How can disassembly and biogenic materials replace maintenance-free construction?

Architecture of Disassembly – Materials, Construction and Aesthetics

by Thorbjørn Lønberg Petersen, Postdoctoral Researcher, Enemærke & Petersen and The Royal Danish Academy, Institute of Architecture & Technology, CINARK – Centre for Industrialized Architecture

The project's vision is to support the transition towards a circular material economy in Enemærke & Petersen's projects and in-house production.

The project's main assumption is that this can be realised through the implementation of circular and reversible building principles in prefabricated building systems, as well as through the substitution of climate-intensive construction materials with biogenic, reused, and recycled materials.

Foremost, the implementation of such principles will enable non-destructive disassembly into pure material fractions and thereby allow direct reuse and material recycling. The vision is thus to challenge the linear material logics and algorithmic processes that currently promote an understanding of the built environment as compositions of static, permanent, and inseparable material assemblies – a tendency which counteracts circular principles and leads to the degradation of the values and resources embedded in our buildings.

Instead, the project aims to introduce a systemic approach to circularity in Enemærke & Petersen's in-house production, working towards the implementation of circular principles early in project development – not merely as optional add-ons or certification strategies, but as an integrated part of the production process and as a structural precondition for the creation of buildings.

Finally, the project seeks to contribute to a cultural shift in which the built environment is increasingly understood as a living environment maintained and operated through continuous care, maintenance, and repair. A related ambition is therefore to open new perspectives for the understanding and implementation of technical building solutions and tectonic principles that allow ongoing maintenance through the use of biogenic materials and reversible construction principles. This challenges conventional construction, habitation, and operational practices, where maintenance-free solutions are often considered the ideal in modern construction, despite the climate and resource-related consequences associated with maintenance-free material composites and building systems. In this way, the project contributes to a broader societal discussion about practices of care and responsibility for the built and natural environments we inhabit and depend upon.

What kinds of results could this produce?

The results of the project's various work packages range from identifying practical and organisational potentials/challenges in implementing circular strategies through case studies of existing projects and processes within Enemærke & Petersen's portfolio — to the development of circular principles through building experiments and physical demonstrators of prefabricated elements. Based on this, the project's overall objective is to generate knowledge that can support the implementation of circular principles and biogenic materials on two levels:

• Concretely, the project aims to support Enemærke & Petersen's development of circular building elements and systems as deliverables that can become part of the company's strategic sustainability and circularity initiatives. This is achieved by reducing the costs of producing building elements and increasing competitiveness within the circular material economy through the reuse and recycling of materials from renovation projects and through the use of reversible building solutions. By strengthening processes and production systems, as well as integrating renovation processes with element production, the project will equip the company to meet increasing market demands, EU Taxonomy requirements and certification standards, and specifically move Enemærke & Petersen towards a more circular practice.
• On a broader level, the project will contribute to a deeper understanding of how constructions can be integrated with the industrial and natural ecosystems of which they are part. This will benefit not only Enemærke & Petersen, but also the construction industry and society more generally. While the knowledge and experience generated through the project's various work packages will strengthen Enemærke & Petersen's position, these insights will also be disseminated to professional and industry peers, thereby supporting the generalisability of the developed circular principles and solutions despite their grounding in Enemærke & Petersen's specific organisational structure and production processes. Through this dissemination, the project seeks to contribute to a broader cultural shift towards increased circularity in the built environment, emphasizing materials and tectonic principles that enable and support continuous practices of care, maintenance and repair.

What is needed for this to succeed and move towards broader practice?

The project's ambition to increase the use of biogenic materials in construction is linked to knowledge about natural resource foundations, sustainable land use, raw material potentials and biodiversity. Increased use of already existing materials through reuse and recycling is connected to knowledge about material flows, application possibilities, technology and chemistry. Because the project considers both material groups necessary within a circular material economy, there is a need for fundamental knowledge about the ecosystems from which the materials originate and of which they will eventually become part.

At an organisational level within Enemærke & Petersen, important experience and competencies are created in every project. Unfortunately, preliminary studies have shown that much knowledge is lost on a project-to-project basis. To address this barrier, it is necessary to establish methods and systems for knowledge collection and dissemination, so that circular initiatives and strategies within Enemærke & Petersen's workflows do not need to be reinvented at the beginning of each project but can instead build upon previous experience and competencies. This issue spans workflows and organisational roles, as well as material-related and tectonic strategies concerning construction processes and the production of prefabricated elements. It is this latter theme that forms the main emphasis of the project.

More generally, significant barriers exist throughout all stages of the construction value chain, which are important to identify and address in the transition towards a circular material economy. In working with the implementation of reused, recycled and biogenic materials, issues of ongoing responsibility and operational processes are particularly obstructive. Overall, this issue points towards a broader cultural change within the built environment: during construction processes, in ongoing maintenance and in everyday habitation practices. More specifically, it is a challenge that requires comprehensive understanding of the collaboration and division of responsibilities taking place among the different actors and processes within construction. Thus, the project seeks to compile and organize knowledge within Enemærke & Petersen's organization and project portfolio capable of addressing these questions of ongoing responsibility and operational processes through accumulated experience, material practices and various strategic collaborations.

Caption: The project 'The Biogenic Modular Building System' is led by CINARK, Centre for Industrial Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy, in collaboration with DBI (Danish Institute of Fire and Security Technology), EcoCocon Denmark, Tækkefirmaet Horneby, Hemmed Tækkefirma and Enemærke & Petersen. The project is supported by MUDP under the Danish Ministry of Environment.