November 2019

Author:Elma DurmisevicUIA Expert

The Super Circular Estate project Journal N° 3

Project led by the Municipality of Kerkrade

CIRCULARECONOMY

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The Super Circular Estate project

The Super Circular Estate project will test new circular economy processes aimed at 100% reusing, repairing and recycling of the materials acquired from the demolition of an outdated social housing building. The project will experiment with and evaluate innovative reuse techniques for decomposing a high-rise tunnel formwork concrete building in Kerkrade. The demolition materials will be used to build 4 pilot housing units with 5 different reuse/recycle techniques to be compared in order to assess their viability and replicability. Besides the project will experiment with innovative techniques for water reuse in a social housing context by testing closed water cycle. Social tenants will be strongly involved in the co-design, operation and monitoring of new collaborative economy services/facilities (aiming at reducing the need for vehicles, tools, spaces etc.) to support the transition towards a sharing, reuse and repair community model.

Partnership

• Municipality of Kerkrade

• Brunssum municipality

• Landgraaf municipality

• Stadsregio Parkstad Limburg

• VolkerWessels Construction

• Real Estate Development South and Dusseldorp Infra

• Water Board Company Limburg

• Limburg Drinking Water Company

• IBA Parkstad B.V

• Zuyd University of Applied Sciences

• HeemWonen

• Association of Demolition Contractors (VERAS)

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Table of Contents

1. Executivesummary 4

2. Testingcircularconstructiontechniquesduringconstruction of Super Circular Estate houses 6

3. Environmental impact of Super Circular Estate Houseconstruction 10

4. Financialfeasibilityofcirculartechniquestested 12

4.1 Datacollectionforcostdetermination 13

4.2 Costcomparisons 14

5. Socialcircularity 19

6. LessonsLearnedandfuturechallenges 21

7. Conclusionandnextsteps 24

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1. Executivesummary

ConstructionindustryisthebiggestconsumerofnaturalresourcesandproducerofCO2emissionsandwaste.AccordingtothedepartmentofDutchministry for infrastructure and environmentRjkswaterstaat 2017, construction industry intheNetherlands is responsible for 50%of totaluse of natural resources, 40% of total energyuse,40%oftotalwasteproduction,35%oftotalCO2 emissions (Rjkswaterstaat 2017). TU Delftreport in 2018 indicated that when analysingall construction activities, use of raw materialitself is responsible for 67% of CO2 emissionscompared to activities on the construction site16%andtransport17%.

UN report warns that consumption of rawmaterials in construction has tripled in lastfew decades. In alinear “take–make– waste”economy of today, such growth results intodiminishing of natural resources, increase ofpollution,waste,CO2emissionsanddegradationof living conditions on the planet. Shift fromlinearuseof rawmaterials toacircular “Take–Make–Remake”economyhasbeenrecognisedasakeytoaresilientfuturebytheEU,aimingtoreachzeroCO2emissionsby2050.

AstheworldisincreasinglydebatingthedetailsoftheParisagreementandUNresolutions,dailylifeofmanyhas alreadybeendisruptedby climatechange.Whilecountriesarenegotiatingclimatedeals,needforimmediateactionisrecognisedastheonlywayfurther.

UIA project Super Circular Estate in Kerkrade(TheNetherlands) isoneofmuchneeded light-houses today that bring light on anew circularcarbon neutral construction world, by acting

and showcasing circular deconstruction andconstruction technologies, products, and toolsneededfornewcirculargenerationofbuildings.SCE project implements construction approachwhich relays on mining of materials from theexistingbuildingstockinplaceofrealmiens,andcreatinganewhomeswithre-sourcedproductsandmaterials.

WhileembracingsuchinnovativeapproachSuperCircular Estate consortium members have facednumerous challenges on away, from change indesignandengineeringculturetodeconstruction,refurbishment and construction methods ofconstruction not seen before. Major challengeswere related to issues as legislation, technique,valueperceptionandmindset(discussed inmoredetailinjournal2andzoomin1)(UIA2019)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azLRMLTlOMw; https://www.uia-initiative.eu/en/news/super-circular-estate-journal-2-next-steps.

Nevertheless, after more than ayear ofexperiments, significant steps have beenmadeand results achieved, illustrating the potentialand challenges of circular building constructiontoday. The SCE consortium is already finalisingtheconstructionphaseofthethreenewhousesmade of reused materials (90%) and engagingformer inhabitants in social revitalisation andfurther development of the social facilities andtheneighbourhood.

As thisUIA Project in Kerkrade investigates thewholepalletofeffectsthatbuiltenvironmentandbuilding constructionhaveon society, economyand the planet, it also enables us to identify

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importantsteppingstonesforcircularbuildingofthefuture.

This Expert Journal focusses on the newadvancements of this unique circular projectandelaborates

• construction phase of three Super CircularEstatehousesreusing90%ofmaterials fromthedonorblocknextdoor

• further development of reversible buildingtechnology that will enable recovery andreuse of building elements and blokes infuturebuildings,

• environmental and economic impacts ofimplementedbuildingtechnologies

• social engagement and impact of SuperCircularEstateProject

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2. TestingcircularconstructiontechniquesduringconstructionofSuper Circular Estate houses

TheSuper Circular Estate projectconsortiumhasbeen testing new circular economy processesduring construction of three Super Circular Estate houses.Theconstructionprocessaimedat90% reusing, remanufacturing and recycling ofthematerialsre-sourcedfromthedemolitionofanoutdatedsocialhousingbuildingnextdoor.Inorder to work towards this goal, the projectexperimented with new unique deconstructiontechniquefordeconstructinga10-storyhigh-risetunnel formwork concretebuilding inKerkrade.Threenewhousesareunderconstructiontestingthree innovative circular building techniques(direct reuse, remanufacturingand recycling) inordertoassesstheirviabilityandreplicability.

Construction of three Super Circular EstateHouses(TypeA,BandC)startedinspringof2019using re-sourcedmaterials fromaneighbouringdonor high-rise flat building built in 60’s.(Figure 1) A total of 1.380.000 ton of mainbuilding materials (wood, concert, ceramics,steel, glass, coper, missionary, plastic, naturalstone,aluminium,insulationmaterial)havebeenharvested form the existing “donor” buildingrecovering2.330.000GJofembodiedenergyand287.000 CO2 (ton) embodied in buildingmaterials. (M.Ritzen at all. 2019)

Figure 1: Construction of three UIA SCE houses in the row, first Type C, Type B and Type A

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Theaimoftheconstructionofthreenewhouseswas to construct them using at least 75% ofreused materials that are re-sourced from thedonor building. House TypeA has 74m2 and isa two-bedroom house (Figure 2 left). Duringconstruction the following circular techniqueshavebeentested:

• Foundation has been made out of circularconcreate (aggregate and cement for theconcrete which have been acquired bycrashingtheexistingconcreatestructure,only7% of new cement has been added duringproduction of concrete for the foundation)(Figure5)

• mainloadbearingstructurehasbeendirectlyreused from the existing building by cutting3D concrete module from the existingstructure,(Figure3)

• partitioning walls have been directly reusedfromtheexitingbuildingaswellas

• woodenframesfordoors,finally

• façadehasbeenconstructedoutofmodulesusing crashed concrete pieces form theexistingbuilding(Figure4)

House Type B is also a two-bedroom house of74m2.(Figure2middle)Duringconstruction,thefollowingcirculartechniqueshavebeentested:

• Foundation has been made out of circularconcreate (aggregate and cement for theconcrete which have been acquired bycrashingtheexistingconcreatestructure,only7% of new cement has been added duringproduction of concrete for the foundation)(Figure5)

• mainloadbearingstructurehasbeendirectlyreused from the existing building by cutting3D concrete module from the existingstructure,(Figure3)

• partitioning walls have been directly reusedfromtheexistingbuilding

• Insulationhasbeenreusedformtheexistingbuilding

• Facade has been made of reused brickmodules,whichhavebeencutout from theexistingbuilding(Figure4)

Figure 2: Type A left house, Type B middle house, Type C right house

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HouseType(C)isaone-bedroomhouseandhas54m2. (Figure2right)Duringconstruction, thefollowingcirculartechniqueshavebeentested:

• Foundation has been made out of circularconcreate (aggregate and cement for theconcretewhichhavebeenacquiredbycrashingthe existing concreate structure, only 7% ofnewcementhasbeenaddedduringproductionofconcreteforthefoundation)(Figure5)

• mainloadbearingstructurehasbeenmadeofcircularconcreateasfoundation

• Facadehasbeenmadeof circular concreateasfoundation(Figure5)

Threekeycirculartechniques(directreuse,reusebyremanufacturingandrecycling)testedduringimplementationofSCEprojectare illustrated infigures3,4and5below.

Figure 3: Recovery of 3D reinforced concrete units from outdated high-rise social housing building built in 60’s and placement of 3D units on the foundation of super circular estate houses type A and type B

Figure 4: Main building materials recovered from the high-rise social housing building from 60’s and reused by remanufacturing

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Figure 5: Aggregate for the foundation of three super circular estate houses has been reused from a donor building in the neighbourhood which has been demolished using conventional demolition techniques. Foundation of houses type A, B and

C has been made with 100% reused aggregate.

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3. Environmental impact of Super CircularEstateHouseconstruction

University of Applied Sciences Zuyd has beenmonitoring the constructionof SCE houses andproducedreportonsavingsachievedinmaterial,CO2 emissions and energy adding also carboncostsasexternalcostofconstruction.

HouseTypeAhasbeenusedasareferencehousefor the calculation of environmental impact ofSCEproject.(Figure6)Accordingtothedetailedassessment of materials used in House typeAtotalof20.500tonofmainbuildingmaterialshavebeenbuiltintotheHouse(table1).

Material Quantity (ton)

EmbodiedEnergy(GJ)

EmbodiedCO2 (ton)

Shadowcosts (€)

Aluminium 2.60E-02 4.03E+00 2.14E-01 5.36E+00

Bricks 3.93E+00 1.18E+01 9.44E-01 2.36E+01

Ceramique 1.04E-01 1.97E+00 1.09E-01 2.74E+00

Concrete 1.96E+02 1.73E+02 2.59E+01 6.47E+02

Copper 3.25E-02 1.37E+00 8.46E-02 2.12E+00

Glass 3.38E-01 5.07E+00 2.91E-01 7.27E+00

Insulation 3.44E-01 1.36E+01 5.85E-01 1.46E+01

Paint 5.52E-02 3.25E+00 1.40E-01 3.50E+00

Plaster 6.24E-02 1.12E-01 8.11E-03 2.03E-01

Plastic 3.77E-01 3.10E+01 1.23E+00 3.09E+01

Rubber 9.84E-01 5.02E+01 3.74E-01 9.34E+00

Steel 1.24E+00 2.27E+01 1.78E+00 4.44E+01

Stone 5.00E-03 1.00E-02 5.80E-04 1.45E-02

Timber 1.23E+00 1.70E+01 1.45E+01 3.62E+02

Total 2.05E+02 3.35E+02 4.62E+01 1.15E+03

Table 1: Overview of materials and their embedded energy and embodied CO2 built into House Type A, including shadow costs based on 25€/ton CO2 (M.Ritzen at all. 2019)

Outof20.500tonofbuildingmaterialsthathavebeen built into house Type A, 90% has beenharvested from the donner building. This is

equivalenttosavingof4.621tonCO2and33.500GJembodiedenergyinmaterials.

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Main loadbearing structure of Houses Type A,Bhavebeenharvesteddirectly as a 3D concreteunit from the donor building. This has been themostcostlyoperationwithintheproject.Recoveryof3Dreinforcedconcreteunitsfromthehigh-riseflat involved extensive preparationwork such asreinforcing apartments around the unit beforetakingtheunitoutofthebuilding,reinforcingtheunititself,cuttingconcretefloorswithadiamantesaw.Thepreparationstakenonthedayitselfwerefollowing:Setupcraneof750tons,Setupcraneof500 tons, Set up crane of 100 tons, Last sawingtasks, Preparation of foundation, Prepare liftingconstruction,Attaching liftingconstructionto theunits,Low-loaderonsiteparking(Figure7).

Thisprocessrepresentsdirectreuseofmaterialsfrom one building into another by slightreparation (Figure 3).However, as the existingbuilding was designed for linear economywithone end of life option, demolition anddowncycling,itsmaterialswerenotdesignedforrecovery and reuse of parts of the structure.Efforts that needed to be taken in order todeconstruct one flat form a 10-story buildingwereimmenseandarereflectedinthefinancialfeasibility study done by Jeroen Zaad fromUniversity of Applied Sciences Zuyd. Results ofthisstudywillbeelaboratedinnextchapter.

Figure 6: House Type A designed by Bart Creugers from SeC Architecten and constructed by construction company JongenBouw 2019

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4. Financialfeasibilityofcirculartechniquestested

Super Circular Estate project tested circularitypotential of high-rise social housing structurebuiltin60’sandillustratedtheeffectsofcircularbuilding approach considering this buildingtypology and material composition. SCEconsotrium has done impact analyses of threemajor reuse techniques on environmental andinvestment costing. In order to identify thefinancial feasibility of project student JeroenZaadfromUniversityofAppliedScienceZuydhasdevelopedacalculationmethodincollaborationwithContractorJongenBouwanddeconstructioncompany Dusseldorp. Since most ofdeconstructionandremanufacturingtechniqueshave being tested for the first time during theconstruction itself, it was not possible to assesfinancialfeasibilityoftheprojectinadvance.

The construction process itself is an importantlearningpointofthisUIAproject.Inordertobeabletoassesfinancialfeasibilityofconstruction,additional data had to be collected during theconstructionprocesssuchas:

1. Man-hoursneededtorecoverandapply thebuildingproductormaterialandaveragecostperhour.

2. Additional material needed on top ofrecovered material in order to create finalproductfornewbuildingsandmarketcostsofnewmaterials

3. Equipment costs, tools and machineryneeded to recover and install recovered/remanufactured materials and market costsfortheuseoftoolsandmachinery

4. Information with respect to the existingmaterials.Whenusingownreusedmaterials,thematerialsthemselvesaretakenasagrantfromthedonorbuilding.Butinthiscase,thecosts necessary to obtain and edit thematerialsbeforetheycanbeusedareincludedinthecostofthematerial.

In order to compare construction costs ofSCE project with conventional construction,aconstructionofrecentlybuiltsocialhousewithsimilar typology and material composition hasbeentakenasareferenceproject.

MethodologythatassessfinancialfeasibilityofSCEconstructionconsideringenvironmentalimpactaswell, has been developed by student J.J.M. ZaadfromZuydUniversityofAppliedscience.

FinancialassessmentofSCEisaresultofmappingparameters determining construction costs(internal costs) and environmental impact ofconstruction(externalcosts)aslistedbelow.

The environmental impact consists of costsrelatedto:

• Embodiedenergysaved

• CO2emissionssaved

• Residualvalue-futurevalueofmaterials

Thecostofaproject(internalcost)consistsofthefollowingcomponents:

• Man-hours

• Material

• Equipment

(J.J.M.Zaad2019)

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4.1 DatacollectionforcostdeterminationIndicatorsofconstructioncosts(internalcircularbuilding costs) are man-hours, equipment andmaterial. In order to calculate howmanyman-hours are needed to realize specific technique,theconstructionprocesshasbeenanalyzedwiththe use of construction-task-roadmap of

deconstruction and construction indicatingnecessary steps. The time associated with thesteps in the roadmap are created throughcalculation standards or field research at theconstructionsitebyUniversityofAppliedSciencesZuyd(Figure7).

Figure 7: Execution and implementation roadmap (direct reuse of concrete modules) used to asses required man-hours, equipment and material per deconstruction process and construction technique (J.J.M. Zaad 2019)

Inorder to carryout theprocess,equipment isalsoneeded.Thiscouldbesmallhandtools,butthiscanalsobetherentalofacrane.Thecostsforadditionalmaterialshavealsobeenmapped.This is done by calculating the amount ofadditional material required. Prices are thensearchedorrequestedforatpermanentsuppliersofBouwbedrijvenJongen.

Indicatorsofexternal circularbuilding costsarecostsassociatedwithCO2emission(Dutchpriceis set at € 0.025 per kg CO2 (Finanzen, 2019)),energyembodied inmaterialsequivalenttothe

costofenergyneeded toproducematerialandresidualvalue.

Residualvalueistheamountthataproductwillgeneratewhenappliedagaininthenewprojectinafuture.

Three ways to generate residual value fromexistingbuildingshavebeentestedinSCEproject.

Reuse:thematerialsorproductsarereused1:1by means of minor reparations. This meansthat materials are fully functional and can bedirectlyreused.

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Remanufacturing:theproductsormaterialsaredisassembledintoseparateparts.Thesearethenre-usedtocreateanewproduct.Thismeansthatproductdoesnothaveavalueasaproductbutcanretainsomevalueatelementlevel.

Recycling: Inthecaseofrecycling,theproductsor materials are again used as raw materials.Whenupcycling,theserawmaterialsareusedforan equivalent or even better product. Whendowncycling, the raw materials are used withalesservaluethanithadbefore.

Based on the above definitions University forApplied Science Zuyd in collaboration with

contractor JongenBouw and deconstructioncompany Dusseldorp has attached valuepercentagetothethreecircularprocesses.

1. Re-usebetween76%and100%

2. Remanufacturebetween51%and75%

3. Recycle3a.Upcyclebetween26%and50%3b.Downcyclebetween0%and25%

Themarketpriceoftheproductsisthensearchedorrequested.Thismarketpriceismultipliedbytheassumed percentage specified above. After thecosts of deconstructing the product have beendeducted,theamountleftistheresidualvalue.

4.2 CostcomparisonsAs a part of monitoring and measuring of SCEimpacts cost calculations have been made ofdifferent insulation, concrete and facadetechniques applied in the SCE project. Costcalculations took into account internal

(constructioncost) andexternal (environmentalcosts)asdefined in chapter4.1.1.Bought costsputtogetherrepresent integralcostsofCircularBuilding.

4.2.AConstructionandEnvironmentalcostsofthreeinsulationtechniques

After analyses of six possible solution for theinsulation of three SCE houses, the SCEconsortium has decided to apply followinginsulationsolutiononthreehouses:

TypeA–Stonewoolinsulation

TypeB–Reusedinsulationfromtheexistingflatbuilding

TypeC–Isovlas

Reference house PlusLivin, which is used tocompare SCE costs with costs of conventionalconstruction,usedGlassWool.

The table below illustrates cost indicators ofcircularbuildingandtheirprices forplacingtheinsulation on SCE houses.(Figure 8) The costindicators are man-hours, the material andequipmentcosts,aswellasthecostsincurredforthe environmental impact such as cost of CO2emissions,residualvalueandembodiedenergy.Theminussign in tablestands forbenefits, thismeansthatthemoneyissaved.Thisisusuallythecasewhenmaterial canbeusedmultipletimeswithminoreffort.

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Prices per component

Stone woolinsulation

Reusedinsulationfromtheflat

Isovlas GlassWoolof PlusLiving

Man-hours €1.286,22 €2,999.99 €271.20 €876.12Material €2,041.85 €804,00 €1,047.93 €1.650,40Materiel €157.30 €257.30 €49,20 €99.20Subtotal cost €3,485.37 €4,034.55 € 1,368.33 € 2,625.72CO2emissions €24,73 €0,00 €13,23 €8.51Residualvalue €-426,25 €-1.160,00 €-141,59 €0,00EmbodiedEnergy €1,011.32 €30,09 €785.45 €451.25Subtotal Environmental cost

€ 609,80 € - 1.129,91 €657.09 €459.76

PriceTotalprice €4,095.17 €2,904.6 €2,025.42 €3,099.99Total price / m2 €27.38 €19.42 € 32,28 €40,07

Table 2: Financials feasibility of insulation techniques (J.J.M. Zaad 2019)

Figure 8: Tested insulation technologies used for financial feasibility

Basedonthem2priceperinsulationtechnique,it can be concluded that reuse of the existinginsulation material in House type B isenvironmentallyandultimatelyfinanciallymorebeneficialthananyotherinsulation.Thereasonfor this lays in benefits related to theenvironmental costs as zero CO2 tax, low

energy cost and high residual value. Althoughrecovery of insulation material is laborintensive and material itself is therefore veryexpensive, external costs (environmental costs)are much lower resulting also in much higherenvironmentalbenefits.

4.2.BConstructionandEnvironmentalcostsofconcretetechniques

WithinSCEprojectthreetechniquestoreusetheconcrete from the existing flat building weretested.Thefirsttechniqueisaboutreusingcurrentstructure as 3D module from the flat building.Onecompleteapartmentwasliftedoutoftheflatand used as a loadbearing structure for new

houses.Thesecondtechniqueiscircularconcretemade of the concrete debris coming from theexisting flat. In order tomake a new concreatea minimum amount of water, cement andplasticizingagenthasbeenadded(18%ofadded,82% reused). The third technique is specially

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designedconcreteblock“Briks”fordryassembly(designed by Pieter Scheer, Dusseldorp). With“Briks” blokes awall can be assembledwithout

usingglueorcement.ThefourthtechniqueistheuseofprefabricatedconcreteappliedinreferencebuildingPlusWonen.(Figure9)

Figure 9: Tested loadbearing technologies used for financial feasibility (J.J.M. Zaad 2019)

Prices per component

Reusedunitfromtheflat

Circularconcrete

Briks PrefabricatedConcrete PlusLiving

Manhours €14,791.38 €8,064,67 €8,067,33 €1.440,00Material €19,999.99 €12,678.01 €3,719,40 €8.039,20Materiel €99,000.00 €13,857.73 €18,155.44 €1.355.00Subtotal cost €101,632.91 €34.600.41 €29,942,17 €10,834,20CO2emissions €256.48 €86.89 €19.86 €236.84Residualvalue €-2,495,74 €-730,54 €-630.36 €0,00EmbodiedEnergy €4,138.17 €1,199.99 €313.56 €3,000.00Subtotal Environmental Costs

€ 1,898.91 €484.94 €-296,94 €4.094,70

PriceTotal price € 103,531.82 €35,085.35 €29,645,23 €14,928.90Total price per m³ € 2,607.99 € 883.76 € 2,687.69 € 878.17

Table 3: Financials feasibility of concrete techniques (J.J.M. Zaad 2019)

M3 prices in the table indicate that circularconcretehas futurepotential,Briksblokeshavebeen developed only as a first prototype. The

priceofBriks is abitmisleadinghere since thetableindicatespriceperm3whileoneconcretewallcanbemadewithmuchlessconcretewhen

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usingBriksmodulesduetotheirhollowgeometry.Furthermore, price of “Briks” blokes can bereduceddrasticallybyfutureoptimisationofthetechnique. Homeware financial feasibility of

direct reuse of 3D concrete structure that hasbeencutoutof theflatbuildingwillbeagreatchallengeduetoverycostlyequipmentneeded.

4.2.CConstructionandEnvironmentalcostsoffaçadetechniques

A total of three different exterior facades aretestedwithin the SCEproject. Thefirst exteriorfaçade ismade of crashed concrete pieces andwillbeappliedinhousetypeA.TypeBHousewillhaveafacademadepartlyofblokesofmissionary

thathavebeencutouttheofexistingbuildings.Theexterior façadeof typeChouse ismadeofcircular concrete as described in the paragraphabove.ReferencePlusWonenhousehas regularmasonryfacadewall.(Figure10)

Figure 10: Tested facade technologies used for financial feasibility (J.J.M. Zaad 2019)

Prices per component

Crashedconcrete

Reusedmasonry

Circular concrete

MasonryPlusLiving

Manhours €12,746.70 €12,888.92 €2,843.92 €7,194.80Material €3,634.35 €73,211,02 €9,047.12 €3,994.97Materiel €1.165.00 €1.141,00 €12,435.98 €691.00Subtotal cost €17,546.05 €87,240.35 €24,327,02 € 11,880.77CO2emissions €66.29 €8.16 €66.87 €163.16Residualvalue €-753,47 €-3.294,55 €-1.475,14 €0,00EmbodiedEnergy €1,146.64 €260,60 €805.37 €5,211.98Subtotal Environmental Cost

€459.46 € - 3.025,79 € - 602,90 €5,375.14

Totalprice €18,005.51 €84,214.56 €23,724.12 €17,255.91Total price / m2 €127.13 €594.61 €167.51 €121.84

Table 4: Financials feasibility of façade techniques (J.J.M. Zaad 2019)

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Basedonm2prisesoffaçadetechniquescrashedconcretemodulesandcircularconcretedohavefuture potential and their production can beoptimised.Reusedmasonrymodulesturnedoutto be very expensive primarily due to the

expensive cutting technique that need to beapplied. Potential future improvement can bemadeinoptimisationofthesizeofmodulesandcuttingtechnology.

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5. Socialcircularity

Besides material reuse and technical circulate,theSCEprojectlooksatsocialaspectsofcirculareconomyaswellandworkonsocialcohesionandsocialcircularitywithintheSCEneighbourhood.Formerandexisting tenantsare involved in theco-design, and monitoring of new services tosupport the transition towards a sharing, reuseand repair community model. One of theobjectivesofSCEprojectistoreinforceliveability,

social cohesion and continuity in theneighbourhoods by structured communicationwith former inhabitants and encouraging theirreturntotheneighbourhood.Withthatinmind,housing cooperation HeemWoonen organisesregular meetings with inhabitants and informsthemabouttheambition,progressoftheprojectandtheplanning.

Figure 11: Reunion of former inhabitants HEEMWonen 2019

On 8 May 2019, housing corporationHEEMwonen organised a reunion with theformer residents and informed themabout theplanning of SCE project and follow up projects(Figure 11). Housing cooperation invited allformerinhabitantstoregisterandfillintheformdeclaring whether theywould be interested tomove back into one of the circular buildinghouses. 220 former inhabitantswere invited tothereunionand48haveattendedthereunionon08ofMay2019.Attheendoftheday,11former

inhabitants showed interest in moving back totheir old neighborhood and 2 declarations ofinterestwerereceivedlateron.(Figure12)

Next opportunity to communicate with formerinhabitantswill be organised during the officialopeningofthethreeSuperCircularEstateHousesin2020.Inhabitantswillhaveachancetoseeandfeel the space and materials of three circularhouses and communicate their view andperceptionswithhousingcooperation.

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Figure 12: Summary of response of former inhabitants and declarations of interests to move back after completion of SCE and follow up projects. (HEEMWonen 2019)

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6. LessonsLearnedandfuturechallenges

Inorder to reach thegoal, setupby theSuperCircular Estate consortium and contribute toa sustainable, low carbon, resource efficienteconomybycreatinghigh-qualityandaffordablehousing based on breakthrough innovativematerial, the consortium has faced manychallengesonaway.

Keytakeaways:

• Uncertainty with respect to the process ofdeconstruction, time and effort needed torefurbish/remanufacture components causedelays. More accurate assessment of thequalityandprocessisneededbeforehandinorder to increase efficiency in time andreducecosts.

• Major obstacle for effective deconstructionofthebuildingand itsparts lays inthewaythebuildinghasbeenconstructedinthefirstplace.Materialsandbuildingproductswerenotassembledwith theaimto recoverandreuse themafter initial use life.Oneof thekeylessonslearnedisthatitiscrucialtobuildnew circular buildings with recovery andreuseinmind.

• Besides testing deconstruction,remanufacturing and recycling techniquesduringSCEprojectanewcircularproducthasbeendesignedanddeveloped.Bricksmoduleisdesignedtobeassembledanddisassembledwithoutusingheavyequipmentnorcementand glue. Its hollow geometry enablesenormous savings in material while thegeometry of product adages enables

complete dry assembly and disassemblytechniquetobeapplied.Thisnewproductistackling the core of future circular buildingtechnology. The module itself is made ofrecycling aggregate from the existingbuilding. It needs further optimisation, butits rationalisation can reduce its productcosts and increase its reuse potential infuturebuildings.

• Circular concrete has also been one of thefuture proof techniques that have beentested within the Super Circular Estateproject. Financial feasibility study indicatesthat this technique has brought economicand environmental benefits already. ThistechniquehasalreadyearnednumberofspinoffprojectsintheNetherlands.

• Based on the techniques that have beentested within the project so far, it canbe concluded that standardisation ofdeconstruction and construction processes,luck of deconstruction protocols as well asunderstanding of the reuse potential ofmaterialsandresidualvaluebeforehand,aremain bottlenecks for the effective reuse oftheexistingmaterialsinconstructiontoday.

• Regular communication with inhabitantsresultsintoapositiveengagementofexistingand former inhabitants into the processof transformation of a neighbourhood andcontributes to social cohesion, positiveimage of the neighbourhood and return ofitsinhabitants.

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CHALLENGES LEVEL OBSERVATIONSLeadershipforimplementation

Low

SCEprojectcontinuestohaveastrongcoherent leadership.Leadership of SCE process is about continually stimulatingpartnerstobeinnovativeandtoinvestigateoptionswhicharebeyond thework as usual. This has resulted into relativelysmoothprocessandcompletionofobjectivessofar.Projectofsuchscopeandambitionwillalwaysexperiencedelays.DelayswithinSCEprojecthavebeenhandledbytimelyidentificationof potential delays and regular communication with thepartnersinvolvedwithdeliverablesthatmightbepostponed.Regularcommunicationhelpedleadershiptounderstandthecontextandcircumstancescausingdelayandwhetherdelaysare of internal or external nature and will impact otherdeliverables.Basedonthat,ajointsolutionhasbeencarefullytailored with the consortium in a way that would avoidnegativeimpactsonthefinalresults.

Public procurementLow

Importantprocurementissueshavebeenaddressedinearlierprojectphases.

Integratedcross-departmentalworking

Low

There is a strong commitment and understanding withinorganisation across different departments within urbanauthority. This has resulted into relatively smoothdeconstruction and construction of the three houses. SCEconsortium benefited from strong support of the buildingpermitdepartmentandallrelateddeportmentsinvolvedwithsafety,securityandenvironmentalissuesoftheproject.Theywere jointly working on finding a practical solution forinnovations,oftenreachingoutsideoftheirowndepartmentorevenmunicipalityandraisingthequestionevenuptothelevelofnationalgovernment.Thosewerecasesasforexampleusinggalleryfloorsasapavementorusingexistingconstructionunitsaselementsfornewhousing,bothbeingincontradictionwiththeexistingregulations.

Adoptingaparticipativeapproach

Low

Highlevelsofparticipationevidentacrossstakeholdergroups.For this project to succeed, strong participation andengagement of both public and private partners in jointbuilding team has been proven to be very effective andstimulatingforallpartnersinvolved.Thisresultedinanumberofnewinitiativesbyprivatepartnersasdevelopmentofanewtechnology as well as joint public/private initiative such aspreparationofmarketforsellingofmaterialsformSCEproject.Consortium has also put more effort during the last sixmonths in involving inhabitants in decision making aroundthedevelopmentofsharedfacilityandfuturedevelopmentoftheneighbourhood.

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Monitoringandevaluation

Low

Monitoringoffinancialfeasibilityandenvironmentalimpactsof tested deconstruction and construction techniques hasbeen completed successfully. The results of themonitoringwillbeusedfortheelaborationofscalingupopportunitiesofdifferenttechniques.MonitoringofsocialacceptancewillbefinalisedaftertheopeningandprooftestingofthetreeSCEhousesin2020.

Communicatingwithtargetbeneficiaries

Low

Theprogressandactivitiesoftheprojecthavebeenpromotedextensively on the social media, websites, newspaper. Thefocus has also been on communication with existing andformer inhabitants and reunion. This has resulted into anactivegroupofexistinginhabitants,whichareinvolvedwithdevelopmentofsocial/sharedspaceandcommunicationofresults to their neighbours. Besides, number of formerinhabitantshavedeclaredinterestofreturningbackoncethecircularbuildingsarefinalized.Outof220invitedinhabitants48participatedand11showedinterestinmovingback.Thishasbeenseenasagoodresultconsideringthatall229formerinhabitants had to move to other neighbourhoods andapartments(coupleofyearsago)andhavealreadysettledintheir new homes and neighbourhoods. Nevertheless,consortium is organising a big public event in conjunctionwith the official opening of the three houses. This will bea new opportunity to communicate the results of the UIAprojectbutalsotocommunicatetheplanningofconstructionofnewhouses.Wellorganizedpromotionoftheprojecthasbrought the recognition of the project on national andinternationallevelpositiveimageoftheproject.

Upscaling

Medium

Implementation of different circular deconstruction andconstructiontechniquesandfinancialfeasibilityofSCEhousesprovidedgoodindicationofpotentialscaleupopportunities.Construction company JongenBouw is already working onscaling up circular concrete technique and deconstructioncompanyDuseldorp indevelopingthecircularBriksmodulefurther for the new applications. Housing CorporationHeemWonnenispreparingconstructionofother15circularhomesasafollowuponSCEproject.Moredetailedanalysesofshorttermandlong-termstrategiesforscalinguptestingtechniqueswillbeelaboratedin2020.

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7. Conclusionandnextsteps

SCE consortium has tested and measured theenvironmental and economic impact of ninedifferent circular construction techniquesdeveloped during construction of three SCEhouses. Nine circular building techniques havebeen applied on three building functions:insulating, loadbearing and enclosing. For eachof the mentioned building functions, one ofcircularmethods of construction different reuseand recycling scenario have been tested froma donor building, such as: (1) direct reuse,

(2) remanufacturing or (3) upcycling. Theireconomicandenvironmental impactshavebeencompared with conventional methods ofconstruction inorder togetfirst insides into thefuture potential and financial feasibility ofinnovativesolution.

Next journal will focus on more in-depthanalyses of future potential of tested circularconstruction techniquesand theirpossiblefieldofimplementationandscalingup.

7.1 References(CircularEcology2019)EmbodiedenergyandCarbonFootprint,

http://www.circularecology.com/embodied-energy-and-carbon-footprint-

(J.J.MZaad2019) FinanciëlehaalbaarheidSUPERLOCAL

(Dusseldorp2019) BrixbyPieterScheer,Dusseldorp2019

(HEEMwonen2019) Reünie2019

(Finanzen,2019) Finanzen.(2019,Mei29).CO2 European Emission Allowancesprijs. OpgeroepenopMei29,2019,vanFinanzen:

https://www.finanzen.nl/grondstoffen/co2-emissionsrechte

(M.Ritzen,2019) M.Ritzenatall,ConferenceproceedingsCircular(de)constructionintheSupralocalproject,SBE19BrusselsBAMB-CIRCPATH,IOPPublisher,2019

(Overheid2018) WetminimumCO2-prijselektriciteitsopwekking,DenHaag2018 https://www.internetconsultatie.nl/minimumco2prijs

(TUDelft2018) OpwegnaarklimaatneutraleinfrasectorinNederland

(Durmisevic2019) UIAExpertFirstZoom-in2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azLRMLTlOMw

(Rijkswaterstaat,2017)ToekomstigeOpgaveRijkswaterstaat,2019

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Urban InnovativeActions (UIA) is an Initiativeof the European Union that provides urbanareasthroughoutEuropewithresourcestotestnewandunprovensolutions toaddressurbanchallenges. Based on article 8 of ERDF, theInitiative has a total ERDF budget of EUR 372millionfor2014-2020.UIA projects will produce a wealth ofknowledgestemmingfromtheimplementationof the innovative solutions for sustainableurbandevelopmentthatareofinterestforcitypractitioners and stakeholders across the EU.ThisjournalisapaperwrittenbyaUIAExpertthat captures and disseminates the lessonslearnt from the project implementation andthegoodpractices identified.Thejournalswillbe structured around the main challenges ofimplementation identified and faced at locallevelbyUIAprojects.TheywillbepublishedonaregularbasisontheUIAwebsite.