Creating materials banks from digital urban mining

ongoing

SUM4Re proposes a comprehensive approach to creating materials banks from the built environment by combining urban mining and technologies for automated on-site data acquisition and building materials identification and asset components. The project aims to achieve nine objectives, including developing a traceability system for building materials, developing a holistic methodological framework for assessing circular use of construction products, and developing on-site and off-site smart digital solutions to identify construction entities and analyse their properties. The methodology of SUM4Re is based on a systemic approach that encompasses three main activities: identification, analysis, and contribution to circularity. The project aims to develop software tools and databases based on robust identification assisted by AI and other digital techniques, supported by blockchain solutions, and consider circular economy processes such as Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle, and Renovate. SUM4Re will improve the BIM standard to support current circular (C-BIM) challenges, following open standards and ensuring interoperability with commercial databases. SUM4Re proposes three demonstration pilots linked to construction projects to validate the methodology and a strategy for skill development to upskill the workforce in the construction sector and facilitate the uptake of the solutions developed. Overall, SUM4Re aims to support the transition towards circular construction practices and reduce the amount of construction and demolition waste sent to landfills. The relevance of the project lies in the need to address the increasing generation of construction and demolition waste, which is the largest waste stream in the EU, as well as the problems associated with CO2 emissions and climate change. The project emphasizes the use of new techniques and technologies to rapidly identify materials and support circular construction practices.