A Toolkit for Circular Construction of Retail and Commercial Spaces

Retail interior fit-outs have an average lifespan of only 4.5 years¹ while commercial fit-outs average just 7.8 years.² This extremely rapid turnover is significantly shorter than other project typologies and contributes an outsized portion of the 188 million tons of building-related construction, renovation, and demolition debris generated annually in the United States.³ Construction professionals that focus on retail and commercial projects can support resilient futures by identifying circular paths for construction materials. Our team of academic researchers and industry experts developed a tool that utilizes standardized economic values, performance testing criteria, and a variety of sustainability rating tools to evaluate the reuse potential of individual materials, focusing on the retail and commercial interior fit-outs. This information allows architects, contractors, and clients to evaluate the reuse potential while being cognizant of the number of years a material can remain in use. Initial trials indicate high wastage factors among commonly used materials due to early planning decisions. We also found that commercial interiors such as offices tend to use large volumes of modular, commodity materials that could be easily reused whereas specialty retail environments tend to use customized products in limited quantities but with higher resale value by unit. This tool can also aid project teams in making informed decisions while decommissioning existing facilities and planning new ones. Building owners can use the tool to capitalize on the benefits of circularity between existing and new projects within their portfolio. Architectural salvage companies can rationalize resale prices based on anticipated material performance that still remains. By focusing first on the building sectors with the highest turnover rates we hope to significantly decrease the millions of tons of construction, renovation, and demolition debris produced each year. In the future we plan to improve the tool’s robustness and usability and we will evaluate other sectors to provide sector-based benchmarks that will further aid decision making across a wider range of project types.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AIA.Inter.22.24

Volume Editors
Gail Napell & Stephen Mueller

ISBN
978-1-944214-42-13