Methods to Account for Design for Disassembly: Status of the Building Sector

Abstract

Embracing the design for disassembly (DfD) mindset when constructing new and renovating existing buildings is a promising means of achieving our climate targets and putting the circular economy principles in practice, as promoted in the European Green Deal. Current greenhouse gas emissions’ accounting frameworks only deal with DfD to a certain extent. A better and more common understanding of how this can be carried out will not only help promote DfD but also shed light on how DfD should be seen in the context of other emission reduction measures. This could help to achieve balanced and credible scenarios that can be used in policy-making processes. When building components or materials are used over several cycles (buildings), the allocation of environmental impacts across the different buildings must be discussed. In an attempt to address this issue, this study examined whether and how current LCA standards for construction products and buildings consider such allocation issues.

Keywords

• design for disassembly (DfD)
• circular economy
• life-cycle assessment (LCA)
• building