Introduction

Communities and cities are characterized by a large number of buildings and infrastructure. These buildings and infrastructure (e.g. roads, bridges, power stations, wastewater treatment facilities, etc.) provide necessary functions to the residents of the community. The circularity of buildings and infrastructure, and their components will largely affect the sustainability performance of these communities and cities. In the context of this book, circular built environment covers all efforts that aim to improve the sustainability performance of developments, including material efficiency and energy efficiency. In particular, circularity is taken into consideration throughout its life cycle, e.g. planning, design, use and reuse. Meanwhile, the connection to places and spaces are taken into account. Circularity meant that resources are put back into system as many time as possible so that the demand on virgin materials is minimized.