Deconstruction and re-use

Work Package 5: Deconstruction and re-use of structures and materials

At present, innumerable companies are planning new office buildings or shopping centres as a substitute for their presently used building from the 1950s to 1970s. These kinds of buildings are traditionally contaminated by building pollutants (e.g. asbestos, artificial mineral fibres, heavy metals etc.). The decision of an investor to develop a new building either on an existing property or on green land is dependents on the costs for a revitalisation of the existing building / existing ground.

The deconstruction of a standard administrative building, e.g. of 100,000 m³, leads to a possible volume of dump material of 25,000 m³. The quality of the dump material ranges from concrete rubble over light building material to building contaminants. Most of this building rubble can be brought back into the material cycle under certain conditions. The percentage of recyclable material depends on the pre-investigation of the building structure, the method of destruction / separation of material and the processing methods.

Within TIMBRE a standard technology implementation procedure for investors for the reuse of existing buildings and to save the environment such as strategies for the environmentally friendly destruction of buildings will be developed under respect of the existing different national laws. Because the deconstruction and re-use of buildings and structures is not set down in an EU-wide law or directives, within TIMBRE a proposal shall be developed to standardise such procedures.

Contact: Manfred Kühne kuehne@geoexperts.de