Back in the halcyon, pre-pandemic days of 2015, I was writing a book on what was then an esoteric subject – applying the circular economy to the built environment. Since then, Extinction Rebellion, Greta Thunberg, supply chain disruption and the race to net zero have pushed circular economy thinking into the mainstream. The Greater London Authority, for example, now requires a Circular Economy Statement for all major developments, and organisations around the world have committed to achieving net zero carbon emission buildings by 2030.

The stakes for the construction industry are high. Not only does the industry use nearly half of the world’s extracted materials, but it also generates around a third of the world’s waste. Resource extraction is responsible for 90 percent of biodiversity loss and half of all greenhouse gas emissions. A rapid transition away from our throw-away linear economy of take, make, dispose is essential if we are to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

But we don’t need to be constantly mining for new materials. Our towns and cities are a goldmine of valuable resources that over the centuries have been gleaned from around the world, processed and turned into useful components. The existing urban fabric could provide all the resources that we need to regenerate the built environment, but we must disrupt and re-design the current systems to wean ourselves off the insatiable appetite.

How can we do that? Here are three ideas:

1. Repurpose and refurbish existing buildings. The operational carbon emissions of a new building are far lower now thanks to a far cleaner, greener electricity grid and efficient building design. This has made the embodied carbon impacts – the emissions associated with pouring concrete, forging steel and extruding aluminium – far more important. Refurbishing could save over half the embodied carbon compared to a new building. In the future, we are likely to see developers actively looking for buildings that are ripe for refurbishment rather than re-development.

2. Start mining the urban environment for precious resources. There are new techniques emerging that will allow us to make new concrete from old, punch the mortar out from between bricks and make new structural timber from salvaged wood. There are brokers, such as GlobeChain, who have created a reuse marketplace that connects corporations to charities, SMEs and people to redistribute unneeded items to those that need them. It has over 10,000 members and has diverted over 6.1 million kilograms of resources from landfill, creating savings of over €4.4 million for charities.

3. Stock up. We need to scale this all up to the point that the stock of materials in the urban environment can be used to store the resources in buildings, becoming materials banks that provide resources for the future.

Applying circular economy principles to the built environment could radically reduce its carbon footprint, slash demand for new materials and turn waste into a resource. With the climate crisis looming, we need all the help we can get.

David Cheshire’s book, Building Revolutions, which discusses circular economy, was published in 2016 by the Royal Institute of British Architects. A much-updated second edition, The Handbook to Building a Circular Economy, was published in September 2021.

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A good example of this is the new Structures and Buildings Allowance (SBA), introduced this year. It is the first new relief under the UK’s capital allowances (CA) regime in more than 10 years. The SBA is designed to stimulate activity in the construction sector, mitigating taxable profits through expenditure incurred on non-residential buildings and structures at a rate of 2 percent per annum over 50 years. Although I won’t seek to assess the detail or operation of the SBA – plenty has been written (refer to our Technical Briefing) – but rather address the practical challenges to be considered and make the argument that this relief doesn’t go far enough as a genuine incentive.

Unlike the CA rules for plant and machinery fixtures, SBA offers only a timing relief for building owners rather than a real cash benefit. The adjustment of base costs upon disposal means that the benefit can be clawed back when you dispose of the asset. Occupiers will be the real beneficiaries as their expenditure will be fully relieved. Undoubtedly there will be a positive impact on working capital for companies that will free up cash for further investment. In practice, there is a requirement for owners to maintain and pass records to future owners for a 50-year period. This is likely to result in future stakeholders losing interest and information with the trail going cold, resulting in a loss of relief, especially where non-taxpayers and traders form part of the ownership cycle. Management of data will be critical to ensure that the benefit is identified, preserved and transferred.

The SBA rules generally exclude all forms of residential accommodation apart from care homes. Arguably, this is a missed opportunity to mitigate the deficit in UK residential development. The legislation could potentially be refined to differentiate between private domestic dwellings – and the private rented sector at the vanguard of speculative development to stimulate and support future supply.

There are examples of where the tax system actively supports construction on real estate. We would argue that Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECA), whilst imperfect and complex to administer, did a lot of good work raising the profile and use of energy and water-saving technologies in modern buildings. It was a regular point of discussion with clients and although it isn’t necessarily driving specific solutions, it did stimulate thinking within design teams. Following the withdrawal of ECA from April 2020, it will be interesting to see the detail around the replacement HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) envisages in maintaining the sustainable agenda for our built environment.

Similarly, the tax credits for research and development capturing embedded innovation in the design process are generous, but still not broadly understood or utilized by designers for operational expenditure considered part of the “day job”.

The tax legislation around property has become increasingly complex as the sector adopts more sophisticated approaches to ownership, financing and technology. This has been an anti-avoidance response to perceived revenue leakages to HMRC. However, we are on the verge of a paradigm shift in the industry as new methods and materials impact on design and construction processes. If we are truly serious about incentivizing capital investment (especially in specific sectors), the tax system, including CA, will need to keep pace and play a significant part.

SBA may be an initial dip of the toe in the water of an admirably simplistic and broader-reaching relief, but, if adapted, it could form the basis of an effective incentive for future investment. It may even be a more interesting discussion than VAR. Here’s hoping!

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The exposure was 1.3 seconds at f/14, ISO 100 on a Canon 5D mk III camera with 24-105mm lens and circular polarizing filter on a tripod.

Photo © Mike Niedringhaus / ArchTam

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ArchTam was selected by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) to manage the comprehensive LAX implementation plan for modernizing the airport. The LAX master plan provides for the design and phased construction, while continuing to serve 65 million passengers a year. One set of Enhancements to the airport ArchTam designed and managed included 800-foot roadside canopies, new entry pavilions, new escalator and stair connections, new arrival plazas at terminals, and roadside lighting and signage.

This exposure was taken at 8 seconds at f 14.0 at ISO 100 on a Canon 1Dx mk II camera with 70-200mm lens.

Photo © Robb Williamson / ArchTam

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ArchTam was hired to re-engineer the structurally deficient bridge that could no longer fully open and also had a failing road structure. Being an historic structure required replacing the wood timber design with similar components. The new $14 million bridge design features a wooden superstructure, including the road surface, railings and sidewalks. Its substructure is comprised of concrete-filled steel pilings – the parts in contact with the water – and concrete pile caps that support the superstructure.

This exposure was taken at 1/100th of a second at f 8.0 at ISO 200 on a Canon 1Dx mk II camera with 70-200mm lens with a heliopan circular polarizing filter.

Photo © Robb Williamson / ArchTam

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ArchTam’s architects were retained by Massport to create an additional airside connector to provide a direct route for connecting flyers going from Terminals C and E. The work provided additional shops, seating, restrooms, and dining options.

This exposure was taken at 1/8th of a second at f 8.0 at ISO 400 on a Canon 1Dx mk II camera with 24mm tilt-shift lens with a heliopan circular polarizing filter on a tripod.

Photo © Robb Williamson / ArchTam

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ArchTam was selected to manage the construction of hundreds of residences at Cannon as part of the Military Family Housing Privatization Program. The program is a tool to help the military improve the quality of life for its service members by improving the condition of their housing and modernizing their spaces and amenities.

This exposure was taken at 1/160th of a second at f 8.0 at ISO 100 on a Canon 1Dx camera with 24-70mm lens with a heliopan circular polarizing filter.

Photo © Robb Williamson / ArchTam

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The Central Florida Expressway Authority hired ArchTam to complete engineering design and construction services for the new toll road north of Orlando. The design called for a new alignment for SR 429 linking with SR 414. Two interchanges were designed and located adjacent to each other during this work. The roadway features the first mainline toll plaza built with Express Lanes by the agency. Under the new design, E-PASS customers can pay their tolls at the posted highway speeds, while cash customers go through more conventional toll lanes.

This exposure was taken at 1/640th of a second at f 8.0 at ISO 640 on a Canon 1Dx camera with 70-200mm lens with heliopan polarizing filter.

Photo © Robb Williamson / ArchTam

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ArchTam completed architectural design for the $14.7 million athletic center encompassing 34,000 square feet. Spaces included design of entry lobby, hall of fame display, a brand-new football locker room donated by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as well as a state-of-the-art academic center that includes computers, study rooms and a 140-seat auditorium. An academic office and compliance office are also on the second floor. The facility includes sports medicine and sports training areas, which contain an anti-gravity treadmill to rehabilitate lower extremity injuries.

This exposure was taken at 1/125th of a second at f 8.0 at ISO 200 on a Canon 1Dx camera with 24mm tilt-shift lens and heliopan polarizing filter.

Photo © Robb Williamson / ArchTam

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ArchTam performed engineering services and project management on the bridge project. It has an asymmetrical design, with a single pylon in an inverted Y shape located on the western bank of the river. Its eighty-four cables are arranged in pairs on the side of the main span and in a single row on the other. The bridge has a main span of 300 metres (980 ft), and was one of the world’s largest asymmetrical cable-stayed bridges at the time of its completion.

This exposure was taken at 1/250th of a second, at f 5.6 at ISO 400 on a Canon 1Dx camera with 24mm tilt-shift with a 1.4x extender and heliopan polarizing filter from a moving taxi boat.

Photo © Robb Williamson / ArchTam

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