CircularB-DfC: A decision-support tool for prioritizing building design factors to enhance circular material flows

Basit Öğe Kaydı
dc.authorid0000-0003-0789-699X
dc.authorid0000-0001-7738-6130
dc.contributor.authorBuzatu, Raluca
dc.contributor.authorAskar, Rand
dc.contributor.authorBompa, Dan
dc.contributor.authorRajic, Milena
dc.contributor.authorBas, Bilge
dc.contributor.authorPaoletti, Giulia
dc.contributor.authorKaraca, Ferhat
dc.date.accessioned2026-04-04T18:55:36Z
dc.date.available2026-04-04T18:55:36Z
dc.date.issued2026
dc.departmentİstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi
dc.description.abstractCircularity is increasingly recognised as a critical paradigm for sustainability in the built environment, yet existing efforts to assess it-whether focused on material flow analysis, design-for-disassembly strategies, durability metrics, or carbon accounting-remain fragmented and operate at different scales. Despite numerous indicator sets, the literature lacks an integrated framework that combines both technical design factors and the enabling organisational conditions required to support circular outcomes at the building level. This paper introduces CircularB-DfC (CircularB COST Action - Design for Circularity), a decision-Support Tool with a structured matrix for prioritising building design factors to enhance circular material flows. The framework consolidates insights from a systematic literature review and a multi-stage expert engagement process, resulting in 35 technical indicators and 20 enabling factors. These are organised into four technical categories: Material Selection; Design for Disassembly; Embodied Energy and Carbon Footprint; Waste Minimisation, and one enabling category, Circular Construction Management, including Governance, Certification, Stakeholder Engagement, Digitalisation, and Socio-economic aspects. Indicators and enablers are aggregated into a Design Score and an Enabler Score to support early decision-making. The tool was applied to three illustrative scenarios: a reinforced-concrete industrial hall in the Western Balkans, a steel office building in Central Europe, and a timber residential project in East London. The steel scenario achieved the highest Design and Enabler Scores, the concrete scenario performed strongest in Waste Minimisation through prefabrication and site-based strategies, and the timber scenario scored lowest overall due to limited reuse and disassembly provisions in the original design. While CircularB-DfC offers a simple and transparent basis for integrating circularity in design, it is limited by the subjectivity of expert-based weighting and its static structure. Future research will focus on dynamic modelling, integration with digital tools, and broader validation to enhance applicability.
dc.description.sponsorshipCOST Action [CA21103 Circu-larB 1]; Nazarbayev University's Faculty Development Competitive Research Grants Program [040225FD4740]
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research paper is the result of a collaborative effort by a multinational team of researchers, reflecting diverse expertise and per-spectives in advancing the principles of the CE in building design. The authors thank and acknowledge the contributions of the experts who participated in this study for their support, time, and knowledge. The authors acknowledge the support of the COST Action CA21103 Circu-larB 1 . One of the authors (FK) acknowledges the financial support from Nazarbayev University's Faculty Development Competitive Research Grants Program (Funder Project Reference: 040225FD4740) .
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.rineng.2026.109579
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.rineng.2026.109579
dc.identifier.issn2590-1230
dc.identifier.scopus2-s2.0-105030342647
dc.identifier.scopusqualityQ1
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2026.109579
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/11411/10473
dc.identifier.volume29
dc.identifier.wosWOS:001697135000001
dc.identifier.wosqualityQ1
dc.indekslendigikaynakWeb of Science
dc.indekslendigikaynakScopus
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.relation.ispartofResults in Engineering
dc.relation.publicationcategoryMakale - Uluslararası Hakemli Dergi - Kurum Öğretim Elemanı
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.snmzKA_WoS_20260402
dc.snmzKA_Scopus_20260402
dc.subjectDesign For Circularity
dc.subjectCircularity Indicators
dc.subjectCircular Building Design
dc.subjectDecision-Support Tools
dc.subjectMaterial Flow
dc.subjectCircular Economy Benchmarking
dc.titleCircularB-DfC: A decision-support tool for prioritizing building design factors to enhance circular material flows
dc.typeArticle

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