During their life cycle, buildings and infrastructures induce great flows of energy and material, which have in particular regional impacts on society and the environment. Around 40 % of energy demand and around 50 % of the annual generated waste in Germany are assigned to the construction sector. The latter corresponds to average 2,5 t annual generated waste by construction per inhabitant. Demographic change and restricted land use lead to additional building measures made in existing housing in form of renovation or replacement in urban areas.

In a first step, the aim of the project is the elaboration of a detailed, regionally and temporally resolved material flow model of the building and infrastructure stock and its development of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The model displays the current situation and is able to predict possible regional recycling paths under different basic conditions. Material flows generated by new construction, renovation, conversion and demolition as well as the resulting treatment and liquidation processes shall be shown. Furthermore, the model determines the potentials of recycling and of resource protection at a regional level by linking the supply of recycling building material with its demand.

In a second step, relevant actors are questioned and their interests are illustrated and examined in a system-dynamic model considering different dynamically modified basic conditions. Examples of modifiable basic conditions are several policy instruments and their impacts on decision-makers but also new network structures and technologies for the extraction of construction material from the stock such as construction materials processing facilities and techniques. The in the developing model presented individual decisions of actors collectively form the material recycling paths which are then evaluated with regard to sustainability through economical, ecological and sociocultural indicators. Furthermore, it is planned to derive from this evaluation suitable instruments and control options as well as recommendations for action from the state’s point of view to implement corresponding recycling economy concepts.

Publications:

MÜLLER, R.; SCHAMBER, O.; VOLK, R.; SCHULTMANN, F. (2017): A Stakeholder-Based Assessment Model (SAM) for Resource -Efficiency Measures in the Construction Industry. 2017. Proceedings of the World Sustainable Built Environment Conference 2017 : Transforming Our Built Environment through Innovation and Integration : Putting Ideas into Action, Hong Kong, 5-7 June 2017, 833–839, HKGBC, Hong Kong, https://doi.org/10.5445/IR/1000072058

VOLK, R.; MÜLLER, R.; REINHARDT, J.; SCHULTMANN, F. (2019): An integrated material flows, stakeholders and policies approach to identify and exploit regional resource potentials, Ecological Economics 2019, 161, 292-320, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.03.020

VOLK, R.; MÜLLER, R.; SCHULTMANN, F.; RIMBON, J.; LÜTZKENDORF, T.; REINHARDT, J.; KNAPPE, F. (2019): Stofffluss- und Akteursmodell als Grundlage für ein aktives Ressourcenmanagement im Bauwesen von Baden-Württemberg „StAR-Bau“, Schlussbericht des Forschungsvorhabens, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, KIT Scientific Publishing, Series Production and Energy / Produktion und Energie, Band 32, Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Karlsruhe, 2019, ISBN 978-3-7315-0858-8. https://doi.org/10.5445/KSP/1000086644