Building platforms to scale the circular economy in the construction sector

The pressure on the global construction sector is two-fold: the growing population increases the need for affordable living space while global resource scarcity drives rising construction costs. At the same time, current construction practices contribute to the exceedance of absolute environmental boundaries. Reaching international goals of remaining within planetary boundaries requires reducing the consumption footprint (European Union, 2020), which in turn gives rise to attempts to implement the circular economy (CE) in the construction sector. The CE offers not only potential financial benefits, but also a lessening of ecological burdens . This research project sets out to investigate whether platforms can help overcome the difficulties of implementing at scale a systematic approach like the CE in a highly fragmented industry such as the construction sector.