Circularity & Resource Efficiency in the Built Environment

The construction industry is responsible for over 50% of all waste in Ireland. Very little of this waste is reused – it’s mostly downcycled as aggregate or backfill.

Circular Economy in construction focuses on maximising resource efficiency and minimising waste throughout a building’s lifecycle, from design and construction to operation and deconstruction. Unlike the traditional “take, use, dispose” model, circular construction ensures that materials, products, and spaces are designed for longevity, adaptability, and reuse.

Embedding circular principles into the built environment can reduce environmental impact, extend the value of materials, and create buildings that are not only resource-efficient but also resilient and future-proof.

Research from McKinsey and the World Economic Forum estimates that applying the circular economy to the built environment could reduce emissions at scale by 3.4 to 4.0 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide by 2050, representing roughly 75% of the built environment’s embodied carbon.

Building a Circular Ireland

In 2025 the IGBC published our Building A Circular Ireland roadmap, which uses the well-established ‘Waste Hierarchy’ approach to circularity, and includes the following core targets for 2040:

Value our existing building stock:

• 50% – 75% reduction in underuse/ vacancy in the building stock achieved

Plan for resource efficiency:

• Optimised infrastructure-to-development ratios achieved through good planning

• All communities have access to a full range of affordable life-stage-appropriate housing, ensuring better use of the housing stock

Design for circularity:

• 100% of new buildings have adopted Design for Adaptability / Deconstruction approaches

• Improved resource efficiency by 40-50% over baseline

• Optimised use of regenerative & biobased materials within viable capacity. Close the materials loop

Close the Material Loop:

• 100% of materials from deconstruction reused/recycled.

• 100% of materials from, or can enter, non-toxic closed loop supply chains

• Optimised use of regenerative & biobased materials within viable capacity

Change the business model:

• All construction materials are within Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes

• Product-as-a-Service widely used

Enable the circular transition:

• Changes in the planning, regulatory and certification system start to facilitate greater integration of circularity

• Procurement processes starting to be a driver of circular innovation systems

• All in the construction industry have already started upskilling in circular solutions

• Government and industry have started to invest in the transition to circularity

• Digital solutions starting to enable traceability of components and materials, facilitating adaptation, repair, deconstruction and reuse

IGBC’s work in this field

Circularity & resource efficiency are one of the key priorities for the Irish Green Building Council. We provide resources to help the construction and property industries embed circularity in their processes and projects.

We have a circularity newsletter issued quarterly to all members interested in this topic, a training course and many other publications you can find below, including our “Building a Circular Ireland” Roadmap.

Guides

Projects