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The circular economy comes to the AEC industry

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Rebecca Maloney Rebecca Maloney Americas Press Office ,Boston
22 October 2017

Arup has partnered with Google, Turner Construction, the City of New York and 3XN Architects and GXN Innovation to explore the use of circular design principles in the AEC industry.

The Circularity Lab partnership will culminate in the construction of full-scale demonstration buildings in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area that highlight practical applications of circular design for the built environment.

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We’re eager to collaborate with our partners and apply the knowledge gained from research into circular business models and lessons learned from the Circular Building to advance a better way of design and construction in the Americas. ”

Tiffany Broyles Yost Tiffany Broyles Yost Associate, Sustainability consulting

The Circularity Lab envisions a world without waste

The goal of the project is to identify and test applications that can directly impact the future of the industry and to create a kit of parts for the built environment. The Lab will build upon the model developed for the Circular Building prototype that debuted at the London Design Festival in 2016. Concepts such as designing for disassembly; renting, rather than owning; utilities, and inclusion of modular finishes and materials will be explored and evaluated in an effort to close the materials and manufacturing loops in the design and construction process.