This open access book explores the strategic importance and advantages of adopting multidisciplinary and multiscalar approaches of inquiry and intervention with respect to the built environment, based on principles of sustainability and circular economy strategies. A series of key challenges are considered in depth from a multidisciplinary perspective, spanning engineering, architecture, and regional and urban economics. These challenges include strategies to relaunch socioeconomic development through regenerative processes, the regeneration of urban spaces from the perspective of resilience, the development and deployment of innovative products and processes in the construction sector in order to comply more fully with the principles of sustainability and circularity, and the development of multiscale approaches to enhance the performance of both the existing building stock and new buildings. The book offers a rich selection of conceptual, empirical, methodological, technical, and case study/project-based research. It will be of value for all who have an interest in regeneration of the built environment from a circular economy perspective.

This book examines green transition and circular economy in the fields of building design and Real Estate management. By outlining windows for seizing the opportunity to integrate circular approaches in current building practices, the book provides information tools to support building stakeholders (e.g. building designer and managers, manufacturers, Real Estate owners, maintenance operators, facility managers, etc.) in: (i) understanding circular re-strategies (e.g. reuse, remanufacturing, repurposing, etc.), the related requirements and the pre-conditions for their implementation within building design and management practices; (ii) reviewing design approaches at the product and building scale, also highlighting new circularity-related contents for the Briefing Documents; (iii) developing circular organizational and contract models for the procurement of Facility Management services, also integrating new circularity-related contents in Invitations to Tenders (ITTs); and (iv) assessing the quality and the effectiveness of circular practices, also highlighting circularity performance metrics and indicators in the context of corporate sustainability reporting.

The construction sector plays an essential role in the global economy, using many exhaustible natural resources, most of which are renewable in low percentages. Moving towards a circular economy is essential because optimizing the consumption of materials and energy contributes to the development of an economic system that is independent, more competitive, and more resilient in the face of economic and social crises and various environmental factors. The current “take, make, and dispose” model of the economy is unsustainable, so a shift in thinking towards a circular economy is necessary. This circular economy is an economic model that minimizes the use of natural resources by selecting them intelligently and minimizing the use of raw materials, favoring the use of recyclable materials wherever possible while managing the resources used and maintaining and reusing them in the economic system for as long as possible. Circular Economy Implementation for Sustainability in the Built Environment emphasizes the need to implement a circular economy model in the built environment and how to create a system that optimizes the use of resources and construction materials while preserving their properties and values. Covering topics such as automobile industries, lean manufacturing, and operation strategy, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for engineers, construction managers, business leaders, urban planners, students and educators of higher education, researchers, and academicians.

This book provides an overview of the circular economy in the built environment, presenting a fusion of insights from esteemed researchers and seasoned practitioners. The chapters cover pivotal themes, including the transformative concept of buildings as material banks, innovative design approaches, and the potential of digitalization for a circular built environment. Beyond these foundational themes, the book critically addresses the integration of low-tech solutions and some principles of sobriety in the built environment. It also takes an informed look at the role of standardization, providing nuanced insights into its driving influence on circular practices and the associated challenges and opportunities. The book adopts a trans-scalar perspective by traversing the entire spectrum of building phases from initial programming to the recovery phase, as well as from the scale of materials to the scale of buildings, offering a profound examination of the intricate dynamics involved in the offer/demand for recovered materials. This book highlights the paramount need to harmonize research with practical applications. By spotlighting effective circular practices and elucidating the challenges faced by practitioners, it identifies fertile grounds for further research. Moreover, the book extends its reach by offering practical ideas on how practitioners can seamlessly adopt a circular approach in both thought and realization. Circular Economy for the Built Environment: Research and Practice is a must-read book for students, researchers, academics, and practitioners in the fields of architecture, planning, engineering, construction, and real estate. This book provides a compelling narrative that bridges the theoretical and practical realms of the circular economy in the built environment.

Materials Selection for Sustainability in the Built Environment: Environmental, Social and Economic Aspects presents the current state-of-the-art when it comes to the decision-making process for choosing construction materials to deliver sustainable construction projects. Aspects covered include the science of enhanced decision-making via operational research and machine learning techniques and how this can be implemented in various disciplines such as architecture, engineering and construction. To this end, the book discusses environmental, economic and social aspects in assessing construction materials and presents different tools and methods that can benefit and facilitate this process. Finally, the book reviews previous publications on construction material selection and presents essential discussions on the role professionals, researchers, contractors and governments play in making more sustainable decisions on the built environment. - Presents a lifecycle management-based, systematic and integrated approach for sustainable construction materials selection - Discusses the impact of materials selection, covering every aspect of sustainability (environmental, social and economic aspects) - Looks at the concept of the circular economy - Provides case studies on decision-making methods in combination with lifecycle sustainability assessments

Consuming over 40% of total primary energy, the built environment is in the centre of worldwide strategies and measures towards a more sustainable future. To provide resilient solutions, a simple optimisation of individual technologies will not be sufficient. In contrast, whole system thinking reveals and exploits connections between parts. Each system interacts with others on different scales (materials, components, buildings, cities) and domains (ecology, economy and social). Whole-system designers optimize the performance of such systems by understanding interconnections and identifying synergies. The more complete the design integration, the better the result. In this book, the reader will find the proceedings of the 2016 Sustainable Built Environment (SBE) Regional Conference in Zurich. Papers have been written by academics and practitioners from all continents to bring forth the latest understanding on systems thinking in the built environment.

This encyclopedia is the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of reference for sustainability in business and management. It covers both traditional and emerging concepts and terms and is fully international in its scope. More than 700 contributions of internationally renowned experts provide a definitive access to the knowledge in the area of sustainable and responsible management. All actors in the field will find reliable and up to date definitions and explanations of the key terms and concepts of management in this reference work. The Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management represents all aspects of management and business conduct. It takes sustainability as a management concept that gives due credit to the complexity and diverging constraints in which businesses and corporations act today, and it emphasizes and focuses approaches that help ensure that today's management decisions and actions will be the basis for tomorrow's prosperity.

This open access book summarizes the research being pursued as part of the COST Action CA21103 titled "Implementation of Circular Economy in the Built Environment" (Circular B), which aims to define the methodology to develop a common circularity framework for inclusive application and assessment in new and existing buildings to support decision-making for all value chain stakeholders and appraise the implementation level of the European Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP). The Action is increasingly gaining interest worldwide, bringing multidisciplinary young and experienced researchers together to share the latest studies and develop new knowledge. Consisting of 17 chapters corresponding to the conference themes, the book analyses and discusses topics such as Circular Economy (CE) best practices, design strategies for circular buildings, circular materials and products, adaptive reuse of existing buildings, recovery and reuse of salvaged materials and products, case studies of current applications and trends, barriers against CE implementation in buildings, efficient waste and circular resource management, circular lifecycle management and decision making, stakeholders relationships, CE supporting policies and barriers, circular business models, criteria, KPIs and assessment models for circular buildings, CE criteria in sustainability frameworks, digitalization and BIM for enhanced circularity of buildings and building materials, and standardization of CE definitions in buildings.

Critical appraisal of architectural design and management in the digital age through international perspectives Architectural Design and Management in the Digital Age delivers an evaluation of digitalisation in the evolving processes of architecture, providing a holistic treatment of the subject in terms of technologies, human context, emerging concepts, and the management of digital projects. This book includes analysis of: the advantages of digital technology in appropriate circumstances, but also to appreciate that alternative methods may continue to provide considerable benefits for other situations. the implications of the digital world for creativity and architectural quality, the diversity of people who could be involved, and reaching the disadvantaged and disenfranchised. the role of the architect and other professionals within design and management processes. how emphasis on data management is creating diverging practices, which involve new concepts and definitions that require interpretation, especially with regard to experiences of design processes in different countries. Providing fresh reflections on a myriad of timely topics, Architectural Design and Management in the Digital Age: international perspectives is an essential resource for researchers, academics, and advanced students in architecture, design management, and construction, along with professionals in those disciplines.