Nearly two decades ago, Carl Elefante coined the phrase, “the greenest building is the one that is already built.” In cities like New York, where building stock is abundant, those words resonate more than ever. Yet, the transition from linear to circular design in construction remains incomplete.
Circularity promises to reduce emissions, preserve resources, and create economic value, but it often faces two obstacles:
- It is seen as too abstract or costly to plan for.
- It is introduced too late in the design and construction process.
The result: opportunities are missed, waste persists, and circular strategies remain underutilized.
Why Circularity Matters
The “make-take-dispose” model of construction depletes non-renewable resources, accelerates climate change, pollutes communities, and discards valuable assets. By contrast, designing for circularity:
- Reduces emissions by shortening supply chains.
- Stimulates local economies by using available materials.
- Feeds recycled content into new products.
- Minimizes new material production altogether.
Circular strategies—reuse, repair, refurbish, redesign, resell, recycle, and downcycle—offer pathways to dramatically reduce embodied carbon in construction projects.
Opportunities with High Impact
- Structural Materials: Steel and concrete account for ~70% of embodied carbon in new buildings. Reusing them delivers massive carbon savings.
- Façades: Glass façades can make up 30% of embodied carbon. Recycling or reusing these materials prevents significant emissions.
- Interior Fit-outs: Over a 20-year lease, 27% of a project’s whole-life embodied carbon stems from replacing materials. Designing for adaptability and reconfiguration is critical.
Whether during design, construction, or demolition, circularity requires planning, partnerships, and supportive policies.
Policy Momentum Driving Circularity
- New York City: A new Clean Construction executive order mandates that capital projects divert 75% of construction and demolition waste, with reuse on-site or in new projects.
- San Antonio, Texas: Since 2022, homes built before 1945 (or 1960 in historic districts) must be deconstructed instead of demolished. Materials are recirculated into other projects.
- Portland, Oregon: Similar deconstruction requirements have been in place since 2020.
- Ireland: The 2025 circular built environment roadmap supplements its zero-carbon plan, emphasizing adaptive reuse and scalable business models.
These policies are building the infrastructure, marketplaces, and skilled labor needed to make circularity mainstream.
Shifts in Client and Industry Practice
Clients are increasingly embedding circularity goals into project requirements. Examples include:
- Demountable partition systems enabling reconfiguration without new materials.
- Extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs that simplify end-of-life recovery.
- Reuse platforms and marketplaces for salvaged materials.
- Refurbished furniture and modular products designed for deconstruction and reuse.
Office-to-residential conversions also present an untapped opportunity to divert façade materials from landfills into recycled product streams.
Strategies to Accelerate Adoption
For circular design to scale, the industry must focus on:
- Designing products for reuse and reconfiguration, not just recyclability.
- Quantifying circular construction benefits, including cost savings and logistics.
- Expanding policies and incentives that reduce costs and enforce accountability.
- Institutionalizing salvage assessments and circular demolition through standards and specifications.
This requires reframing design and construction approaches, experimenting with new parameters, and fostering collaboration across the entire built environment ecosystem.
Looking Ahead
The scale of construction and demolition waste—60 million tons in New York City alone in 2019—underscores the urgency. Circularity can no longer remain a niche practice. With aligned policy, standards, and market innovation, scaling circular design can transform construction into a driver of resilience, equity, and sustainability.
