Karin Merle and I were asked to present on Transitioning to a Circular Economy in the Built Environment at a Regenerative Collaborative Event. Our presentation covered the following areas:  

• What is the Circular Economy?
• Examples of Circular Approaches in the Built Environment
• Integrating Circularity in Architecture

The presentation generated some interesting discussion and questions such as:

• How do get clients to pay for undertaking circular economy-related work in buildings?
• What new business opportunities are being created by the circular economy for Architects and Entrepreneurs?

These are some answers.

How do get clients to pay for undertaking circular economy-related work in buildings?

The circular economy is still a new concept in South Africa so you are unlikely to get a client to pay for this without demonstrating why. The following approach can be used.

Circular economy approaches have significant advantages and generate increased value over conventional approaches. For example, circular buildings are more flexible and adaptable, avoid waste, are easier to maintain and have furniture, equipment and components that have a longer life. This means they cost less to operate over their lifetime compared to a conventional building.

The benefits of a circular approach can be demonstrated through modelling which shows the cost and time savings generated by enhancing the lifespan of buildings and components and by avoiding downtime, disruption, and waste associated with repairs and refurbishments.  This modelling can be used to demonstrate how additional value can be generated and why work on circular economy approaches should be paid for.

What new business opportunities are being created by the circular economy for Architects and Entrepreneurs?

The circular economy provides many entrepreneurial opportunities for designers like Architects. Some are outlined below:

• Building products: There are opportunities to develop new products out of bio-based materials or waste. There are also opportunities to reduce waste associated with construction and manufacturing building products.  
• Deconstruction: There are opportunities to audit buildings due for demolition to identify components and materials and develop and apply deconstruction methodologies that retain their value.
• Extended life: There are opportunities to design products and building assemblies to extend their service life and enable easier and lower-cost maintenance.
• Product-as-a-service: There are opportunities associated with providing services instead of products. Examples include charging for lighting, cooling and energy services instead of building owners having to buy and maintain equipment required for this, themselves. By retaining ownership of equipment, product-as-service entrepreneurs generate an income stream from fees for the supplied services. They also often provide services more affordably and reliably as higher performance, better-maintained equipment is used.

There are many other examples and the concept of a Value Hill (shown above) is useful for generating these. Other examples can also be found in our presentation.