Ankita Singhvi

Towards circular systems

Current building and planning practices for construction and demolition, the use of appliances and equipment, and the heating, cooling and lighting of buildings contribute to nearly one-third of global final energy consumption and 38% of global greenhouse gas emissions (IEA, 2023; UNEP, 2020). The built environment provides necessary services such as shelter and mobility for the well-being of people. However, the climate crisis is worsening disparities in access to these services and urgent measures are needed to mitigate environmental impacts while meeting human needs (Steffen et al., 2015; O’Neill et al., 2018). The circular economy (CE) has emerged as a paradigm to reconcile these two challenges through sustainable resource use in the built environment. The concept promotes the reuse and recycling of materials and building components at the end of their lifecycles (Pomponi & Moncaster, 2017), and extending the lifespan of existing buildings to preserve the value of already extracted and refined natural resources (Huuhka & Vestergaard, 2019).

In order to enable the reuse and recycling of construction materials it is necessary to better quantify and qualify the materials entering, accumulating within, and exiting the built environment. This is typically achieved through material stock and flow studies, which can be static or dynamic, and conducted according to top-down or bottom-up methodologies (Augiseau & Barles, 2017). However, most current studies are unable to capture contextual drivers, impacts, and potentials within a territory, which makes it challenging to inform resource and environmental policy. The lifecycle of buildings is determined by more than its physical factors; it is influenced by exogenous factors such as urbanisation patterns, and endogenous factors such as inhabitants’ behavior (Thomsen & van der Flier, 2011). There is a need to examine the social structures within which material stocks and flows are embedded to provide insights into who governs and influences their management, as well as the geographic distribution of stocks in a territory to critically assess who shoulders the burden of stocks at the end of their lifecycle. A lack of attention to socio-spatial context has been identified as a key challenge for informing local decision-makers on how to facilitate the circular management of resources in the urban metabolism. 

I investigate technical levers for renovation and sufficiency, and the socio-spatial determinants and barriers for households to engage in sustainability practices.