Circular Building Coalition: the winners of the open call for Blueprint Projects

Circular Building Coalition reveals 10 innovative projects to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy in the built environment.

Amsterdam, 13 of September 2023 —The Circular Buildings Coalition (CBC) is thrilled to announce the winners of its open call for Blueprint Projects. Ten groundbreaking European initiatives are being awarded € 20,000 for project development and replication. The winners were selected from 57 total applications by an expert jury.

The Circular Buildings Coalition launched the Blueprint Projects programme to challenge existing barriers to scale and create demand for circular solutions, thus accelerating the transition towards a circular economy in the built environment. Our research revealed that the prevailing financial system, underdeveloped material resale markets, as well as ownership and business models hinder the adoption of circular economy principles. The coalition is determined to overcome these roadblocks by selecting, showcasing and scaling circular innovations in the sector.

"We were delighted to receive so many quality applications from all over Europe. This response reflects the enormous interest in a circular built environment and a growing understanding of its enormous socioeconomic potential. The winning projects share our ambitious vision and are well-positioned to address existing barriers in the sector", says Eva Gladek, CEO at Metabolic, the systems change agency acting as the lead of the coalition.

The following organisations were selected to participate in the first phase of the Blueprint Projects programme.

And The People. A Dutch foundation that aims to identify how community land trusts (CLTs) can overcome barriers to circular construction by fostering collective ownership, stewardship and governance.

Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy. The project of this Swiss Foundation will devise guidelines for PaaS contract development in Europe, aiming at creating a collaborative space for a wider uptake of this business model. 

Circotrade. A company from France that captures buildings’ unrealised value by listing, gauging and trading its components via an innovative futures contract. In this way, it boosts the uptake of secondary construction materials and products.

Concular GmbH. This German company develops insurance that covers the warranty of reclaimed construction materials. This lowers the risk of buying secondary materials and facilitates their wider adoption.

Gearcraft. In this project, Dutch and German stakeholders join hands to make Facades-as-a-Service a common practice, demonstrating the business case and sustainability rationale of this ownership scheme.

Irish Green Building Council (IGBC). This organisation cultivates secondary material markets with Construction Material Exchange, a digital platform connecting stakeholders to exchange or trade excess and reclaimed construction materials.

ReLondon. The ‘London Circular Construction Coalition’ project zeroes in on the public sector, fostering demand and supply of secondary construction materials in London and creating a digital infrastructure to spur collaboration between private and public actors.

SURA Impact. This Belgian pilot project, Material As A Service Company (MASCO), co-finances upfront investments for circular materials, lowering investment barriers and allowing secondary materials to compete effectively with virgin ones.

University College London. With its Building Passport Alignment Project (BPAP), buildings can exchange digital information with investors, supporting the reporting requirements for sustainable finance and driving investment in circular and sustainable buildings.

Zupply. This Danish start-up develops a take-back scheme for construction materials, allowing suppliers to reclaim components from demolished buildings through a digital network.

"These ten pioneering projects represent an important step forward in our mission to achieve a circular built environment in Europe. They address precisely the challenges identified in the analysis produced by the Circular Building Coalition. We need to push the boundaries where it’s needed the most", says Martijn Lopes Cardozo, CEO at Circle Economy, an impact organisation based in Amsterdam, the co-lead of the coalition.

"Laudes Foundation collaborates with forward-thinking partners, such as the Circular Building Coalition, to help the real estate and construction industries better serve their communities and workers, as well as the planet. With the appropriate backing and financial resources, these initiatives could help transform the European built environment into something regenerative, inclusive, and free of carbon emissions. Now is the time to scale them up." Richard Boyd, Senior Programme Manager at Laudes Foundation, founding funder of the CBC.

Over the following months, these organisations will produce whitepapers containing feasibility studies and plans for overcoming existing barriers to scale, create demand and support the diffusion of their initiative. Based on the outcomes of this phase, the Circular Buildings Coalition plans to grant five organisations an additional  € 75,000 to pilot their solution.

For questions or to request an interview, please contact Ivan Thung, Metabolic Senior Consultant and Programme Lead for the Circular Buildings Coalition: [email protected] .

ABOUT CIRCULAR BUILDINGS COALITION

The Circular Buildings Coalition is an initiative supported by the Laudes Foundation and empowered by Metabolic, Circle Economy, WorldGBC, WBCSD, Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Arup to accelerate the adoption of circular economy principles in the European built environment. It aims to address three systemic challenges in order to scale action in Europe through building alliances, developing a common understanding and providing proven solutions.

More info at www.circularbuildingscoalition.org.