The Challenges We Face

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) can be generated from the construction, maintenance, renovation, and demolition of houses, buildings, bridges and other types of structures.

Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW)

Current CDW accounts for approximately 25-30% of all waste, which consists of numerous materials that often cannot be separated meaningfully. The embodied energy and embodied eq. CO2 emissions in the CDW are significant (8.5 MT eq. CO2 for construction in Sweden in 2015).

The average lifespan

The average lifespan of buildings is only 39.1 years. According to 3L, one of our team members, it is even shorter in the EU (in Germany, an estimated 25-30 years). The main reason for demolishing buildings is that they are functionally obsolete.

The use of secondary materials

It is not possible to reuse entire buildings, building products, or building materials of high product quality within a different setting or for a different purpose. The building sector hardly uses any secondary materials.


About © REINCARNATE Project

With Reincarnate, we aim to revolutionise the construction industry by developing the technical and social means to establish a reincarnation practice within the building sector.

As the core to support the envisioned innovations, we are developing an information system that allows evaluating a building’s circular potential — the Reincarnate Circular Potential Information Model (CP-IM).

The CP-IM will allow to store and capture all required data to understand the potential to extend the lifetime of a building, its building components, and materials, and to find optimal reuse possibilities for each of its elements. 

It will also enable to trace construction products and materials across different buildings, waste management steps, and construction sites.




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