New guidance from Arup sets out how property sector can reuse and recycle more building materials and take a more circular approach to construction.
Guidance on a new, more circular approach across both new-build and retrofit projects has been published by Arup for the property industry, with a greater focus on keeping buildings and materials in use for longer.
Construction consumes around half of all raw materials extracted globally, and every week the world adds new buildings equivalent to the size of Paris. The report’s authors argue that the sector can cut costs, carbon and waste by keeping structures in use for longer and reusing more components when buildings change.
Arup’s new Reuse Playbook, created in partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Circular Leaders Group, responds to one of the sector’s most persistent barriers – uncertainty over the performance and reuse potential of existing structures and reclaimed materials. The guidance gives a practical roadmap for developers, designers, contractors and insurers to bring more materials back into circulation and reduce the amount sent to landfill.
It sets out:
- How design teams can use tools such as digital material passports and advanced testing methods to make reuse, recycling and upcycling more predictable and commercially viable.
- How reuse can retain value that is often lost through material depreciation and premature demolition.
- How the future value of components, whether through salvage, reuse, or recycling, can be integrated into cost plans and sensitivity testing, turning a perceived cost into a measurable long‑term benefit.
- How external pressures, including carbon taxes, subsidies, government mandates, and ESG commitments, create incentives that strengthen the financial case for reuse and recycling.
The guidance also outlines the roles of developers, designers, contractors and insurers in bringing reclaimed materials back into circulation and integrating them into new schemes. In addition, it argues that clearer data, better testing and more consistent processes can help developers and insurers make decisions with greater confidence, particularly on complex retrofit schemes.
AI and digital tools are increasing confidence in reuse and recycling. Guidance authors also point to advances in AI and digital tools which are rapidly reducing the uncertainties that have long made reuse and upcycling difficult to assess, giving project teams clearer evidence about what can be retained, refitted or reclaimed. Recent examples include:
AI driven vibration assessments: In London, Arup used machine learning to analyse a 29-storey 1960s office tower, significantly reducing the required strengthening works and improving overall project viability for refurbishment rather than demolition
Immersive 3D modelling to test retrofit options before construction, allowing teams to compare scenarios and avoid unnecessary interventions.
Digital material passports mapping the condition and reuse potential of thousands of components on projects such as the circular building and major refurbishment schemes.
Advanced structural testing: At Euston Tower, Arup extracted and tested cast in-situ concrete slabs for use as new ‘precast’ elements, demonstrating their strength and enabling one of the earliest examples of structural concrete reuse.
Stephen Fernandez, global retrofit leader at Arup, said: “Demolition should no longer be the default. Advances in AI and digital assessment tools now give us far greater certainty about the condition and potential of existing buildings and their components – making retrofit, reuse and upcycling more predictable and commercially viable. At a time of energy volatility, reducing reliance on energy-intensive materials is not just a sustainability issue, it’s a commercial imperative for property developers.”
Click here to download the Reuse Playbook.
