Adaptive reuse and shared spaces as circular business models

Sammanfattning: Circular economy (CE) is still a nascent research field in the built environment, however, has gained traction in the last decade. Despite it being generally accepted that sustainability consists of three dimensions, namely, social, environmental, and economic, CE has been criticised for focusing on environmental and economic impact whilst neglecting the social aspect. Further, CE has been criticised for focusing on less efficient business models in terms of value retention, such as recycling. More efficient measures reduce demand and keep resources in use with less energy required, e.g., through repairing and refurbishing existing products. In the built environment two high efficiency CE business models are shared spaces and adaptive reuse. Shared spaces reduce the need for space, whilst adaptive reuse keep resources tied into the existing building stock in use. Further to environmental sustainability, these measures have also been linked to economic and social sustainability. This dissertation aims to steer focus beyond less efficient measures towards more efficient CE business models. Additionally, by including economic, environmental, and social sustainability the intent is to provide more balance within the CE concept in the built environment and insights on sustainability impacts. Adaptive reuse and shared spaces were chosen as foci CE business models as they represent efficient measures which have been connected to all three sustainability dimensions. The dissertation comprises a compilation of studies of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method. The overarching methodology of the dissertation is thus mixed method. All appended papers and the studies employ a case study approach as a phenomenon was to be explored in a real-life context. The study concludes that incorporating shared spaces in adaptive reuse projects contributes positively to all three sustainability dimensions, predominantly through the creation of the so called ‘vibe’ and ‘tribe’. Additionally, adaptive reuse with major renovation and shared spaces was shown to be superior to a minor renovation without shared spaces in terms of value capture to the real estate development organisation. However, the major renovation had a larger absolute and per m2 environmental impact, yet, when considering per person emissions the inverted was true, indicating trade-offs between different functional units. Further, the study finds that existing frameworks can with favour be used to evaluate CE business models in the built environment. Two main considerations have been put forward in this dissertation in order to improve life cycle assessments of CE business models in the built environment, namely additional functional units capturing space efficiency and social indicators specific to the built environment context. Further, this dissertation has contributed with advancing the characterisation of shared spaces and conceptualisation of social CE within the continuously developing field of CE in built environment. Findings are of interest to researchers as well as industry practitioners who aspire to improve sustainability in all three dimensions in projects in the built environment. Additionally, the assessment evaluations are useful for anyone wishing to conduct a life cycle assessment in the built environment. For the practitioners, the findings from the assessments provide awareness of how different CE business models impact the different sustainability dimensions.