Pilot Projects to Put Reuse and Remanufacturing into Practice in the Tertiary Building Sector

Tertiary buildings, characterized by temporary uses and frequent renovations of internal spaces, present some criticalities in terms of the consumption of materials that quickly become waste, despite their high residual value, not exploited for further use. The goal of rethinking the life cycle of building products, and related construction systems, enabling multiple cycles of use and extending the life span of the products, presupposes new Organizational Models and changes throughout the whole building process. This paper presents two Pilot Projects (developed within Re-NetTA research), which experiment with innovative Organizational Models and disassembly construction solutions in the tertiary building sector with the goal of extending the life cycle of materials and products through reusing and remanufacturing. The Pilot Projects involve two key operators: a manufacturer and a Third Sector organization. The paper highlights the fundamental key role of digital technologies by analyzing the following: (i) the development of virtual models to understand the technical feasibility for disassembly and to foresee reuse and remanufacturing scenarios; and (ii) the use of digital twin, augmented reality, and web-based platforms as a support tools, to put the products on a virtual market to reach customers before the activities of remanufacturing. Finally, the enabling conditions for improving circularity are discussed in terms of design process, environmental and economic sustainability assessment, and operator networking.