Circular Economy in Construction: Strategies and Innovations for the Decarbonization of the Building Sector

The construction sector is responsible for approximately 40% of Europe's energy consumption and 36% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, with a significant impact largely driven by the embodied energy in materials and related building processes. To effectively tackle this challenge, the sector must adopt advanced solutions based on the principles of the circular economy, addressing all phases of a building's life cycle, from initial design to end-of-life material management.

This event will explore the most effective strategies to reduce the environmental footprint of the construction sector by integrating innovative circular materials, advanced digitalization across the entire value chain, and high-value-added reuse and recycling techniques. Methodological and technological approaches will be presented to optimize material and process management throughout the entire life cycle of buildings, including technologies such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), digital twins, and AI-powered platforms to ensure traceability, operational efficiency, and resource recovery maximization.

A particular focus will be given to operational and technological solutions for minimizing embodied emissions in materials through approaches such as modular design, advanced prefabrication, design for disassembly, and the use of innovative bio-based or recycled materials. The event will provide a concrete opportunity to share and analyze best practices and the latest developments in alignment with key European directives and global decarbonization goals for the construction sector.

Session Chairs

Gian Marco Revel, Università Politecnica delle Marchee
Marco Caffi, Green Buildign Council Italia

Programme

10.30 Introduction by the Chairs

10.40 The evolution of circular economy policies for the construction sector
Josefina Lindblom, Senior Policy Officer - DG Environment EU Commission

11.00 Approaches and tools for circular building design
Paolo Cresci, Arup Italia

11.20 The vision of builders
Marco Iuorio, ANCE

11.40 Circularity Strategies in Urban Planning – The Prato Circular City Project
Representative of Prato Municipality

12.00 The challenge of the circular economy for building materials
Speaker TBD

12.15 The industrialization of the construction process
Speaker TBD

12.30 Discussion and closure by the Chairs