Industrialised, Integrated, Intelligent sustainable Construction - I3con

SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION HANDBOOK 2
chemical processing, so that the base materials can still be reused. Reuse of components or modules,
without melting or chemical processing, has the least environmental impact and is therefore preferred
[Tomiyama 1997, Umeda 2000].
200
Physical/Technical Lifetime
Maximum Product Lifetime [years]
(Technical Limits / Market demand)
30
25
20
15
10
5
industrial
heavy duty
engine
machine tool
office
furniture
telephone
copier
power tool
car
engine
vending
machine
electricity meter
Upcycling
(remanufacturing)
Downcycling
(shredding, melting)
5 10 15 20 25 30
Functional Lifetime
Average Product Cycle Time per Use [years]
Figure 8. If the physical or technical lifetime of products or its components is longer than its
functional life, there is a case for remanufacturing (or 'upcycling'). Diagram derived from
[Steinhilper 1998]
Given the increasing costs of raw materials and energy, companies that master this process well will
have a leading edge over companies that apply cradle-to-grave thinking [Goedkoop et al 1999].
The business case for remanufacturing may even be greater for construction than for other sectors.
This is because:
a) Buildings and other constructed artefacts are massive relative to other products so that there is a
higher incentive for reusing materials,
b) the technical and physical lifetime of components and materials used for construction is
generally longer than their functional lifetime, and
c) remanufacturing, in combination with vitalization, extends the value lifetime of buildings and
thus reduces the risks of capital investments.
Design for disassembly
An important prerequisite for vitalization, reuse and remanufacturing is that building structures can be
(partially) disassembled without endangering the main structure of the building or any of its systems,
and without damaging the components. In an ideal situation, it must be possible to vitalize a building
without disrupting any of the activities that it facilitates.
A study of the technical implications of design for disassembly in construction was done by
Durmisevic [Durmisevic and Brouwer 2002, Durmisevic 2006]. Guidelines for design include the
separation of building functions, minimisation of the number of relations between assemblies in a
building, a separation between main structure and infill, the connection of components of an assembly
with a base part that connects the entire assembly with other assemblies, parallel assembly sequences,
dry joining techniques and separation of components in different assemblies.