During demolition projects, construction materials become available. "In the 'Circular Construction Streams' project, parties come together to deal with this efficiently," says Arnoud Koot. "Building consultant Building Changes initiated and guided the project. And that's how new chains were created. Engineering firm IDDS provides an overview of the building materials in buildings, Markus BV demolishes and disassembles, engineering firm Nebest checks the quality of the materials, engineer IMD provides structural calculations, and Planalogic helps with circular design."
Harvesting doors and faucets
An example of the project is demolishing 630 homes in the Zaanstreek region. Here, the housing corporation Parteon will create new buildings. Building materials from the old homes are collected and reused as much as possible in Parteon's new construction projects. "The real harvesting has yet to begin," says Koot. "Most construction materials are only recovered during demolition. Parteon's maintenance department already visits the construction site to collect items like doors, faucets, roof tiles, and toilet pots."
App for reusable material
Unlike similar projects, Circular Construction Streams aims for as much reuse at the same location as possible. To achieve this, participants try to match supply and demand promptly. Koot says, "We know which buildings are being demolished and which construction materials are released. We must share this knowledge with clients and architects before construction plans are made; otherwise, the materials remain unused." Therefore, Circular Construction Streams is developing a Quickscan: an app that provides insight into the reusable materials in existing buildings. "Soon, you'll see basic information about a building from any address. This way, we can advise clients on which buildings are suitable for material harvesting during demolition."
"The Circular Chain Projects Subsidy has accelerated the Circular Construction Streams project." – Arnout Koot, Markus BV.
Circular Chain Projects Subsidy
According to Koot, the subsidy from RVO has accelerated the project. "It allowed us to conduct additional research for our client."
RVO implements the Circular Chain Projects Subsidy on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. RVO opens the subsidy scheme each year to allow SME entrepreneurs to realize circular projects in their product or material chain. This includes circular products, services, or business models in collaboration with your chain. Are you working on circular projects with your chain? Read more to discover if this subsidy is of interest to you.