Study: Berlin’s circular construction ecosystem

The project Berlin’s Circular Construction Ecosystem aimed to identify leverage points in Berlin’s construction sector, which stakeholders can use to enable a circular economy in the city. 

The challenge

Berlin remains a construction hotspot in Germany, however its booming development does not necessarily embrace sustainable methods. Circular Construction is a new topic for the construction industry that widens the industry focus from energy towards resource efficiency and remains an unknown approach for the majority of the actors. 

Our approach

Our team conducted 18 interviews with diverse stakeholders to obtain key insights on circular construction in Berlin. Through the extensive interview analysis, a list of challenges and enablers for Berlin (and Germany) to transition to circular construction was identified, as well as interviewees’ awareness / experience of circular construction projects and how it differs from other green construction trends (energy efficiency, recycling). We listed construction best practice examples in Berlin that could serve as a knowledge baseline for circular construction methods and techniques.

The outcome

We identified that the top three challenges were for transition to circular economy in construction are limited access to knowledge and no communication about the topic, complex norms, regulations and standards and costs and economic risks 

As for the enabling factors to support the transition, these areas were identified as key levers for knowledge creation and sharing, awareness and communication, technologies supporting industry digitalisation and material improvement and promotion and improvement of use of natural building materials, recycled and reused materials. 

9 areas of impact were developed with detailed recommendations for Berlin stakeholders for further implementation.

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