Construction materials represent around 40% of all materials used in most advanced economies, and construction and demolition (C & D) waste makes up around 25% -30% of waste sent to landfill. This results in millions of tons of C & D waste being buried every year, representing huge losses in embodied energy, water and materials. In many jurisdictions the ‘linear’ expectations embodied in design and construction practice and regulation undermine the feasibility of more fully re-using construction materials. In this conversation the panelists spoke about how the present linear model followed in design and construction can be modified and replaced with a more circular model. They also paid particular attention to the role of information technology in conjunction with sustainable waste management systems to better enable the reuse of materials like timber, glass and steel, and the vital importance of changing inappropriate regulation and of training and engaging designers to lead this process.
Duncan Baker-Brown is a highly regarded British architect and academic, responsible for “Europe’s first permanent building made from materials discarded by others”, the Brighton Waste House, and author of the widely acclaimed guide to the circular economy in architecture and construction, The Re-Use Atlas: A Designer’s Guide towards the Circular Economy (RIBA, 2017).
Robert Crocker (moderator) is Deputy Director of the China Australia Centre for Sustainable Development, a partnership with Tianjin University, where he is also a guest researcher. His research focuses on the relationship between consumption, waste and design for sustainability, and he has published widely in this field, including most recently two co-edited volumes on the circular economy, Unmaking Waste and on reuse, Subverting Consumerism. His recent book, Somebody Else’s Problem: Consumerism, Sustainability and Design (Routledge: Greenleaf 2016), won gold in the Axiom Best Business Books awards for 2017.
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