Circular Economy in Wood Multi-storey Building Construction: a Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

There has been a growing interest in wood-based buildings in Europe in recent years. A reason for this is that sustainability issues are becoming increasingly important in the building and construction sector, which is responsible for around 40% of the total CO₂ emissions and between 25-30% of the total waste discarded in landfills, worldwide. Previous studies have shown that linear economic practices regarding used wood in construction and discarding it with minimal reuse or recycling after the demolition of the building results in significant environmental impacts. Therefore, applying circular economy concepts and criteria in wood building construction seems vital. This article provides state-of-the-art literature review of circular economy and its implementation in wood multi-storey building construction. A systematic literature review is conducted in which relevant peer reviewed articles were retrieved and explored to identify the state-of-the-art and current knowledge gaps that require further research. From an initial set of 157 scientific papers, a set of 15 highly relevant papers were selected for in-depth examination. The visualization tool VOSViewer is used to identify and gather the relevant data and information from the following academic databases: Web of science, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar. This systematic review provides concepts, indicators and tools for circular economy and circular construction solutions for multi-storey wood building construction. It also highlights the key knowledge gaps that require further research. By addressing these issues, this study aims to contribute to promoting circularity in design, construction, use, and post-use phases of wood multi-storey buildings, which are urgently needed in the construction sector to mitigate climate change.