Built environment and sustainability. Recycled materials and Design for Disassembly between research and good practices

Authors

  • Cesare Sposito University of Palermo
  • Francesca Scalisi DEMETRA Ce.Ri.Med. (Euro-Mediterranean Documentation and Research Center), Palermo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19229/2464-9309/8102020

Keywords:

circular economy, built environment, sustainability, design for disassembly, recycled materials

Abstract

In the context of environmental emergency of which the construction sector is one of the main causes – since it consumes 40% of the (embodied and operational) energy and produces about a third of the total waste – and due to the ambitious objectives set by the international community and by many countries to reduce the environmental impact of buildings during their whole life cycle, this paper wants to make a contribution to the understanding of the state of the art on cycle-based research activities, sustainable experiments and good practices that the building industry and the academy have implemented in recent years.  In particular, it refers to cycle-based theoretical and experimental actions involving process and product innovations at different scales (‘macro’, ‘meso’ and ‘micro’) of the built environment. They are capable of overcoming the traditional linear approach to use an approach aiming, on the one hand, to extend the service life cycle, and on the other, to evaluate new bio-based materials, easily renewable and with a low embodied energy. In the end, the paper highlights the problems that currently hinder its dissemination and identifies possible research actions that can favour, with the contribution of Architectural Technology, the transition to this new paradigm.

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Author Biographies

Cesare Sposito, University of Palermo

PhD and Architect, he is an Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture. His main research interests are environmental sustainability, innovative materials for architecture, nanomaterials, energy saving in buildings and the conservation process focusing in particular on sheltering systems for archaeological sites.
E-mail: cesare.sposito@unipa.it

Francesca Scalisi, DEMETRA Ce.Ri.Med. (Euro-Mediterranean Documentation and Research Center), Palermo

PhD and Architect, she is the Research Manager at DEMETRA Ce.Ri.Med. Her research areas are the sustainability of the built environment, energy conservation of buildings, green materials, nanotechnologies.
E-mail: demetracerimed.scalisi@gmail.com

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The Biobuild panel, structural façade component in biocomposite materials (source: tno.nl). AGATHÓN 08 | 2020

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Published

27-12-2020

How to Cite

Sposito, C. and Scalisi, F. (2020) “Built environment and sustainability. Recycled materials and Design for Disassembly between research and good practices”, AGATHÓN | International Journal of Architecture, Art and Design, 8(online), pp. 106–117. doi: 10.19229/2464-9309/8102020.

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