A circular building is environmentally responsible through smart design and resource-efficiency. Every building life cycle begins at the design stage. In a circular building, this requires particular attention, not only taking into account the effective use of space and efficient energy consumption during the use phase of the building, but also considering the further phases in the life cycle including alteration, demolition and urban mining.
There are three main principles to achieve this. A circular building must be change oriented. As the needs and wishes of users change, we need to create buildings that support changes efficiently. Of course, it must also be circular. Materials must be able to be reused and recycled as much as possible, with the highest possible value retention. Waste and material loss should be minimized. Thirdly, an inventory of all used building materials is desirable. This inventory provides an increased certainty to reuse and maintain the materials in a high-quality (and safe) way, e.g. for urban mining.