The CBCI-project

The European-funded Circular Biobased Construction Industry (CBCI) project investigates how we can use raw materials in construction more efficiently, thereby reducing CO2 emissions. Not only in the construction phase, but throughout the entire life cycle of a building. For the transition to a circular economy, an integral approach to circular and biobased construction has been developed, which forms the basis for the construction industry.

the entire project a duration of almost 4 years with end date on september 30th of 2022 and a size of almost € 7 miljon. CBCI is a Interreg 2 seas 2014-2020 project. This is a European territorial cooperation programme. The European Fund for Regional Development (EFRO) is one of its funders.

The projectpartners

Within the Circular Bio-based Construction Industry research project, 9 knowledge institutions and organisations work together and over 20 observer partners from the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK and France are involved. The 10 project partners are:

Avans University of Applied Sciences (NL), Lead partner
Embuild Vlaanderen (BE)
Wetenschappelijk en Technisch Centrum voor het Bouwbedrijf (BE)
KU Leuven (BE)
Kamp C - Provinciaal Centrum Duurzaam Bouwen & Wonen (BE)
HZ University of Applied Sciences (NL)
Emergis (NL)
Provincie Zeeland (NL)
Agrodome BV (NL)
University of Bath (UK)

Achieving circular and bio-based construction requires an integrated approach in which processes, disciplines, companies and laws and regulations have to be changed. This means that existing roles of stakeholders in the construction sector will change and new roles are needed. We developed an approach within CBCI that ensures coherence between technical, legal and social aspects, and business models to enable biobased and circular design and construction.

Approach

Within the CBCI project, we ensure an effective learning experience and knowledge sharing by capturing and analysing all phases of the development processes, for example through workshops, prototyping, living labs and real-life case studies.

Two real-life construction projects form the core of the CBCI project and these are the so-called living labs. The first living lab is the expansion of the GGZ clinic of the healthcare organisation Emergis in the province of Zeeland, The Netherlands. The second is a new building project of the KU Leuven for the university campus in Ghent, Belgium. Since the start of the project, crucial choices have been made in tendering for the living labs. For project partner Emergis (NL), a Design & Build tender was chosen for the total renovation and new construction, while project partner KU Leuven (BE) chose Design & Build only for the structure and skeleton, while for the plug-in modules, leasing was chosen for the HVAC systems plus the sanitary and technical installations. Through co-creation, the CBCI team and the selected contractors further developed the design and material choices

Meer info over het KULeuven Living Lab Meer info over het Emergis Living Lab

Within the project, we work together with stakeholders and experts to develop façade elements that will not only be tested as prototypes in the lab, but also actually applied within the Living labs. Designing, testing and producing the prototypes will take place in labs in Belgium (WTCB), the Netherlands (SPARK Maker Space Lab) and the UK (BRE Centre for Innovative Construction Materials). These facilities enable the researchers to make use of state-of-the-art production techniques and research facilities. Materials included in the testing include sheep's wool, wood, nabasco, metisse and grass.

Results of the project

Whitepaper "Five essentials for succesful circularbiobased construction initiatives" has been published in november 2020. The five building blocks identified in this white paper are Affordable, Flexible, Passive, Integral, and Traditional Ownership.
Whitepaper "Circulaire en biobased ambitions in construction projects; an integral approach to the tendering process": An integrated approach to the procurement process. Experiences of frontrunners and living labs for designing the procurement and tendering process as to realise circular biobased ambitions.
The video concerning the procurement framework
Whitepaper "How the legislative framework can stimulate circulair, biobased construction": The circular economy is a key spearhead for achieving climate goals. Currently, a lot is changing in terms of legislative and regulatory issues in several European countries. This white paper outlines the various developments in rules and regulations for a circular construction sector. One of them is a greater role for renewable materials and products in that future economy. This publication concludes with a series of recommendations so that regulations can accelerate the transition to circular construction.
CBCI Powerpoints on biobased materials: Overview Biobased Materials