Building information modelling can save natural resources and emissions

By reusing building materials and elements, it is possible to achieve significant benefits ranging from reducing emissions and waste to conserving natural resources and new business opportunities. There is a great need for solutions that accelerate the circular economy in the construction sector, as construction consumes approximately half of the world’s natural resources each year. The new Construction Act, which will enter into force in 2025, will also strongly promote the circular economy.

By reusing building materials and elements, it is possible to achieve significant benefits ranging from reducing emissions and waste to conserving natural resources and new business opportunities. There is a great need for solutions that accelerate the circular economy in the construction sector, as construction consumes approximately half of the world’s natural resources each year. The new Construction Act, which will enter into force in 2025, will also strongly promote the circular economy.

If you want to reuse a used building element in a new building, for example, questions often arise about the condition, quality, dimensions and detachability of the element – is the part or material suitable for reuse, and how can it be taken into account in the planning? These issues were being solved by AFRY’s circular economy concept, which was successful in the Kera design competition and which explored how the reuse of building elements could be made possible on a large scale.

The core idea of the concept is the digitisation of buildings and their parts: key characteristics from the perspective of reuse, such as information on the dimensions, safety, condition, demountability and availability of the part can be attached to the digital building element (the information model). The utilisation of reused building elements in planning and modelling becomes easier when the necessary information is readily available even before the demolition of the building. At best, the process would reduce waste so that no emissions or costs would arise, for example, from the extra transport or storage of materials.

As part of the development of the concept, AFRY digitised three typical building elements at the Kera halls, utilising laser scanning, modelling and adding characteristics. In the concept, it was also examined where information should be stored. Now the marketplace for recycled and surplus materials in the construction industry is Materiaalitori(external link, opens in a new window), where information based on an information model cannot be stored directly at the moment.

While there is still development work to be done, there is also a need for concrete action. Solutions for the reuse of building components are needed, as construction and demolition waste constitute the largest waste stream in the European Union. “Although the circular economy is not yet mainstream in the construction sector, it has huge economic potential in addition to the ecological aspects. Now, more than ever, it is worthwhile being a forerunner in the circular economy,” says Arto Toorikka, Director for Sustainable Development at AFRY.

The concept working group consisted of  Architect SAFA, LL.M. Maiju Rinne-Kanto, Director of Sustainable Development Arto Toorikka and Service Designer Harri Tuononen from AFRY. In addition, Motiva and Trimble participated in the development of the concept.

The concept report is available for download below (In Finnish). See also the other concepts of the design competition:

• Construction of a day-care centre from reused building elements examined in Kera
• Is there a new life for used concrete elements in landscape construction?

The design competition was carried out as part of the Implementation Pathway for Environments that Accelerate Sustainable Growth project of Espoo, VTT, Aalto University and Omnia, in which the city district of Kera is being developed as a development environment for the circular economy and the green transition together with citizens, companies, educational institutions and research organisations. The project has been implemented with the European Union’s REACT-EU ERDF funding, which is part of the European Union’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.