client and design team, and linking through to reuse networks and marketplaces including our partnership with the newly created ResourceXchange who are taking a ‘hands-on’ approach to rehoming materials and products.

Another ‘old timer’ is the Quality Protocol for Recycled Aggregates from Inert Waste , adapted from the output of a pre-2000 Partners in Innovation project which built upon the aforementioned BRE Environmental Building’s incorporation of 100% recycled aggregates in the concrete. Could the development of further protocols and/or standards help accelerate the circular economy transition?

Does this all tell us anything? Maybe..

Firstly, is the importance of innovation . Since our inception three years ago we have been involved in various R&D projects, including research projects looking at wastage rates for different material types, and our current Innovate UK collaborative research project looking to incorporate AI technology into pre-demolition audits.

Secondly, the passage of time, and the evolution of various drivers and technology (such as technology platforms for reuse) means that even if something didn’t succeed in the past, it can be ‘repurposed’ to succeed today. Our experience and the knowledge we have built up over time can help make this success more likely (right place, right time – opportunity knocks!)

Thirdly, and finally, collaboration is key. Being open and transparent, working as a team will yield more low, medium and high hanging fruit. The high hanging fruit is still out of reach most of the time, which brings us back to the need to innovate – it’s all a bit circular after all.

BuildAudIt Aims to Create an Ambitious AI Platform to Aid Circular Economy in Buildings

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 06:41:56 GMT

An Innovate UK-funded research project is aiming to create an ambitious new platform to enhance circular economy in buildings. BuildAudIt is a one year collaborative programme that will develop a proof-of-concept platform for AI-enabled ‘digital twins’ of existing buildings – enhancing the circularity potential of the existing building stock by digitising them as ‘material inventories’.

Whilst many new buildings are constructed with a ‘digital twin’, these are not generally available for the vast majority of existing buildings, and their creation is time consuming and expensive. BuildAudIt will address this shortcoming by applying AI to datasets such as existing architectural plans and drawings, combining this with technologies including point cloud scanning and visual data capture, and emerging AI technologies such as image recognition.

In doing this, BuildAudIt aims to create a platform which has potential outputs that are much greater and more powerful than the sum of all these parts.

The BuildAudIt Platform is a proof of concept, combining scans of commercial buildings with existing building plans

The application of state-of-the-art AI will increase the efficacy of pre-demolition and pre-refurbishment audits which are used to drive circular outcomes for building materials, enabling surveys to be delivered cost-effectively and at-scale.

Together with Reusefully, the project team undertaking the research brings together UK SMEs developing digital and AI-based solutions with construction sector organisations. The team comprises:

Unit9, who are project leads and responsible for the AI platform development,
Enable My Team, who are focused on visual/sensor scanning and object recognition
BRE, the UK building science organisation
Imperial College, who are applying AI to automated reading of design drawings

While the project will be initially addressing the pre-demolition and pre-refurbishment audit use case, it has the potential to be adapted for use across all stages of the built environment lifecycle, and be applied to many different types of building survey including condition surveys, planned maintenance, sustainability, energy efficiency, fire risk & health and safety. The aim of the project team is to make the tool widely available by licensing it for use by building surveyors and auditors for buildings across the UK and beyond. The importance of surveys and auditing of existing building stock in the UK is growing at an increasing pace with the Building Safety Act 2022, adding to demand in what is already a very large emerging market.

Decarbonising Dalton Industrial Estate – Circular Economy in Action

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 07:12:05 GMT

Reusefully, in partnership with North Yorkshire Council and key stakeholders, provided the circular economy work package as a part of an innovative project to decarbonise Dalton Industrial Estate in Thirsk, North Yorkshire. The project, funded by Innovate UK, aims to develop a credible and actionable route to Net Zero by 2040. Harriet Couch of Reusefully writes ..

Dalton Industrial Estate is home to a diverse mix of private businesses from metal stockists to animal feed and building products manufacturers. With carbon emissions expected to rise and further developments planned on site, decarbonisation will be vital to meet net zero targets. The project aims to create a blueprint for other rural industrial estates across the UK to follow.

Overall the decarbonisation project is made up of five work packages – Power, Heat, Circular Economy, Transport and Natural Capital, with the circular economy work package overseen by Cleveland Steel and Tubes , a leader in steel reuse.

Our circular economy work package comprised five main activities:

A waste audit to form a baseline for resource inputs and outputs (waste) for each business participating and the related carbon emissions. This included site visits and online interviews, and an assessment of circular economy opportunities from a carbon emissions perspective. Local waste management organisations used were also contacted.
Tailored action plans including quick wins were created for each business taking part.
Shared onsite opportunities were highlighted.
Offsite interventions were highlighted.
Collation and knowledge sharing with other stakeholders.

Solutions

The solutions proposed included:

Centralised recycling facilities to lower carbon emissions from waste disposal transport and through compaction of higher value waste streams. Most companies had optimised their processes to reduce waste. Larger companies had established practices for waste management however all had scope to improve their waste segregation especially in packaging. Wider participation in this scheme would increase the carbon saving achieved.

Improvement in waste segregation through training and awareness for staff and the use of waste champions.

Reduction in total waste through a reduction in inputs and using available manufacturer take back schemes.

Using industrial symbiosis, capitalising on opportunities for businesses source products from each other.

Setting up a reuse hub/advertising items to local community organisations.

We were also involved in modelling the carbon reduction strategies of different solutions.

The project aims to provide positive outcomes such as a reduction in waste management costs, together with practical action plans for each company involved on the site, and increased stakeholder engagement. Ultimately this will help decarbonise the industrial activities at Dalton and provide a blueprint for others throughout the UK.

The work at Dalton was funded under the Local Industrial Decarbonisation Plans (LIDP) Competition , whereby UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £5 million to develop strategic plans for place-based industrial decarbonisation.

“We have had a great experience working with Reusefully on this project. Circular Economy is the principle upon which our business was based 50 years ago so it was a pleasure to work with people with such great knowledge and outlook. They were professional and communicative and hopefully we will have achieved some great circular outcomes for the industrial estate”

Roy Fishwick, Managing Director, Cleveland Steel and Tubes

Who Knew Reusing Steel Could Be So Exciting?

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 12:03:21 GMT

The recent Circular Steel event in London provided Reusefully’s Graduate Consultant Zoe Culverhouse with an opportunity to reflect on some positive developments in the reuse of steel in construction. Zoe writes..

As someone relatively new to the world of circular economy, events like Circular Steel are exciting and educational, but also overwhelming and at times slightly confusing.

After the event I had conversations surrounding the importance of involving those who may not be so passionate or in the know about steel reuse as those of us already attending these events. As a ‘newbie’ I feel I am perfectly qualified to share my findings with this group!

A topic that came up a lot throughout the talks is that there is a need to learn from each other’s, as well as your own, experiences and mistakes. Perhaps for some of you, this could be a good place to start.

After attending the talks, the main challenges surrounding the reuse of steel, as I now understand them, are;

Procurement
Cost
Programme
Incentivisation

But don’t fret! There are solutions to these challenges.

Procurement

The procurement of reclaimed steel can be a challenge as design processes take a long time, sometimes years – this means that you may find yourself designing a building around available steel that is not promised to be obtainable when your building is ready to be built. With reclaimed steel only what’s available at the time can be offered.

One way to solve these challenges may be to design first and then see where reclaimed steel can fit into your design.

It is important to aim to use reclaimed steel effectively, certain sections may not work for your building, and that’s okay. Allowing these to go to a central stockholder and be used by someone else in a more suitable way can be a good choice. This will also increase the ‘pool of choice’ for others looking at using reclaimed steel.

Adhering to this advice may mean that new steel needs to be used but it is good to remember that reusing any amount of steel is positive – no one is saying that you must reuse 100% of steel 100% of the time!

Know when to say no and when to compromise to make it work – be flexible!

Cost

Cost is always a factor when it comes to circularity, who would’ve thought using the old stuff can be more expensive!

There seemed to be differing views on whether reclaimed steel is more or less expensive. There are costs to recovering, processing and storing the reclaimed steel, which adds to the cost of the reused product. Experiences may differ from project to project, this is why it’s important to consider steel reuse at early stages, getting everyone onboard at the start of the process can help ease costs of steel reuse, everything can be planned, set up and undertaken more efficiently.

Programme

Time is precious! Deconstruction takes longer than demolition and we are still experimenting to find the best way to go about it. At a site in London, I witnessed the first steel beam being cut out for reuse. The planning took the longest and within minutes of starting the process the beam was removed. We were also assured that the rest of the beams would be removed even quicker, as they had cracked the code!

It’s important that steel is removed carefully, even small dents can cause issues when it comes to prefabrication. The steel also needs to be tested to ensure that it can be used in its new application.

Though this may seem like a dealbreaker to some, one panellist mentioned that deconstruction in fact only added a matter of weeks onto their programme.

Making sure everyone involved is clear about the goals for reuse may make it easier to ensure that additional time for deconstruction, testing and prefabrication is accounted for.

With more experience in steel reuse this process will become easier and easier, this is why communication of experiences, good and bad, is key to accelerating steel reuse.

Incentivisation

There are obvious environmental benefits to reusing steel, such as saving energy, reducing waste, and reducing the need for new materials. But aside from environmental factors, what benefits might clients see from the reuse of steel?

There are benefits to clients in achieving embodied carbon targets with the reuse of steel, it is a big-ticket item and projects that can reuse steel are much more likely to achieve these targets. Buildings that don’t meet their embodied carbon targets are much less saleable than the ones that do.

Reclaimed steel can be cheaper. This is something that was argued both ways and like I mentioned previously may vary from project to project. It is a point to research further for those interested.

With more people undertaking steel reuse projects and sharing what they’ve learned we will fine tune the process. The testing and prefabrication process of reclaimed steel will become more efficient, and who knows, maybe one day reusing steel will be the easier, quicker and most cost-effective option!

So, a good question – one that I admit I have stolen from a panelist – is how do we get to the point where we are using lots of reclaimed steel each year?

Well, my key takeaways are:

Get reuse on the agenda – get everybody onboard and be open about goals
Including pre-demolition audits at an early stage (a very key one we think, I do a lot of these!)
Have clear benefits to reuse
Be flexible and know when to compromise
Don’t be scared to fail, and be prepared to learn from mistakes
Communicate with others about experiences and lessons learnt

Who knew reusing steel could be so exciting? Maybe next year we will see you at the event!

Circular Economy for Buildings and the Standards Developing Across Europe

Tue, 10 Sep 2024 17:22:29 GMT

Evolving policies and standards relating to a more circular built environment is a fast-moving feast, even over the Summer months. So, it seems like an opportune moment to flag up a few developments that might have gone unnoticed in la grande rentrée. Gilli Hobbs of Reusefully writes.

In terms of standards, the European standards committee CEN TC/350 SC1 (Circular Economy in Construction) is a sub-committee of CEN TC 350 Sustainability of Construction Works. The overall vision SC 1 is to provide the construction sector with a uniform approach that will facilitate and strengthen the construction industry’s transition to a more sustainable, circular economy, such as developing a common language and harmonisation that will contribute to scalability through standards focusing on use and reuse of materials.

This Autumn sees the first meetings of new working groups covering aspects of circular data (including building and product/material passports), circularity assessment (including environmental performance and circularity indicators), reuse of construction products and materials, and designing for circularity (including reversibility, adaptability and reused content) . A fifth working group will be established later in the year focused upon pre-demolition and pre-redevelopment audits.

Most British Standards are developed at an international level, either through organisations that work globally (e.g. ISO) or just within Europe (e.g. CEN). BSI is closely involved with these organisations and its technical committees can nominate members to participate in the development of international standards. BSI is obliged to adopt all European standards (ENs) and to withdraw any existing British Standards that conflict with them. It is also possible to develop British Standards entirely within the UK, where not covered by international standardisation.

If you want to be kept up to date with the circular construction standards developing across the UK and Europe, sign up to our newsletter here , or contact us for more information.

Circularity and Reuse in London: 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields – Event Summary

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 14:59:28 GMT

London Climate Action Week is one of the world’s largest independent climate change events. Its goal is to provide a forum to promote collaboration between businesses, NGOs and civil society on a global platform to study and promote solutions to climate change for London and beyond. This year, Reusefully hosted a webinar on June 25th to discuss circularity and reuse – focusing on the adaptive reuse and circularity that is at the heart of the redevelopment underway at 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields.

Local planning, especially in London, increasingly places value on sustainability with ever more strict requirements for looking at reuse and retaining buildings were possible. Examples include Westminster City Council, the City of London, and Camden who are all developing individual planning policies working towards greater sustainability and a circular economy.

Creating a more circular business models is about creating value whilst minimising environmental and social costs. Reusefully, for example, are aiming to convince manufacturers to take responsibility for their materials and reuse or recycle as much as possible. This can be achieved through supplier takeback and remanufacture/recycling materials like carpet tiles, ceiling tiles, and flat glass. Manufacturers can also lease lighting and lifts.

Ben Cartwright of Reusefully opened his presentation with a discussion on the data that can be gleaned from a Pre-Demolition Audit and how it can be used to drive circularity in projects such as 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields. This provides a focus on the end of use of materials that are arising from the existing building’s redevelopment. Ben then went on to discuss the decision tree (shown below) in relation to both pre-redevelopment audits (PRDAs) and pre-demolition audits, which outlines process of understanding the options for a building as far as retention and reuse are concerned.

Within a pre-demolition audit, materials are quantified in terms of tonnage, volume, potentially metres squared (if flooring for instance), and in straight numbers (e.g. toilets or lights). We can then estimate the proportion of what may arise for reuse, higher value recycling or if no other option available through to disposal. Most importantly, this allows us to create recommendations on how to manage the components and materials arising to maximise recovery.

In addition to a site visit, we look to detailed information gathering stage for these audits, which can include:

Public information (Google Earth/Streetview, EPC’s)
Pre-existing surveys (e.g. asbestos, condition surveys)
Drawings/sketches (Original and/or updated e.g. measured surveys)
Site visits (Measurements, notes, photos)
O&M manuals
3D imaging/scanning
Information from building staff.

We then create an overall material audit findings in tonnes and volume, and split out into different sections based on material types.

For 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Reusefully were asked to take the outputs from our material audit and put together a live tracker that could be continuously updated. The idea is for the tracker to be used to plan and monitor and follow the actions relating to how those material arisings were used and to log the outcomes with the aim to learn from any mistakes or potential improvements.

This resource tracker can be updated, for example if more specific and detailed investigations into particular materials are undertaken. You can also use the tracker to fee into live brokerage and resource matching (e.g. finding recipient buildings and projects which can take reused materials).

Laura Burley from David Chipperfield Architects (DCA) and Nastasia Basil from BDP sustainability consultants described how circularity issues were uppermost in the mind of the LSE client when they first chose the winning entry in the RIBA design competition for the building. The DCA proposal was the only one that proposed significant retention of the existing building.

BDP created a sustainability brief for the project, with targets such as operational energy targets which are aligned with the RIBA Climate Challenge for example. Overall the team set out to retain 60% of the structure of the building, helping to significantly reduce its embodied carbon impact.

A key design driver throughout is the circular economy, maximising the reuse of deconstructed elements and using them where possible within the new building.

Reusefully’s pre-demolition audit helped the design team develop an initial reuse proposal, which first started to see an impact as part of an enabling works contract. DCA organised weekly/fortnightly site visits with the enabling works contractor to explore those reuse opportunities.

The resource tracker was used as a tool, helping to understand and progress reuse on site. DCA have proposed to reuse as much as possible from the initial building, with reusable internal finishes include timber flooring, brick wall and terrazzo aggregate, and tiled wall finish. Reusable joinery and internal elements include timber panelling, stone joinery elements, lighting and brass hardware. External reuse examples include stone detailing, brick cladding, stone cladding, hoppers, demountable balustrades and railing, and stone paving.

Laura and Nastasia ended their presentation with some overall reflections and lessons learnt throughout the project so far. These included the importance of having a detailed programme and for the programme to allow for reuse scope within it in terms of timings and logistics. Allowing for some flexibility within the programme is important (e.g. to accommodate particular storage requirements or deconstruction needs). They highlighted how we are constantly learning about the building as the project progresses, hence live tracking and regular communication with the team is vital.

Overall the team highlighted how robust data (through detailed analysis and quantification) plays a vital role in understanding the opportunities for reuse, and how a strong circularity vision that is shared by the client and the team needs to be uppermost. This needs to be reflected in the design strategy from the start, and reinforced throughout the project by collaborative working.

You can download the presentations from the event below.

What Did the Romans Ever Do for Circularity and Reuse?

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 19:30:05 GMT

They gave us roads, sanitation systems, much of the basis of the language we speak, and how we calculate distances and numbers. They pioneered underfloor heating systems and introduced the idea of public baths, but to paraphrase the famous Monty Python sketch, what did the Romans ever do for circularity and reuse?

The Roman Empire at its peak spanned three continents, stretching from Egypt in the south east to Roman Britain and Hadrian’s Wall in the north west. They created new forms of architectural design, constructing aqueducts, expansive villas and amphitheatres. They undertook complex and sophisticated civil engineering projects, designed to project and maintain the power of the Roman military and celebrate the glory of Rome.

Roman builders utilised naturally occurring and locally available materials, chiefly stone, timber and marble. They also developed techniques for baking bricks and making some of the first concretes. They made long lasting mortars for brickwork and stone using quicklime, and it is a testament to Roman builders that we can still see the remains of Roman buildings and structures right across the expanse of the territories they conquered.

There is plenty of Roman concrete surviving today, even in challenging environments. Volcanic dusts, called pozzolana, made the concrete more resistant to salt water than modern-day concrete. Examples include the ruins at Empúries in Catalonia , with further evidence of circularity in the harvesting of materials from the Greek settlement dating from 500 BC. As the photos below testify, concrete, bricks and even ceramic pipework can last for thousands of years…

So the Romans generally built things to last, which is one of the primary considerations in designing more circular buildings. However it is not just about building to last, after the fall of the Roman Empire (which started to disintegrate in its western reaches around AD455 when Germanic tribes sacked Rome), the buildings the Romans left behind were repurposed and

reused for centuries, sparking a mass wave of reuse that has possibly never quite been surpassed since.

Hadrian’s Wall is another great example, and was one of the most impressive and lasting structures the Romans built in Britain. You can still see substantial remains if you travel from Northumberland across to Carlisle and Cumbria, stretching more than 70 miles. Construction began in AD122 by the Emperor Hadrian, in an attempt to protect Roman Britain from troublesome tribal chiefs and raiders to the north.

When the Romans abandoned Britain, the wall was largely intact (it had never been seriously breached) however no longer needed. It was never actually destroyed as such, instead it was gradually dismantled and reused. Hadrian’s Wall became a living quarry and ‘material bank’ for the stone to build castles and churches, farms and houses all along its length. There is evidence of this stone being reused in settlements right across the north of England, and it was only in the 18th and 19th centuries, in fact, that conservationists stopped locals from using material reclaimed from the Wall and similar Roman sites.

Circularity and Reuse in London: 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields

Fri, 17 May 2024 14:11:50 GMT

For London Climate Action Week this year we are focusing on the redevelopment of 35 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and the circularity and reuse ambitions that are at its heart.

The building is formerly the home of the Royal College Surgeons, built shortly after the end of World War II, and is prominently located on the south side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields. It will become the Firoz Lalji Global Hub, which will be the final set-piece addition to the London School of Economics’ (LSE) central London campus.

The building’s redevelopment will include conference facilities, academic and teaching spaces, digital labs, and a 300-seat theatre. The design embraces the ethos of the new centre through a strategy of adaptive re-use that will see large parts of the existing structure retained helping make it LSE’s first net zero carbon building.

Our webinar on Tuesday 25th June will explore how the project team have addressed circularity and reuse throughout the project, from initial concept and design, through to the implementation of reuse. It will show how the client and project team have placed collaboration and innovation at the forefront, and discuss the project within the wider trends of circularity and reuse in London, driven by planning, client and stakeholder needs.

You will hear from Reusefully’s Katherine Adams and Ben Cartwright , who will explore how the initial pre-demolition audit undertaken by Reusefully helped the team understand reuse opportunities and challenges, and how items were identified for reuse. This will also show how the audit fed through to the tracking and tracing of demolition materials.

We’re delighted to be joined by Laura Burley of David Chipperfield Architects and Nastasia Bassil of BDP , who will discuss the design concept and the iterative process of working together. This will show the benefits of developing a closely collaborative relationship to ensure an approach and commitment to circularity within the project. The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.

You can register for the event (registration is free) here . The webinar will be held via Zoom from 11.00am-12.30pm, and a link will be sent to registered delegates 24/48hrs before the event.

Breaking Down the Barriers to Construction Reuse – Howard Button Joins the Reusefully Team

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:25:17 GMT

Breaking Down the Barriers to Construction Reuse – Howard Button Joins the Reusefully Team

Practice As You Preach

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 17:56:52 GMT

Practice As You Preach

Towards the end of 2023, Reusefully moved into new office premises. Well, ‘new’ to us as we are now located in an extension to a building which is around 150 years old and was constructed using reclaimed stone to be in keeping with the main property. It’s also within walking distance of half the team (and cycling distance to another)!

As we know office moves can be disruptive to operations but also costly when buying new furniture. There are also other impacts to consider as furniture is a significant source of embodied greenhouse gas emissions and in the UK alone hundreds of tonnes of unwanted office furniture goes to landfill every day. This is why we decided to turn to the services provided by Reyooz who specialise in premium second hand, reused and refurbished office furniture.

We are a small team with a modest office set up, but compared to buying new, we’ve saved well over £4,500 and, our biggest wins, we’ve saved over 1,100kg of embodied carbon and have diverted yet more unwanted ‘waste’ from going to landfill. So, here we are, trying to practice as we preach!

High Quality Materials Now Available for Reuse!

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 07:52:37 GMT

1 Victoria Street, London SW1 - High Quality Materials Now Available for Reuse!

1 Victoria Street is due to undergo major refurbishment and now has multiple items available for reuse – this includes carpet tiles, kitchens, bathroom units, glass blocks, timber doors, radiators, ceiling tiles, luminaires/lights and glass partitions.

The building was originally constructed in 1963, however successive refits mean that there are numerous fixtures and fittings dating back to the 1990s, and some more recent than that.

These items available can be viewed on the Excess Materials Exchange where a brief summary is provided.

A soft-strip commences February 2024, so time is of the essence if you wish to register an interest in any of these items. Developers Stanhope welcome enquiries and interest from all parties – developers and design teams who are interested

in taking these items for use in other projects (which will dramatically reduce your embodied carbon), together with community and charity groups.

Contact simon@reusefully.co.uk to register your interest!

2023 – Our Year in Circularity

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 16:12:48 GMT

2023 has been a busy year for the Reusefully team, filled with many diverse and interesting activities. Our co-founders Gilli Hobbs and Katherine Adams reflect on the year just about to end and what we can look forward to in 2024.

A proposal we developed on New Year’s Day this year for Habitat for Humanity, has resulted in a project that has been ongoing throughout most of 2023 - and represents a bit of a departure from our normal projects. Having a deep dive in the opportunities for circular economy in low-income housing in the Global South, has certainly broadened our horizons and taken us on a virtual tour of Peru, Mexico, Kenya, the Philippines and India. Talking to dedicated circular economy stakeholders around the world and learning about the initiatives that are underway, many of them being pursued in challenging circumstances, has been inspiring.

With planning and client requirements driving circularity, it should be easier to make things happen here in the UK. However, there are still many challenges and uncertainties blocking a smooth transition to a more circular economy in construction.

Much of our work relates to the newly emerging Pre-Redevelopment Audits and the requirements and recommendations that come out of these, including Pre-Demolition and Pre-Refurbishment Audits. From old WW2 aeroplane factories, to distilleries, ‘prestige’ offices and dilapidated industrial sheds; each potential ‘donor’ asset due for demolition or strip-out has ‘stuff’ that is re-useful and sometimes beautiful and historic . Our job as a circular economy consultancy and advisor is to make this ‘stuff’ visible and highlight its value for ‘recipient’ projects.

Having carried out a fair few audits this year, it is clear that the future focus of the construction and property sector should be to enable a lot more reuse and higher value recycling . For this, we have developed and adopted a ‘materials value retention hierarchy’ approach, which we are using on all our projects and is starting to gain traction elsewhere.

Another way to build consensus and focus efforts is through standardisation work. As the chair of BSI Circular Economy in Construction Committee (B558/1), Gilli is particularly grateful to all those who volunteer their time to help with this vital, although often arduous and painstaking work. Affiliated to the CEN TC350 SC1 group, the demands on these experts to find harmonised solutions in key areas such as circularity assessment, material/building passports, quality assurance for reuse, designing for circularity and pre-demolition audits and evaluation has never been higher, or more crucial .

In addition to standards work, we’ve also been talking to Government and planners at different levels, sharing our understanding of the practice of applying circularity to the design and implementation of policy – this is going to be the real game changer . Many bodies, including the European Commission, are well down the road on this.

We have been lucky, in fact, at Reusefully to play a small part in this global movement to make better use of resources in 2023, working with many others who share our goal to try to make a difference. A very small part of this is our sponsorship of the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP) Reuse Now Campaign, which is as the name suggests, is promoting reuse through case studies, events and knowledge sharing.

Looking forward to 2024, it is all going to be about ‘ doing more with less ’, especially with our own time and resources. This means streamlining our processes, further use of digitisation and scanning technology and partnering seamlessly with others. This will speed up the provision of data and recommendations, thus allowing more time to focus on implementation and demonstrating the benefits of circular construction.

In a similar vein, our work in the British and European standards community aims to harmonise data, assessment and quality assurance aspects of circularity to reduce duplication of effort and incompatibility between systems and professionals.

Collectively we can all work to ‘do more with less’ , so let’s make that our resolution for 2024 and beyond!

Now is the Time to Act on ‘Reuse’ in Construction!

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 17:06:18 GMT

The construction sector is one of the most wasteful areas of industrial activity in the UK. Defra statistics published in May 2022 showed that construction generates two thirds of all UK waste, and around a third of all the waste that is sent to landfill is from construction activity. This creates an enormous carbon impact and represents a pitiful level of resource efficiency. It also creates a huge financial and social cost.

A recent report from Qflow highlighted that only of 2% construction material is reused following distribution to a waste facility. When you consider this against analysis showing how a higher level of reuse can dramatically impact and reduce our carbon emissions, it’s not difficult to conclude that we have a huge opportunity and driver for us all to increase reuse.

Reusefully is supporting the Reuse Summit, which is hosted by ASBP and the Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS), and you can find out more information on the event and register here . We are involved in reuse at a practical level via

pre-demolition audits, and working on standards and policy recommendations for different stakeholders to try to accelerate the transition to a more circular business model in construction.

Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi Joins the Reusefully Pack

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 15:02:58 GMT

Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, who has a successful professional rugby career for teams including Northampton Saints and London Irish, is the latest recruit to join Reusefully’s growing team of circular economy specialists.

During his playing career, Danny was involved in playing, training, analysing team performance and developing scrummaging strategy! His duties for Reusefully will include supporting pre-demolition audits, including site surveys, and helping to develop the company’s capabilities in the 3D scanning of buildings and interiors.

He also has previous experience of running a logistics business, where he was instrumental in transforming the administrative and sales side of the business. Danny will be bringing the communication and team building skills developed in both logistics and the sports arena for the benefit of Reusefully’s clients and projects.

There’s No Such Thing As Waste – Making Circularity Happen

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 17:20:21 GMT

Founded in 2019, London Climate Action Week (LCAW) is one of the world's largest

independent climate change events. It brings together representatives of businesses,

NGOs and civil society on a global platform to explore and promote solutions to

climate change for London and beyond. As part of this year’s activities, Reusefully

hosted a very well attended online event to explore new thinking in circularity for

buildings under the heading

“There’s No Such Thing As Waste – Making Circularity

Happen”.

Katherine Adams of Reusefully opened the session and reminded everyone that whilst the title of the event said there is no such thing as waste, the truth of the current situation is that the total UK waste in 2018 was 222 million tonnes, with 138 million tonnes of that coming from construction , demolition and excavation.

Even though a lot of construction waste is recovered, it is often downcycled and if you look at annual figures over the last 10 years or so, there has been little improvement. Circularity, she said, is not just about reuse and recycling, it is about increasing the productivity of materials by doing more with less. It is about maintaining or increasing the value of materials from both a financial and environmental point of view.

MBA conducted extensive site investigations and auditing at 22 Baker Street, creating a material inventory of the building, then identifying routes for reuse, and in the process developing a system for material passports. They are currently working with an industry working group who are looking to standardise in this area. They estimate they spent an extra +20% of time on systematising the process of reuse upfront in RIBA Stages 1-3, which was partly funded by the client and partly by their own R&D. However, moving forwards they foresee considerable time and economic savings on other projects, as new material costs rise, lead in times are extended causing programme uncertainties, circular infrastructure starts to be established and by initiating a process of pre-occupancy material auditing.

One of the early challenges in the project was the issue of availability of physical storage space to store materials in between building programmes. Certification and warranty issues also caused potential barriers to reuse which had effect on the costs and time spent trying to facilitate reuse; particularly with regards to internal fire doors. However, the importance of cross-industry collaboration ensured the project was ostensibly a success; working with an excellent deconstruction – not demolition – contractor and industry experts. They are now working with Lawmens, the deconstruction contractor, to create a ‘pocket book’ providing tips and tricks for specifying materials for reuse and evaluation the feasibility of on-site reuse.

The project recorded a number of big successes, in both carbon and cost terms, particularly around the reuse of raised access floors and MBA have created a material reuse pathway for critical items, including potentially problematic items such as fire doors.

Sandra Sezgin is sustainability manager for British Land . She described their approach to circularity and work that is being undertaken on material passports. British Land have a strategic objective of reducing carbon, and, to achieve this, they recognise they will have to embrace circularity, making much more use of existing buildings and materials.

This can include retaining the shell and core of buildings, or retaining whole structures and only undertaking light touch refurbishments when absolutely necessary. Examples include 1 Triton Square, where British Land worked with the original contractor to carefully remove, refurbish and replace a worn-out façade in the building, reinstalling with the same glass. For the refurbishment of Exchange House, they secured a supply of reused raised access flooring. They have also reused marble flooring and granite cladding on other projects. They have disassembled structural steel and worked with the supplier to use on other buildings or offer as a reused product. They have made extensive use of material reuse portals such as Globechain.

Repurposing a building starts with an understanding of what is in a building, and treating that building as a material bank, she said. However, Sandra highlighted lack of data on buildings as a major challenge. Material passports will help with this and are an important development especially as British Land are starting to experience shorter lease periods and higher turnover rates in the buildings and spaces they let.

Whilst they are currently internally collecting and storing information on their own buildings , they are looking to more public shared sources of data such as the Madaster platform. Sandra potentially sees a future whereby building owners can share and trade materials in future, but this will need a strong collaborative approach.

Daniel Doran of Lifecycle Sustainability described how LCA (life cycle assessment) can support more circular design. Circularity and carbon go hand-in-hand, and if you are more circular in your design and thinking, you will produce less carbon. Daniel outlined how an LCA analysis will produce a lot of numbers and indicators for you, many of them related to circularity and resources, which can provide a strong motivation and driver for clients to embrace circularity. LCA will also give you a genuine cradle to grave ‘whole picture’. However, there are challenges in using LCA to support circularity, one of them being the lack of information on ‘end of life’ and demolition/deconstruction, which often does not help in modelling reuse options. LCA has a well-defined and standardised approach, which is not yet the case with circularity although that is starting to change he said.

A lively discussion and debate followed the speakers’ presentations, with a discussion on issues such as providing products such as lighting systems as a service on a lease or rental basis, to the challenges of logistics and providing storage space, and the need for more comprehensive data and material inventories for existing buildings. Attendees reaffirmed their commitment to working together to share the principles and positive benefits of circularity for the construction sector, and work collaboratively in areas such as data sharing and standards which are crucial for success.

New EISMEA Report on Construction Circularity Across Europe

Mon, 10 Jul 2023 15:24:12 GMT

Reusefully co-authored a new EISMEA (European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency) report on circularity in construction across Europe. The study presents new insights on the uptake of circularity approaches, obtained from more than 300 stakeholders from across the EU construction ecosystem.

Whilst the vast majority of construction stakeholders consider the transition to a circular economy to be a priority, only a minority of them (below 25% on average) actively measure their own circular approaches. To facilitate a greater transition to a circularity in construction, barriers need to be overcome, including the lack of standardisation and interoperability of data and measurement approaches. However there are drivers that can be explored to counteract these barriers, including harmonising data formats across the EU/industry, encouraging circular business opportunities, and regulating in support of the circular transition.

To support future measurement of the uptake of circular approaches in construction, the report recommends indicators that construction ecosystem actors could use at four different levels: product/material; building/infrastructure; organisation/process; and urban.

You can download a copy of the report on the EISMEA website here.

Circularity for Social Housing – Refurbishment v Demolition and the PreaDeM Project

Wed, 07 Jun 2023 13:03:06 GMT

PreaDeM (Pre-demolition environmental assessment and Decision-Making) is a project supported by Innovate UK under the NICER programme – National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research. It aims to help the social housing sector realise better circularity outcomes when considering whether to demolish or refurbish homes. The project partners hosted an event on May 26 ^th to provide an update on developments within the project and outline plans for the future.

Typically, there is little information available to help social housing providers and their advisors make considered judgements of the impact of demolition v refurbishment in carbon and other terms. A Pre-Demolition or Pre-Refurbishment Audit can help with this, but the process is often time consuming and labour intensive. Also, audits are often done too late in the project, meaning decisions are often taken too late to have maximum impact.

A key objective of PreaDeM, therefore, is to develop a smarter way to quantify what is there, for example using more state of the art technology, combined with detailed specification information and assumptions to determine what can be extracted for reuse and recycling and help with embodied carbon assessments.

This webinar presented the findings of the project as it comes to the end of its Innovate UK funding. It explored how UK social housing typologies and publicly available data can be used to feed into a decision-making tool that is being developed by the project team, and show how new technology and thinking can improve the efficiency, accuracy and value of audits and assessments.

Circularity for Social Housing

Katherine Adams of Reusefully opened proceedings and provided an introduction to circularity for social housing. She explained how the event was the culmination of the year long project for PreaDeM, designed to better understand the materials in a built asset and how those should be managed, whether that be retained and reused, refurbished or demolished.

Social housing was chosen as the focus because of the long-term interest that owners and managers have in those assets, as well as the important social role that the sector plays.

The core of the project was a feasibility study into how you could generate an automated ‘bill of quantities’ which will help better decision making when weighing up refurbishment and demolition. The construction and housing development sector remains extremely wasteful, accounting for around half of total waste produced in the UK.

Being more circular is about increasing the productivity of the materials we use, by doing the same or more with less. It is about thinking in systems, and not just considering reuse or recycling, and maintaining the value of materials and avoiding downcycling. Carbon, including embodied carbon, is a key factor and there is a strong link with circularity. Generally if we use less materials we will emit less carbon. The development of pre-demolition audits to support material reuse is a welcome development. Often these are driven by planning requirements, especially in London now where major developments are required to produce a Circular Economy Statement and a related pre-demolition audit.

Improving Pre-Demolition Audits

Toby Balson, of Cambridge Sustainable Design and a PreaDeM partner, explained the rationale behind trying to improve the process of a pre-demolition audit, its current shortcomings and what can be done to overcome these shortcomings. A pre-demolition audit should be focused on the opportunities to turn potential waste into a usable resource. However the audits can be quite an intensive and at times challenging activity, accessing buildings and being able to accurately identify and quantify materials is not always straightforward. Many buildings, and especially in social housing, often do not have readily available plans and other useful information (condition surveys for example), and there can be restrictions on taking photographs and measurements.

A further problem can be that the results of an audit can sometimes be produced too late to have an impact on the design process and consideration of the strategic options for redevelopment. The PreaDeM project, therefore, is looking to automate the process of an audit, leveraging existing datasets (many not previously considered within the framework of the auditing process) and allowing much faster and earlier assessments to be undertaken.

Methodology

Ben Cartwright of Reusefully explained how PreaDeM’s methodological framework has been developed to take more account of carbon impacts, and also to use the outputs to feed into material reuse websites.

PreaDeM has developed a draft data model which builds up information on individual material components, allowing you to assign potential reuse value of that material. Combinations of components are then added together to produce a model for a whole building or buildings. There is then automated analysis and reporting that allows you to do scenario modelling whether you are planning to refurbish or demolish the building. You can even compare this with a ‘do nothing’ scenario.

Within PreaDeM, Ben explained how the developing methodology was trialled on a number of social housing sites throughout the UK, aiming to cover a range of social housing typologies. During these trials, the team also tested the feasibility of using new technology such as 3D scanning devices which could dramatically reduce the amount of time needed to be spent on site.

Using Public Data

Rob Flynn of Sustenic , who were also a PreaDeM partner, showed how a big part of PreaDeM is focused on bringing in publicly sourced information such as data from Energy Performance Certificates and Ordnance Survey. Rob’s team have trialled the use of this data within a pre-demolition audit data model, in some cases filling the gaps in information that is missing. The possibility of developing a web-based tool was explored.

The use of this public data provided positive results in terms of improved efficiency and accuracy, and perhaps crucially provided an opportunity for initial strategic assessments to be undertaken even before a site visit is carried out.

In the mock-up of the tool that Rob presented, you can see how simple summary comparisons of refurbishment v demolition can be provided. The draft tool will also calculate vehicle movements, or reductions in vehicle traffic, that can be achieved by reuse on-site, as opposed to demolition and removal.

Shifting Perspectives and Mindsets

Athina Stylianidi of London-based architecture and interior design practice Jestico + Whiles , who have provided support throughout the PreaDeM project, provided the final presentation. She explained how, over the last few years there has been a shift in the way we think about the regeneration of existing housing estates and master planning. Whereas fifteen years ago the main option on the table would have been to demolish existing buildings with the aim of eradicating problems (such as unsafe environments and poor quality buildings) nowadays the first act is to look at the existing building stock and how this can be integrated into a new vision.

In most scenarios early whole life carbon and even cost assessments between a retrofit and a new build option will show the benefits of a retrofit approach. However, as with everything in architecture, and even more in urban design, many more parameters need to be taken into consideration and carefully balanced before we decide what the best approach is.

These can include environmental parameters such as air quality, noise and climate issues, urban grain and public realm issues such as illegibility of places, lack of connections and other urban failures that give ground for anti-social behaviour, and the need for more homes. Building performance, spatial standards and human wellbeing are also important factors to consider.

Circularity principles, she said, are a newer and evolving parameter, and could be a great option where demolition cannot be avoided for all the above reasons. If a complicated process of estimating existing materials and assessing them could be streamlined and embedded in every project this would bring transformative benefits.

Katherine Adams of Reusefully summarised the session by remarking on how little awareness and understanding there was of embodied carbon, and how a tool such as PreaDeM could help with that. She reflected on the multitude of factors affecting decisions to refurbish or demolish. Circularity and carbon are important, but you have to also consider social factors and financing. However the PreaDeM project has shown how automated data collection is feasible, and can significantly improve the understanding and value of a more circular approach to the development and provision of social housing.

If you would like to get involved with the future development of PreaDeM, or simply want to stay in touch with the project, you can get in touch via the CONTACT form above.

Understanding Circular Economy Drivers for Affordable Housing in the Global South

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 09:55:38 GMT

Reusefully has been commissioned by Habitat for Humanity to investigate the circular economy drivers for affordable housing in the Global South.

The project will aim to deepen policy and enable environment recommendations for circular housing with a piece of research that builds on Habitat for Humanity’s Net-Zero Homes report published in November 2022.

The Net-Zero Homes report provided valuable insight into the range of circularity approaches and associated exemplars that could be effective in the context of housing in middle income and emerging economies. The report covered four strategies:

narrowing flows (using less)
slowing flows (using longer)
regenerating flows (making cleaner) and
cycling flows (using again).

These are quite different approaches and not all will be possible simultaneously, or equally impactful, in all contexts given the circumstances of housing type, supply chain stage, local socio-economic conditions, national/regional legislative framework, skills and financing and other factors.

The follow-on project now being undertaken by Reusefully will build on this work to better understand and articulate the conditions for success in relation to strategy implementation, policy, and other interventions to support circularity in the built environment, and specifically for affordable housing.

If your organisation provides sustainable and circular housing solutions to emerging markets in the Global South, we are keen to connect with you. Please reach out to us about the project by using the Contact form above.

Increasing Circularity and Reuse in Fit-Out Projects

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 19:46:51 GMT

Reducing the waste generated by the fit-out process from both the removal of components and installation is one of the key challenges the construction sector has to address if we are to achieve net zero carbon targets and a reduction in waste.

Fit-outs are often carried out under strict time pressures, which frequently means that opportunities to reuse or recycle materials are not taken, and which can lead to a substantial increase in carbon footprint.

A project known as 'LINK', which is funded by Innovate UK, has the aim of dramatically reducing the amount of waste produced by fit-outs by using artificial intelligence and machine learning to rapidly identify materials and products for reuse, and connect those who wish to dispose of materials to those who wish to use them, keeping these materials in circulation, a key facet of the circular economy.

The project is aiming to develop a rapid listing mobile app, and engage with all parts of the supply chain to revolutionise reuse in fit-outs, and ultimately for construction as a whole.

The project is in its early stages, and to help gather views on the challenges and opportunities, the project partners are hosting an industry workshop on Monday March 27th (held online from 2pm - 3.30pm) to engage with stakeholders from across the fit-out and interiors sector. We will explore some of the challenges and opportunities provided by digital technology and aim to identify the key drivers and critical success factors in developing technology which enables reuse to become the norm, rather than the exception. The event is open to designers, clients, manufacturers, contractors and all those involved with promoting and encouraging reuse, and those who simply want to find out more.

The programme for the event includes short presentations covering:

Sustainability for Finishes and Interiors - Iain Mcilwee, CEO / Flavie Lowres, Sustainability Champion, Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS)
Avoiding Waste in the Fit-Out Process - Dr Katherine Adams, Technical Director, Reusefully
Specifying Reused Products – the Vision - Rachel Hoolahan, Associate, Orms
An Introduction to the LINK project – Using AI to Revolutionise Reuse - Prof Hafiz Alaka, Director, Big Data Tech and Innovation Lab, University of Hertfordshire

There will be discussion groups focusing on the key information needs to facilitate reuse, and the role of different actors in achieving higher levels of reuse.

You can register to attend the workshop here - attendance is free, and we look forward to welcoming all those interested in promoting reuse, or simply wanting to find out more about the project. Feel free to contact us if you would like more information.

Transforming Buildings - Dutch Style

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 16:46:43 GMT

A New Year trip to the Netherlands turned into a bit of a bus person’s holiday, with visits to an array of buildings demonstrating circularity in different ways. Gilli Hobbs of Reusefully explains how transforming buildings and embracing circularity is developing in the Netherlands.

My first stop was the Green Transformable Building Lab in Heerlen, brainchild of Dr Elma Durmisevic, which is in its 2 ^nd year of a 10 year programme to research, prototype and demonstrate a multitude of approaches linked to maximising reuse potential, use of existing resources and future adaptability. As the photos show, the stage is set with imposing wooden columns, made from trees felled locally as part of forest management, and a reversible steel structure at its core.

The current office and exhibition space is repurposed student accommodation integrating a reversible façade system developed through the BAMB project , which also host photovoltaics and infrared heating – the latter is invisible but very effective! The next phase in now underway to add additional exhibition space and to launch a virtual knowledge platform all about circular and dynamic buildings.

A short train ride away to Maastricht, where two churches have been adaptively reused. I went to the one converted into a bar and hotel a few years ago, so was keen to see the other one. A bookshop and café , the original features of the church were all on display, with a demountable steel structure maximising use of the space. The usual temptation to buy books was lessened by the fact they were pretty much all in Dutch.

Finally, back to Amsterdam where there are a few circular building examples to choose from. I plumped for ABN AMRO Circl pavilion which was constructed back in 2018 by BAM with the design by de Architekten Cie. Deconstructable timber beams in abundance, there are many circular features such as reused windows for internal partitioning, recycled denim insulation and lifts that remain the property of the manufacturer and leased on a use-only basis.

The pavilion is a great place to meet up and have a coffee but don’t worry if you can’t make it to Amsterdam to see for yourself – follow the link for a virtual tour .

For more information on Gilli's trip to the Netherlands, and for information to help us visit the buildings shown, use our Contact form above.

Demolition v Refurbishment in Social Housing – What’s the Carbon Cost?

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 09:01:33 GMT

With the growing focus on circular economy and embodied carbon, the social housing sector is increasingly recognising that site redevelopment decisions are extremely important for sustainability, especially for reducing carbon. Reclamation of building materials can significantly reduce the amount of embodied carbon in the new projects that utilise them. But how do you know the carbon cost of demolition, and the relative cost when compared to refurbishment?

Social housing providers are being driven towards enhanced measurement and reporting of circularity and carbon by a number of factors. Firstly, there has been policy development in several UK regions that calls for the measurement of reclamation and recovery potential and embodied carbon during projects. In London for instance, Circular Economy Statements must now be submitted for any referable projects (i.e. projects of a certain scale that must be approved by the Mayor’s office), requiring that a pre-demolition audit is undertaken.

These must be submitted alongside Whole Life Carbon Assessments, which may include the embodied carbon avoided through the reuse and recycling of demolition arisings. Moreover, there is a requirement for a pre-redevelopment audit whereby justification for demolition of buildings is required. In Wales, the draft Welsh Housing Quality Standard would require that “Landlords should… compare embodied and operational carbon in the proposal for retrofitting homes, as opposed to a proposal for demolishing and redeveloping homes”.

Many organisations, including social housing providers, have also now set targets relating to carbon, net zero and circular economy as part of their ESG efforts, often covering scope 3 emissions which includes the emissions through the value chain (and therefore associated with construction material usage, reclamation, waste, and disposal). Assessment and reporting standards are increasingly used by social housing providers to monitor performance, such as the Housing Quality Mark (HQM) at the level of individual projects and assets, or SHIFT and the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS) at the organisation level.

In general, therefore, the sector is moving towards increased reporting and transparency, requiring better and better tools for capturing, analysing, interpreting, and presenting data. However this is where a greater need arises to calculate a building's composition, and its reclamation and recycling potential.

Without this information, a social housing provider’s performance (or potential performance) on carbon emissions and circular use of materials cannot be fully quantified, and ambitious targets cannot be set and monitored.

Reusefully, together with partners Sustenic, Salvo and Cambridge Sustainable Design, are working on an Innovate UK project entitled ‘PreaDeM – the Pre-Demolition Environmental Assessment and Decision Making Platform’. This project is funded by Innovate UK under the NICER programme , which aims to encourage innovation in circular economy thinking.

The PreaDeM team are currently developing a specification for a tool (or more likely a toolkit) which will provide a rapid assessment of the reuse potential in a dwelling, and the carbon impact of refurbishment as opposed to demolition.

The focus is on developing something that is easy-to-use, and begins with a desk-based study to make use of publicly available data, such as data from Ordnance Survey or Google Streetview for example. it also needs to make best use of information that is built in on typical building and social housing typologies.

The project is looking to set out the specific data requirements and data capture methodologies to standardise the various stages (from desk study to site visit to analysis and reporting), and investigating the potential for innovative tools and technologies to streamline data capture, analysis and reporting. We are also looking at how a tool could be used by different ‘user groups’ such as the assessors who carry out pre-demolition audits on behalf of social housing providers. There could also be potential for housing providers themselves to use the tool for a quick circular economy and embodied carbon assessment of their assets.

The intention with this is to obtain a rapid and high-level insight, which in some cases might provide enough information to avoid a potentially time consuming and costly site visit and audit.

Data collection templates are currently being trialled on a number of ‘live’ projects of social housing projects up and down the UK. A basic data analysis protocol has been developed, which involves a standard method of aggregating data from the data collection template, carrying out analytics (including reclamation and recycling potential evaluation and embodied carbon analysis), and presenting the findings in an easy-to-interpret reporting format in the form of tables and graphs that can be inserted into a client report.

If you would like to find out more about the PreaDeM project, or are a social housing provider who would be interested in trialling the tool, please get in touch via the Contact form above.

Can Artificial Intelligence and a Mobile App Increase Reuse in Construction?

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 07:46:29 GMT

Reusefully has begun work on an Innovate UK funded project known as ‘LINK’ to investigate a new digital platform for construction material reuse. Working with partners from the University of Hertfordshire, Finishes & Interiors Sector (FIS), Rasutatech and Nazir Associates, the study will look to develop and evaluate machine learning to recognise construction materials in-situ, and rapidly connect donors and recipients.

The idea with LINK is to accelerate the on-site identification and listing of salvageable construction products. The project will investigate the development of a Rapid Listing Mobile App (Rambo). Using a mobile phone's camera, the app will be developed to recognise construction materials and products (whether that be brick, stone, panels, partitions, floor tiles etc), quantify them and sort them into separate postings with an automatic upload to LINK's online exchange platform.

The intention is that a user should simply need to open the app and point the camera to the construction material to be salvaged and the LINK system will do the rest. This will revolutionise a long and arduous process of taking separate photos of each material, writing descriptions and uploading them one after the other on a webpage.

LINK will aim to connect end-user buyers directly to material owners, aiming to disrupt the currently inefficient and sustainability-defeating process of travelling multiple journeys to pick up varying volumes of materials and storing them before struggling to sell at high prices or disposing them. It aims to create a more cost-effective market for reusing materials therefore leading to a dramatic increase in reuse. The initial focus for the project team is reuse within the commercial finishes and fit-out sector which has a traditionally high level of turnover of items, is often constrained by short project lead times and deals with products that have a high potential reuse value if challenging time constraints and commercial pressures can be met.

Together with Reusefully, the partners within the project are Nazir Associates Ltd , who develop sustainability-related technology solutions, the University of Hertfordshire , whose Big Data Technologies and Innovation Laboratory focuses on the application of technologies like big data and artificial intelligence and machine learning, Finishes & Interiors Sector (FIS) , the trade body for construction fit-out materials with over 8,000 members, and Rasutatech , a digital technology firm with an arm that specialises in development of mobile apps and e-commerce platforms.

The project is part-funded by Innovate UK under the UK Smart Grants programme to support SMEs and their partners to develop disruptive innovations with significant potential for rapid, economic return to the UK.

For more information on the project, go to www.linkedme.co.uk or contact us via the form above.

Avoiding Waste in the Fit-Out Process

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 08:07:06 GMT

How do you minimise the amount of waste generated in a fit-out? How can you ensure you are using the most sustainable materials and design? What role can reuse play in reducing carbon footprint? These questions and others will be discussed at the Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS) conference over two days in February at the Business Design Centre in London.

Join us for a session “The Fundamentals of Sustainable Design in Fit-Out” which runs 3pm-4pm on 28 ^th February and hear from Reusefully’s Katherine Adams on how to avoid waste in the fit-out process.

This event takes part alongside the Workspace Design Show, bringing together the UK’s workplace interiors community. More information and registration here .

ASBP Launches ‘Reuse Now’ Campaign

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 10:14:01 GMT

The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP) has launched ‘Reuse Now’ , the campaign which calls for urgent action for a circular economy approach in the construction sector.

The campaign builds upon the ASBP-led DISRUPT project, which is exploring the innovative reuse of structural steel in construction through the creation and adoption of new circular business models.

Project partners and supporters include reuse stalwarts Cleveland Steel & Tubes Ltd, global construction specialist ISG, National Federation of Demolition Contractors, international property business Grosvenor and is supported by Reusefully Ltd.

Around 60 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste is created annually in the UK. Whilst much of this is recovered and recycled, but only a small percentage is reused even though reuse sits at the top of the waste hierarchy.

Material reuse can substantially reduce the need for new products, and their associated embodied carbon emissions. Estimates suggest that 22.3 MtCO2e of GHG emissions could be saved over 9 years by increasing our reuse of construction products.

Better Decision Making for Housing Refurbishment vs. Demolition – PreaDeM Update

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 20:22:31 GMT

Whilst there has been some attention to circularity in the construction sector, there has been little work undertaken with the social housing sector, with lack of data and related measurement tools commonly referenced as a key challenge.

The social housing sector provides 4.4 million homes in England alone, and is a vital part of the drive to net zero carbon emissions. It is vitally important for social cohesion, health and wellbeing and to help meet the UK’s housing requirements. Improving circularity and reducing carbon is therefore a priority.

However, there has also been little work on how circularity can be integrated into asset management decision making in social housing, which is largely driven by operational energy and cost needs and upgrading to meet carbon emissions targets.

At the present time, pre-refurbishment and demolition audits are often driven by requirements set in BREEAM, in the requirements for Circular Economy Statements for major projects in London, and, very occasionally, to meet requirements set down by more enlightened clients. Whilst these audits play an important role in determining circularity and carbon reduction opportunities, the data needed to determine what will become available, and in what condition, is costly to establish on a project-by-project basis.

Typically, there is little data for a rapid and accurate calculation of the ‘Bill of Quantities’ and the implications for reverse construction are often hidden. Also, audits are often done too late in the project decision making stage to have maximum impact.

Therefore, a key objective of PreaDeM is to develop a smarter way to quantify what is there (for example using more state of the art technology such as point cloud, photogrammetry and walk through scanning) combined with detailed specification information and assumptions to determine what can be extracted for further reuse, closed-loop recycling, and other resource management options.

This information is crucial for the wider assessment of Demolition vs. Refurbishment, where much of the data needed is common and can be highly valuable for a wide range of assessments including:

Embodied carbon of refurbishment vs. new build (including maintenance & replacement)
Operational carbon of refurbishment vs. new build (current building regulations and beyond)
Impact of demolition vs. refurbishment in terms of waste arising (now)
End of life impacts of refurbished assets vs. new build (in the future)
Likely lifetime of refurbished vs. new build (annualised impact)
Whole life cost of refurbishment vs. new build

PreaDeM commenced on 1 ^st April 2022 is led by Reusefully, the circular economy research and consultancy organisation that specialises in construction and the built environment, working with Sustenic, who focus on supporting housing and health professionals in the drive to net zero carbon, Cambridge Sustainable Design, who provide energy, carbon and waste reduction services, and Salvo, the architectural salvage hub that promotes reuse.

We are now well underway with work packages 1 and 2 for the project, investigating the ‘ecosystem’, mapping the value chain and understanding user requirements of stakeholders, chiefly social housing owners and asset managers. We are also reviewing the state-of-the-art of existing tools, methodologies, standards and databases that can contribute to, or be adapted, to create a PreaDeM platform. We will shortly be starting work package 3, understanding and prioritising what the platform Must include, versus what it Should, Could or Won’t (MoSCoW).

Work package 3 includes the formation of a user group of social housing providers, so if you are interested in getting involved in this, please get in touch. The project runs until March 2023, culminating in the development of a business model for widespread adoption and development of a technical specification, and we would be happy to hear from any stakeholders in this area.

Towards a Circular Economy for Construction in London - Event Summary

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 07:05:49 GMT

As part of the series of events for London Climate Action Week, we hosted an online event to consider how we can accelerate the progress towards a more circular economy for construction in London.

A circular economy in construction means that buildings should be designed to create minimal waste by being long-lasting, allowing them to be easily repaired and refurbished, and to be deconstructed at end of life.

Katherine Adams, co-founder of Reusefully , the research and consultancy organisation dedicated to circularity in the built environment, opened proceedings and described how circularity is about ensuring materials flow in our economy, looking at longevity, productivity and value. It goes beyond reuse and recycling, aiming to maintain the environmental and economic value of products.

There is an intrinsic link to carbon and climate change, with circularity actions addressing upfront and embodied carbon, through to the carbon impact of reuse and recycling.

As well as reducing carbon, there is a need to be much more efficient with the resources we use, due to the impact of global population growth and the loss of biodiversity and water stress. Only 20% of construction materials comes from secondary sources in the UK, and this is often low grade or low value materials such as aggregates. The price of materials and supply shortages are beginning to have an increasing impact.

We remain very wasteful as an industry and have not reduced our overall waste by much. Whilst recovery rates are high (at around 92%), this is often for low value or downcycled applications. 5 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste is still sent to landfill.

The Green Construction Board with the support of Reusefully has produced an interactive “Routemap for Zero Avoidable Waste” , which is a highly useful document she said, helping to understand the actions that are important across different life cycle stages in construction.

Some clients and large developers are also starting to make commitments for reducing carbon and improving sustainability. British Land, for example, are starting to set percentage targets for deconstruction and take-back of materials, together with upcycling and reuse of materials.

Gilli Hobbs, also a co-founder of Reusefully, provided a perspective on circularity in London, highlighting the new London Plan guidance for Circular Economy Statements which gives greater weight to the value retention of existing structures and buildings, shifting the emphasis to using and reusing what we have got. The guidance now requires ‘pre-redevelopment audits’ to set out the justification for demolition or otherwise, encouraging the reuse or retention of whole building assets in part or whole where possible. If demolition is required, pre-demolition audits are then undertaken, with a much tougher set of requirements in the recent guidance, which is a very welcome development.

Gilli provided examples of how this value hierarchy is starting to work, aiming to get to the highest value of reuse or recycling where buildings are no longer required. This includes Meridian Water , a project in Enfield which is a 30 year regeneration programme which Gilli is working on. The project is taking a life cycle approach to circular economy, even going so far as linking existing buildings ‘donors’, with new construction projects elsewhere. Meridian Water is also looking at future design issues, with a focus on greater adaptability and reuse.

Christian van Maaren of the Excess Materials Exchange , based in Amsterdam, said that in many ways the circular economy is ‘stuck in the future, whereby everybody wants to see it happen, but the practicality of matching supply and demand of secondary materials is difficult’. He says that London has now moved ahead of the rest of Europe in circularity.

Christian described how material or resources passports could work in future, and the need for standards in this area. He highlighted the work the Excess Materials Exchange is doing in ‘collective intelligence’ to enhance data on reusable building materials, using the knowledge and experience of experts in the field. Christian is also involved in the Enfield project, and on other projects such as Schiphol Airport looking at how tools such as RFID tags or OR-codes for reusable materials can help enhance value. The information in passports also makes it much easier to understand life cycle impact of products.

Nitesh Magdani, founder of Net Positive Solutions outlined his role advising on design solutions at Meridian Water, through wide stakeholder engagement to promote circularity and the reduction of whole life carbon. This involves the creation of a route map for stakeholders (clients, designers, contractors and others) and the generation of circular business models. He also shared case studies from his experience of circular design and construction in practice’, highlighting examples including ‘Circl’ , the ABN AMRO Circular Pavilion in Amsterdam which is designed to help them as a client understand circular economy themselves and showcase this as a concept to their banking customers. Lendager Group in Denmark have an example taking repurposed bricks to make construction panels, designing in reuse as architects and developers in a project called Resource Rows .

Examples in London, include the Circular Building created for the London Design Festival a couple of years ago, which explored how you can design for the next life and reassembly, maintaining residual value after first use. Nitesh, Katherine and Gilli are also working with the whole life carbon community to quantify the carbon saving value of reuse and other circularity approaches, which is not currently understood or recognised within the current whole life carbon debate.

A lively discussion followed the presentations, highlighting topics such as the metrics that are used for measuring carbon impact and their relationship to circular economy thinking, the materials value retention hierarchy, the need to change culture and ways of working in the construction industry. Both speakers and attendees agreed that creating triple bottom line analysis together can be very impactful in winning hearts and minds in favour of circularity. Highlighting the quick wins, the (financial and carbon) impact of high value materials also helps, together with linking demolition and redevelopment with reuse. All agreed we have made a start, evidenced by some of the research and case studies highlighted, but only a start and we need to accelerate our efforts to bring all stakeholders on board.

Towards a Circular Economy for Construction in London

Tue, 31 May 2022 17:17:41 GMT

Circular economy in construction means that buildings should be designed to create minimal waste by being long-lasting, allowing them to be easily repaired and refurbished, and to be deconstructed at end of life.

For London Climate Action Week , we are hosting a one hour webinar on June 27 ^th starting at 10am to explore how circularity for construction in London can be accelerated. How can we ensure we design buildings for longer life and adaptability? How do we make products and materials that are reusable? And what role does the new guidance for Circular Economy Statements in London play?

These and other topics will be discussed in depth so join us for what should be a thought-provoking event. You can register for a place here .

Reusefully Investigates Wastage Rates for Blocks, Bricks and Ready Mixed Concrete

Mon, 23 May 2022 11:29:52 GMT

Reusefully is carrying out a study to provide an updated set of wastage rates for blocks, bricks and ready mixed concrete. MPA Masonry, the Brick Development Association (BDA) and the British Ready Mixed Concrete Association (BRMCA) are funding this work to update site wastage rate figures.

The current benchmarks were developed well over 10 years ago and are used in various assessments, such as the RICS Professional Statement on whole life carbon assessment for the built environment and in life cycle assessment databases and other related activities.

A major part of the study revolves around obtaining recent site-based data on the amounts and causes of waste in the procurement, handling and installation of bricks, blocks and ready mixed concrete. MPA Masonry & Reusefully are therefore seeking contractors, sub-contractors, clients, housebuilders and other supply chain partners who may be able to provide such data. For example, where there are site-based targets for waste reduction or achieving Zero Avoidable Waste. Data will be anonymised and used to prioritise supplier-based actions to help reduce site-based waste and hence, costs associated with unused materials and their subsequent management.

There is more information on MPA Masonry here and to participate in the study please contact us via Contact above.

Construction Needs to Speed Up Its Progress Towards a Circular Economy

Thu, 05 May 2022 08:45:30 GMT

The circular economy concept is becoming more important against a backdrop of increased population growth and prosperity, ultimately resulting in the continued unsustainable use of the Earth’s resources, with much of this ending up as waste with little or no value.

The construction sector, through its provision of homes, schools, hospitals and places of work, is by far the greatest consumer of resources and producer of waste when compared to other sectors.

Whilst the sector has successfully achieved high recycling rates, most of this waste is downcycled where the value, quality and functionality are lower than the original product; moreover, the resources that the sector uses are largely from primary sources and material costs are rising. Whereas sustainable buildings have been receiving growing attention in the last decade, there has been less focus on the circular economy. Policymakers and industry are starting to recognise these concerns by the development of various circular economy strategies, action plans and roadmaps; however, progress is slow.

Circular economy in the building sector means that buildings should be designed to create minimal waste by being long-lasting, allowing them to be easily repaired and refurbished, and to be deconstructed at end of life, so the products and materials within can be reused or recycled, maintaining their value, where possible.

Whilst there are an increasing number of circular economy academic and practitioner studies published, its implementation is still in its infancy and research is fragmented.

Specific sector frameworks are needed to assist in implementing circular economy and whilst a few have been developed in the building sector, they largely focus on one or a few circular economy aspects and on one or a few stages of a building or supply chain stakeholders, even though the various benefits of encompassing all these aspects are evident.

A substantial cultural shift is, in fact, needed to embrace circular economy, whereby the potential for reuse and recycling materials and products at the end of life and the longevity of them should be paramount in their manufacture, design, specification and procurement. This requires manufacturers, designers and contractors to work together to understand how decisions made at each stage could affect circularity, together with the best mechanisms for sharing this information. BIM and EPDs are important tools, which could be developed further to embrace circularity.

Our research findings indicate that there is a disconnect with those involved at the end of life stage, the demolition contractor and the rest of the supply chain. As such, there needs to be more engagement with these stakeholders to understand current circularity opportunities and how material and design choices now are likely to ultimately effect circularity long term. The creation of datasets with residual value, material costs, recovery routes and costs, reuse potential and recyclability will provide greater transparency and knowledge.

Capturing and sharing of knowledge at a project, company and sector level will assist in the building sector becoming more circular. This includes having processes in place for projects ensuring that knowledge is captured and at a company level, retained and subsequently used for future projects.

So there is still much to do, and much more we can all do to speed up the transition to a more circular economy in construction.

This article is based on the Abstract and Recommendations from Dr Katherine Adam’s Doctoral Thesis submitted to the University of Loughborough in June 2021, entitled ‘Circular Economy in the UK Building Sector: A Framework for Implementation’. You can contact Reusefully Ltd to discuss any aspect of circularity in construction.

Call for Social Housing Sector to Help Improve Circularity and Reduce Carbon

Tue, 12 Apr 2022 14:23:42 GMT

The social housing sector is being invited to contribute to a project that aims to improve circularity and reduce carbon in the refurbishment of the UK’s housing stock.

PreaDeM (Pre-demolition environmental assessment and Decision-Making) is a one year research and development project supported by Innovate UK and led by circular economy consultancy Reusefully, working with partners Sustenic, Cambridge Sustainable Design and Salvo.

It aims to help the social housing sector realise better circularity outcomes across the value chain.

The project will undertake a feasibility study to determine how to best measure the type and amount of materials, products and elements in UK housing types and how they can best be reused, or, if necessary, recycled at the end of their life. Currently this is undertaken through pre-refurbishment and pre-demolition audits, which can be time consuming and can often be ineffective in reducing carbon impact.

By developing an ‘automated bill of quantities’, better decisions can be made about the future of housing assets. This includes whether assets should be refurbished or demolished and the impact this will have in terms of the materials arising and the carbon impact of this balanced with operational energy savings.

The project partners are looking for expressions of interest from housing asset owners and managers, and all those involved in the delivery of housing stock refurbishment programmes.

They wish to canvass views on circular economy outcomes, and work with the sector to develop case studies of best practice. They also wish to look at the wider ecosystem of existing tools and legislation that could be corralled to achieve better outcomes.

There is more information on the project here and interested parties can register their interest by sending us a message using the CONTACT information above.

Notes for Editors

1. The PreaDeM project is part-funded under Innovate UK, which is part of UK Research and Innovation, and investing up to £1 million in circular economy innovation projects through the UKRI National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research programme (NICER). The aim of NICER funding is to support feasibility studies, industrial research and experimental development that address the challenges of transitioning to a circular economy.

2. PreaDeM is led by Reusefully Ltd , a circular economy research and consultancy organisation that specialises in the construction industry. Reusefully is working alongside partners Sustenic , an organisation focused on supporting housing and health professionals in the drive to net zero carbon, Cambridge Sustainable Design, who provide energy, carbon and waste reduction services, and Salvo , the architectural salvage hub that promotes reuse of materials from demolition with the aim of reducing the quantity of salvageable materials that end up in landfill.

GLA Publishes Final Circular Economy Statement Guidance

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 07:36:02 GMT

The Greater London Authority’s circular economy policies are already having an impact, with major schemes in the capital already being asked to address circularity.

The GLA has now published its final versions of the guidance for Circular Economy Statements , as well as the guidance for Whole Life Carbon Assessments. This comes after extensive consultation with industry, with the final guidance emphasising the importance of refurbishment over new build and applicants now having to demonstrate that the benefits of demolition outweigh the benefits of retrofit.

Both Gilli and Katherine of Reusefully have been involved in the development of this, with Gilli inputting into the Circular Economy Primer and Katherine reviewing circular economy statements for the GLA.

The final version, in fact, prioritises retention, refurbishment and deconstruction over demolition, with a new decision tree that includes a hierarchy and additional guidance on pre-refurbishment and pre-demolition audits.

The GLA now has over a year of data from the Circular Economy Statements that have been submitted during the consultation stage of the guidance and is publishing figures to provide applicants with guidance on good and best practice performance. It is also asking for more information at the Outline Application stage to drive decision-making at the early, influential changes of a construction project.

Moving to a more circular economy and reducing embodied carbon in this way is essential for meeting London’s net zero targets, as well as helping the whole of the UK to tackle the climate crisis. This newly published guidance is another major step in the move to implement this on major construction projects in London.

You can read more here on the GLA’s final Circular Economy Statement Guidance and for more information and help with Circular Economy Statements, feel free to contact us.

Explore Net Zero and Natural Materials at Futurebuild, 2nd March

Wed, 23 Feb 2022 14:24:27 GMT

Natural materials include timber, hemp, straw, clay and wool and can be used for a wide range of construction applications such as structural elements, insulation and finishes.

Interest in these materials continues to grow due to their sustainability credentials including technical performance, lower embodied carbon, health benefits and ability to lock-up carbon during their lifespan. What role do natural materials have to play in delivering net zero buildings, and are there any barriers to their increased uptake? This session at Futurebuild is curated by ASBP and features contributions from Eden Renewables, Keim Mineral Paints and the Timber Accelerator Hub.

There is more on this session here and you can register for a free ticket for Futurebuild here .

Circularity in the Social Housing Sector – Reusefully Wins Innovate UK Project

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 09:46:50 GMT

Reusefully is managing a consortium of partners who were successful in receiving R&D funding in the latest series of Innovate UK bids. The project aims to help the social housing sector realise better circularity outcomes across the value chain, by provision of data to enable better decision making.

This involves the quick and easy estimation of the products and materials embedded in existing built assets and their reuse potential. Whilst there has been some attention to circularity in the construction sector, there has been little work undertaken with the social housing sector, with lack of data and related measurement tools is commonly referenced as a key challenge; even though there is a long term interest in their assets.

There has also been little work on how circularity can be integrated into asset management decision making, which is largely driven by operational energy and cost needs and upgrading to meet carbon emissions targets. Thus, there is a real need for Pre-Demolition Environmental Assessment and Decision Making (PreaDeM) support via a user-friendly platform.

Our consortium partners are:

Sustenic , the consultancy which provides support to housing and health professionals in their journey to deliver high quality and healthy buildings, whilst accelerating the drive to net zero carbon emissions.

Cambridge Sustainable Design (CSD) , which provides targeted design and assessment services focused on energy, carbon and waste reduction including pre-demolition audits.

Salvo , the architectural salvage hub that promotes reuse of materials from demolition with the aim of reducing the quantity of salvageable materials that end up in landfill.

A Look Back to COP26

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 10:34:13 GMT

As record-breaking numbers of delegates gathered in Glasgow in November last year, they were also joined by huge crowds of protesters outside; but the UK presidency of COP26 had set itself the ambitious task of “keeping 1.5C alive”. Whilst some heralded the conference as a success, there were many questions left unanswered and many timescales left open.

The “Glasgow Climate Pact” that emerged from the summit was welcomed by many for its commitment to doubling adaptation finance and requesting countries to present more ambitious climate pledges next year. The Pact “welcomes” the latest IPCC report and “expresses alarm and utmost concern” at warming having already reached 1.1C, with remaining carbon budgets now “small and being rapidly depleted” - current pledges, if met, will only limit global warming to about 2.4C.

Some were disappointed that COP26 failed to provide vulnerable nations with the money to rebuild and respond to the unavoidable impact of climate change and that the new 2030 promises amounted to 0.3C less warming if met, falling well short of 1.5C. Previous pledges to provide these countries with $100bn (£72bn) a year by 2020 was missed and so the prospect of a trillion dollar a year fund from 2025 was welcomed by most.

It was the first event COP decision to explicitly target action against fossil fuels, calling for a “phasedown of unabated coal” and “phase-out” of “inefficient” fossil-fuel subsidies. This was however, a weaker commitment than first proposed after a later intervention by China and India and no firm dates have been set.

Young people from around the world also made their voices heard on “youth and public engagement” day on 5 November by presenting the COP presidency with a “global youth statement”, which was signed by more than 40,000 young people from more than 130 countries.