Comparing life cycle assessment modelling of linear vs. circular building components

As the construction industry consumes vast amounts of natural resources and in return produces large waste quantities, interest in circular economy has emerged as the means to reduce sector specific environmental impacts meanwhile ensuring continued economic growth. Life cycle assessment is a scientifically based and ISO standardized method for assessing resource consumptions and environmental impacts of products, systems or services over its entire life cycle and has been increasingly used in the construction industry and in some recently published circular economy studies. However, circular economy brings about 'rethinking' present well established building systems as well as the future life cycle scenario of these. Hence, this also means rethinking how life cycle assessments are performed on these building systems as it is suggested by some that life cycle assessment is a linear environmental impact assessment approach that misfits the circular economy idea of multiple product life cycles. The paper at hand aims at visually demonstrating variations in life cycle environmental impacts and material flows when supplying buildings with linear components compared to prospective circular designed building components for reuse and recycling and how they are modelled in life cycle assessments.