Used building materials as secondary resources – Identification of valuable building material and automized deconstruction

Abstract

These days, we are constantly expecting more from the performance of the building envelope with regard to both comfort and ecological compatibility. Operational energy has been undergoing significant improvement, which in turn draws attention to the building matter: If a standard building does not consume energy in its operation, then it is the building material that impacts the level of environmental compatibility.
Designing with used building matter offers an opportunity to decrease emissions from extraction, preserve primary resources and reduce landfill. On top of that, the EU waste directive requires all new construction to have a recycling concept for 70% of the building mass (Commission, 2013). This paper deals with a new approach to deconstructing used building elements and re-introducing them in new construction on a regional scale. A well-connected network of stakeholders increases the regional recycling potential. On a technical scale, the deconstruction process needs to be improved so that it becomes more safe and economically competitive. Robotic disassembly shows great potential to simplify the process and restore high valuable recycling. Deconstruction processes can be arranged in a mobile way with a wide range of tools. Such tools can be equipped to relate to the flexible layout of machines, thus allowing individualized adaptation to the building envelope.