How Circular Economy Strategies Can Be Implemented in the Dwelling Renovation Design Phase

The world’s largest consumer of raw materials is the construction sector, which mostly adopts the linear economy model. Several researchers make an effort to study how to realize a transition in the sector to a circular model of environmental development, applying strategies to preserve the raw resources, maintain materials in use as long as they can be, and reuse and recycle the building components. For increased circular efficiency of the construction, it is ideal to adopt strategies still in the design phase, however, most city buildings weren’t built taking this into account and have a low possibility of adaptation of spaces and disassembly of their materials and components. Dwelling renovation has a crucial role in this scenario, and this research aims to figure out how these strategies can be applied to renovation projects since there is a lack of information on how to do this, as the studies are addressed more to new buildings. Through a systematic literature review, using relevant terms, this document identified the principal’s circular economy strategies for the design phase, the dwelling spatial configuration models and the dissatisfaction of its inhabitants, and some design possibilities that can be applied to renovation projects. These findings contribute to the development of documents focused on architectural design practice.