Circular Economics Proposes a Waste-free Future for the Built Environment

For decades, the construction industry has operated on a linear model: extract raw materials, build structures, occupy them for a few years, then demolish and discard them as usage or tastes change. This approach has made the building sector a voracious consumer of the planet’s resources, accounting for approximately 50 percent of all raw materials extracted globally. As climate concerns intensify and resource constraints tighten, a growing chorus of building industry professionals are embracing circularity—a paradigm where buildings aren’t just structures with finite lives but living repositories of materials awaiting their next use.

The goal of circularity in construction is to keep materials, products and resources in use at their highest value for as long as possible. Champions of circularity see it as the path to net-positive outcomes, looking to eliminate waste entirely with buildings and materials designed for continuous cycles of use, reuse and regeneration.

“Circularity is the nexus between our environmental and human health, as well as social health and equity work,” says Laura Perez, senior regenerative design advisor and associate at Perkins & Will. “It is our reminder that we are stewards of our resources, and much of the building blocks are finite. Circularity asks us to understand the life cycle of our materials and think about the extraction process and what happens to that product during the use stage, then ask whether that product can be recycled or does it contribute to landfill waste.”