Circularity in Practice: Webinar Series

18/08/21 – Introduction to the REGENERATE circularity design tool

Regenerate is a circular economy engagement tool for all those involved in the design and construction of buildings. It can be applied to all building types, retrofits and new builds. Regenerate consists of a series of Circularity Criteria (CCs), which are split into four categories: design for adaptability; design for deconstruction; circular materials; and resource efficiency. These criteria are then applied to the core building layers: site, structure, skin, services and space. These criteria act both as prompts for design teams to consider if that CC could be applied beneficially to their building, and as a simplified measure of which CCs have been achieved within a building. It is best used to embed circularity at the inception of design, although it can also be used at later stages, and reapplied as a design evolves to explore how building circularity has changed as the design has progressed, and the project is completed.

Regenerate was developed by Danielle Densley Tingley, Will Mihkelson, Charles Gillott (all University of Sheffield) and David Cheshire (AECOM); and funded by the University of Sheffield’s EPSRC Impact Accelerator Account.

Presenters: Will Mihkelson & Charles Gillott (University of Sheffield)

25/08/21 – Case Studies: Denmark & Cork

Circle House is the world’s first residential project designed and built after the principles of circular economy, which, among other things, means the building can be disassembled, and the project’s materials can be reused without loss of value. RUM has in collaboration with Torntoft & Mortensen og Sweco won the turnkey competition to build 60 residential units in Lisbjerg.

Presenters: Klaus Jensen. Project manager on the project Circle House & Mia Scheel, DGNB consultant, architect.

Test site includes a pavilion, a ‘Coill Bheag’ (small native woodlands), seating and hoarding elements. The vision is one which sees a structure for public engagement constructed so that waste is prevented at each stage of its lifecycle, from design to the end of the TEST SITE Project. Second life use for the structure, or its components are considered at the design stage and methods of construction are chosen to maximise the value of components in the cycle.

Presenter: Ailbhe Cunningham, Architect and TEST SITE Co-Creator

01/09/21 – Products and Materials

Elaine Butler is a designer with a background in furniture design and interior architecture, which she worked in for over 15 years before moving into the field of sustainability. She completed a Masters in Product Design for the Circular Economy in the National College of Art and Design in 2021 and has now launched the Circular Design Institute, which is focused on supporting designers and companies transitioning to the circular economy. circulardesigninstitute.ie

Darragh Lynch, principle at Darragh Lynch architects led the Rediscovery Centre project for Dublin City Council under the EU LIFE + Programme where the iconic boiler house in Ballymun was retrofitted as Europe’s first purpose built ‘3D Textbook’. The old district heating boiler house was repurposed from a shed that lost heat to a low energy public building designed to influence visitors behaviour to waste and promote the circular economy. The Rediscovery Centre contains an ecostore, education, training, events space and a green cafe exemplifying reuse and sustainability. The Boiler House is an important example of how a building, once due for demolition, can be turned into a beacon for sustainable development.

Presenters: Elaine Butler, Circular Design Institute & Daragh Lynch, Darragh Lynch Arcitects

08/09/21 – Combatting C&D Waste

Dr. Mark Kelly is a lecturer in the Department of Building and Civil Engineering and GMIT Dublin Road Green Campus Coordinator. His research interests include Education for Sustainability, Digital Construction, Construction Resource Efficiency and the Circular Economy.

Warren Phelen is a Chartered Waste Manager and a Chartered Civil Engineer with a Masters Degree in Engineering Science from University College Dublin, Warren has over 18 years’ experience in the waste and resource management sector developing specialised skills in: waste strategy, plans, capacity and data analysis.

Presenters:  Mark Kelly and Warren Phelan

15/09/21 (10am-11.30am) – Circularity in Practice: Lessons from the cutting edge with TUDelft, Netherlands

The final session in our Circularity in Practice series will focus on the work of the Circular Built Environment Hub at TUDelft. The Hub is a platform for researchers of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment with the aim of promoting the development of knowledge towards a circular built environment that enables the design of future buildings, cities and infrastructures.

Speakers: