RC104 JanFeb2023 - Magazine - Page 42
CLOSING SHOT
THE
CONSTRUCTION
LIFECYCLE
by Dwayne Torrey
CROSS CANADA, our cities continue to grow and expand
with new and exciting innovations, but with this
growth comes the question of what to do with older
buildings and materials after they reach the end of
their lifecycle.
Traditionally in North America, we have largely
practiced a linear ‘take-make-waste’ approach in our economy where natural resources are used to create something
of value. When we’re done with something we often throw
it away without taking full advantage of the available recycling opportunities. This approach continues to put strain
on the earth’s ecosystems. Beyond this, when we fail to
recapture and reuse valuable materials, we are neglecting to
take advantage of untapped economic opportunities.
According to Delphi Group’s 2021 report Circular Economy
& The Built Environment Sector in Canada, globally, more than
100 billion U.S. tons of raw material are turned into new
products annually but only 8.6 per cent of these materials
are cycled back into the economy after they are used. Twothirds of these materials end up as “unrecoverable waste,”
in other words, it becomes garbage in our landfills, plastics
in our oceans and carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
This linear model for our economy simply isn’t sustainable. We need to reassess not just what we make, but also
what quality of materials we use and what we do with them
once they have completed their intended use. The solution
to this issue is not found down a straight and narrow path,
but in fact a circular one.
A circular economy is where we look beyond using resources to simply create a product, but plan for every stage
of its lifecycle, including what we do after it has fulfilled its
original purpose. One of the most impactful places to make
this transition is in the construction sector.
The construction sector, a key pillar of Canada’s economy, generated $141 billion in GDP in 2020, according to the
Delphi report, but this also came at the cost of four million
tonnes of waste each year—one-third of Canada’s total solid
waste and a source of significant greenhouse gas emissions.
With great challenge comes great opportunity. The significant numbers illustrate the opportunity to make a real
impact in both material recovery and GHG reduction for
construction. To do this requires collaboration of experts on
this topic and standards to support implementation.
CSA Group has developed standards to help move the
construction sector towards a circular economy. These standards stress the importance of:
DISASSEMBLY AND ADAPTABILITY to ensure the buildings we create
today consider how the materials and components can be
recovered and repurposed at the end of their useful life.
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42 RENEW CANADA — JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023
A circular economy is where we look beyond using
resources to simply create a product, but plan for every
stage of its lifecycle, including what we do after it has
fulfilled its original purpose.
DURABILITY by constructing with materials and elements that
are selected to prevent premature degradation through the
intended life of the building.
DECONSTRUCTION to recover materials when buildings are
being torn down so that they can be reused with minimal
reprocessing.
By applying these circular economy principles to our construction sector, we can begin to reduce its environmental
footprint and support responsible use of natural resources.
In Canada, we are seeing impressive examples of circularity
in construction. Deconstruction demonstrations are being
carried out to realize material value in cities like Vancouver and Guelph, and design for disassembly principles are
being applied by owners and their design teams across
Canada.
Upscaling circular construction in Canada will require
collaboration of many stakeholders, the expansion of
material networks to support deconstruction and re-use,
and standards to create consistent approaches. By utilizing
principles such as design for disassembly, deconstruction,
and durability, we can begin to shift our construction sector
to a circular economy, helping Canada take large strides to
reduce waste and carbon emissions.
Dwayne Torrey, is director,
Construction and Infrastructure
Standards at CSA Group.
RENEWCANADA.NET
