Looking for synergies
Looking for synergies
Can we bring together certain processes, activities, product flows, waste flows, energy flows, etc. to enable higher efficiency and resource savings? Examples include collective systems at district level, shared functions with neighbouring buildings or the possibility of third-party use of facilities,...
To enable such material and/or energy savings, we need to think about possible synergies during the early design phase or sometimes even during the project definition.
Meaning and importance
Preventing and reducing energy and material consumption is definitely at the top of the list of circular strategies. It is clear that we can limit the impact the most by ‘not building’. To enable this, we need to think about possible synergies during the early design phase or sometimes even during the project definition. Can we bring together certain processes, activities, product flows, waste flows, energy flows, etc. to enable higher efficiency and resource savings? For example, 2 buildings that share 1 common car park, so that no second car park has to be built, or collective energy and/or water systems, which save material and increase installation and consumption efficiency.
How was this included in the Circular Built tool?
In the tool we have listed some concepts relating to synergies that can also be found in other reference frameworks such as GRO, DGNB, etc. or that are inspired by practical cases. The list is not exhaustive and mainly aims to inspire and challenge the user to look for smart collaborations and optimisations with a view to material and energy savings.
How can you measure this?
There is currently no system to measure this. A possible option is to try to estimate which material or energy savings have been achieved through a certain synergy. However, this is very project-specific and is certainly not easy to calculate because a lot of assumptions need to be made in order to be able to make a calculation. Here, too, we once again made a distinction between must-haves and extras.
Real-life examples
Which tools can help us here?
- LEAN-planning: this self-steering planning approach promotes collaboration within the construction team. In addition, it allows the budget to be respected, damage and failure costs to be reduced, efficiency to be increased, and leads to better quality thanks to better planning between the main contractor and the subcontractors, and between the subcontractors themselves.