building the future,
recycling the past
impact first
Applying Urban Mining principles can directly and permanently reduce the environmental impact of the construction and real estate industry. The Urban Mining Institute was established to seize this opportunity. We achieve this by sharing our knowledge nationally and internationally, establishing connections, conducting research and audits, facilitating investments and sharing successes.
In this way, we work systematically and resolutely towards our goal: a circular construction and real estate sector.
“Circular construction is the only winning strategy.”
URBAN MINING
BUILDINGS & URBAN MINING
The value of the materials and resources stored in our buildings is immense, both ecologically and economically. It is therefore crucial to capitalize on these values.
During the renovation, transformation and complete dismantling of buildings, materials are released. By preparing a material balance in advance, costs, revenues and the potential CO2 reduction become immediately clear. Making the tangible opportunities of Urban Mining visible in this way enables fact-based decision-making.
When designing new buildings, it is important to realize that many of the structures we create will not achieve monumental status. These buildings form the dynamic part of our stock of construction materials and resources. From this perspective, it is wise to think ahead about how these materials can best be reused in the future. A good method for this is ‘Building as Material Banking,’ which helps clarify the benefits of pure materialization, modularity and disassembly.
“Buildings are warehouses. By ‘harvesting,’ the stock becomes available. By designing with the principles of ’Building as Material Banking,’ we replenish the warehouse for future use.”
BUSINESS &
URBAN MINING
Manufacturers of building materials can reduce their negative environmental impact by using materials sourced from Urban Mining.
Together with the market, we have developed a promising range of scalable material cycles in construction, resulting in direct CO2 reduction. The range of building materials made from Urban Mining is growing, but the potential is much greater than what we are currently utilizing. We need both established companies and newcomers to achieve larger-scale implementation.
To close material cycles on a large scale, we are working on a system of ‘resource funds.’ Based on so-called concessions, rights to use available material streams are allocated.
Circular is the only winning strategy