The built environment shapes our daily lives, providing spaces for us to live, work, relax and travel in. The construction sector is a major consumer of resources, using a diversity of materials, and it is associated with a large share of greenhouse gas emissions. Construction and demolition waste are one of the largest global waste flows, with most of the waste typically being landfilled, or in some cases incinerated. There is a need to find new solutions to close resource loops and increase circularity in the built environment.

In the built environment many material and product value chains come together. From the structural materials (wood, cement, metal, glass, …) via the HVAC and IT/electronic infrastructure (copper, precious metals, …) to the furniture and lamps (metal, wood, textiles, plastic) – pretty much every thinkable material and product is present in a building. Each of those has its own lifetime as well. The building itself will be there for decades, the infrastructure and interior will have changed a few times.

During this conference, you will have a broad, multi-disciplinary perspective and explore how circular economy can be deployed to effect change in the day-to-day practice. The ARV project will also be presented by Niki Gaitani, Associate Professor of the Department of Architecture and Technology, Faculty of Architecture and Design, NTNU.

Some questions that will be addressed during the conference:

• How do demographics and lifestyle impact the use of buildings?
• How can use intensity, lifetime, remanufacturing, recovery and recycling be enhanced?
• Can we transition the built environment and stay within today’s planetary boundaries?
• What are the short- and long-term impacts of the Renovate Europe program?
• Can circularity be improved by interaction with other sectors (waste, renewable energy, Internet of Things, …)?
• How can standardization support?

Scientific and breakout sessions

In these 1-h sessions a specific topic will be addressed in the form of presentations, workshop or hackathon.
If you would like to organize a session, please reach out to the organizers.

Networking & billboard session

Networking and billboard session takes place during the event. Between the sessions there is plenty of time to catch up, meet new people and check out the billboards.
This is not your usual poster session. We will be using the #thebetterposter approach to start conversations and get a quick overview of what is going on.

An NTNU Sustainability – Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency live & online event

Date:  Monday 27th November – Tuesday 28th November 2023

Time: Lunch-to-lunch.

Location on day 1: Havet Arena, Langhuset, Strandveien 104, 7067 Trondheim There will be offered vegetarian lunch and dinner https://www.havetarena.no/

Location on day 2: Gløshaugen campus, Realfagbygget, Høgskoleringen 5, 7034 Trondheim, Auditorium R7, https://link.mazemap.com/RRP57TvT plus live-streaming

For more info and registration check the website: https://circularityevent.wordpress.com/