An Open Data Platform for Early-Stage Building Circularity Assessment

The construction industry is a significant source of pollution and consumer of natural resources. As the damage to the environment is rapidly growing, the criticism towards the linear economy model is increasing. Circular Economy is perceived as an environmentally friendly alternative. However, Circular Economy implementation in the industry is still in its infancy. Researchers agree that the early design phase plays a significant role in building circularity, but early-stage circularity assessment is not a common practice. Therefore, this paper investigates the technical needs for early circularity assessment and proposes a novel assessment framework relying on Semantic Web and Linked Building Data technologies. A new Building Circularity Assessment Ontology (BCAO) is proposed to structure the scattered heterogenous manufacturer product data needed for the assessment. The ontology and the application framework are evaluated in a use case that reveals the potential in guiding the design decisions to more circular alternatives.