IN-PERSON Barcelona. Section A
Abstract
Steel doors and windows have a high reuse potential, at least on paper. Their slim and robust profiles, long technical lifespan, high cost and high embodied carbon are just some of the characteristics contributing to this. Nonetheless, today in Belgium the market of reclaimed steel joinery is very limited. In current practices, most end-of-use steel joinery is recycled into new steel. This is a resource-preserving, but also an energy-intensive process with consequent environmental emissions. In this paper the alternative circular pathways are explored, focusing on the different involved actors and their interactions. Starting from an existing value network based on recycling, the identified circular pathways include reuse (via dealers), refurbish (via assemblers), remanufacture (via manufacturers) and repurpose (via artists and maker spaces). Data was gathered through three workshops with practitioners in Belgium, resulting in the proposal of a new reverse supply-chain of steel joinery. It brings forward the hypothesis of a new role, coordinating the post-consumer material flow from its end-of-use until the start of the second application. By applying the role of this material director to a fictional case the financial feasibility was confirmed for the pathways of reuse, refurbish and repurpose. Although the involvement of the original manufacturer could help to tackle challenges related to guarantees and insurability, the remanufacture pathway might be less feasible and desirable from a financial, logistical and environmental point of view. Overall, this study contributes to the understanding of the circular potential of steel joinery from a value-network perspective.
Ruben Van Vooren is a PhD researcher at the department of Architectural Engineering at VUB. His research is supervised by prof. Waldo Galle and prof. Niels De Temmerman and is a collaboration with Bureau Bouwtechniek, where he previously worked. In his research he aims for integrating material flows of existing façade components into advisory assignments. To do this he combines a focus on the value-network of the façade industry, decision-making processes and collaborations on a project level.
Waldo Galle is part-time assistant professor and the academic policy coordinator on sustainability transitions at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and associate researcher for the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO). As a member of the research groups VUB Architectural Engineering, and Business Technology and Operations, he studies the financial and socio-technical feasibility of a circular construction economy. He questions which opportunities the transition towards that economy raises, which constraints it creates, and how the architectural practice changes together with it.
9:30 am - 11:00 am
Monday 15th July, 2024