As SCI continues to explore how design for deconstruction can help promote steel reuse, SCI is coordinating a collaborative EU-Funded project called REDUCE (Reuse and Demountability using Steel Structures and the Circular Economy).
The overall objective of this three-year project is to provide practical tools and steel-based technologies to be able to design steel and composite structures for deconstruction and reuse. The project will investigate applications of the developed systems in commercial and residential buildings and will explore options for greater standardisation. In the context of demountable composite construction systems, the shear connector systems with the greatest potential will be tested and analysed using numerical modelling so that design guidance can be developed following the principles of Eurocode 4.
To understand how greater standardisation could be used to promote future reuse we invite our readers to complete a short survey REDUCE Survey to help as part of our research and conclusions. In addition, REDUCE will review methodologies to quantify the benefits of demountable buildings and reuse including life cycle assessment methodologies, e.g. CEN TC350 standards and developing metrics for quantifying circularity, e.g. those developed by the Ellen MacArthur foundation. The project will also explore how BIM can be used to provide information to enable the building to be easily adapted during use, and/or deconstructed and the components reused at end-of-life.
A full description of the reuse projects can be seen on our website.
For more information on this project contact Michael Sansom.