Circular Economy in U.S. Building Construction: An Exploratory Triple Bottom Line Analysis

Abstract

Circular economy (CE) in building construction promotes the reuse of materials rather than their disposal. This way, the industry is able to retain value through physical materials, cost, and reduced environmental impact. At the same time, the triple bottom line (Elkington, 1994) argues that for a sustainable strategy to be viable, it must simultaneously benefit people, the planet, and profit. This study uses environmental, economic, and social metrics as a basis for assessing CE strategies for construction projects in the United States.Following a comprehensive literature review, this research develops an assessment method which identifies and measures circular strategies. These strategies are categorized by the 9R framework (Soliu & Migliaccio, 2024) and further refined to the assembly level. The study then uses a theoretical demonstration of the methodology to show replicability and quantitative results. Following this demonstration, the study uses interviews conducted with a small set of case studies, for a final qualitative analysis of two case studies. This way, the study shows both how to measure the potential benefits of assessing circular economy performance through a triple bottom line lens, as well as limitations in regards to project data in existing American construction projects, and qualitative trends of strategies. The assessment method uses three existing frameworks representing the triple bottom line: life cycle assessment (LCA) for "planet", cost comparison for “profit", and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) for “people”. Data was collected through stakeholder interviews and analysis of RSMeans and CLF baseline data to quantify direct impacts. The study finds that circular strategies may be able to deliver measurable benefits across all three dimensions of the triple bottom line, indicating their potential to support sustainable building construction in the United States. As research in circular economy is still in its early stages and fragmented, the study found challenges accessing enough quantitative data to make absolute claims on the impact of circular economy. However, the findings indicate mostly positive impacts environmentally, economically, and socially. Subsequently, recommendations for policy changes to support the formal implementation of circular economy, as well as a call for future research was made.