Circular Timber: Timber on the Way to a Sustainable Circular Economy

Abstract

The circular economy requires systemic changes within the economic system and isakey element for climate- friendly resource consumption in the construction sector. The future circular use of resources will consist of interconnected legal, ecological, financial and technical subsystems. Due to the currently unclear legal and technical framework conditions in the construction industry, despite existing solutions especially in timber construction, the transformation of the linear economic system intoacircular economy has not yet been achieved. The European Union is currently in the process of revising old legislation and enacting new laws to help achieve the targeted emission reductions. The European Union Taxonomy defines which economic activities are to be classified as sustainable. In the first phase of the research project “Circular Timber”, meta-studies and analyses of the taxonomy impact on timber construction are conducted. Circular economic strategies and recommendations for the further development of technical building regulations are planned, particularly take-back concepts, evaluation of used components and evaluation of buildings considering existing building certification systems. Based on this, the second phase of the research project will present successful examples to provide an overview of the technical solutions and concepts for reuse and recycling in timber construction.