The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) launches a Circular Economy programme for the building sector

Julho, 2018

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) launched on July 18, 2018 a new Circular Economy programme for the built environment. The programme will include a series of live experiments over two years, testing the application of circular principles on real estate assets and construction projects.
The work is being made possible thanks to the generous support of The Crown Estate, who will support activities as a programme partner across the two years. In addition, the first year of the programme is being sponsored by forward-thinking UKGBC members: Clarion Housing Group, ISG, HS2, Telford Homes and TFT. UKGBC will be working in collaboration with supporting organisations working on the circular economy and the built environment including: BRE Trust, Circular Economy Club, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Forum for the Future, Green Construction Board, London Waste and Recycling Board, RIBA, RICS and the Supply Chain Sustainability School.

The programme will address two areas that are frequently cited as barriers to the practical implementation of Circular Economy principles. A task group will be set up to consider how organisations can specify reuse of materials and share resources between external projects while ensuring technical integrity, liability and legal issues are covered to reduce project risk. A second task group will look at what requirements clients and planners can set within their development briefs, planning requirements, procurement documents and contractual clauses to ensure circular principles are applied effectively to developments.

UKGBC members will be invited to participate in a number of focus groups to help the task groups understand the opportunities and issues presented by the Circular Economy.

After this initial phase, the team will target ways in which the group can make practical interventions on live projects and share learning to aid the sector in adopting circular principles at scale.