Circular economy design principles for the office

The circular economy is an alternative to the standard, linear economy of make, use and dispose. Instead, it aims to keep resources in use for as long as possible and then recover or recycle the materials at end of life. It has become an increasingly prominent issue over the past few years, with the government now looking at new legislation to bring it into law.

Moving to a circular economy is getting more important as Earth Overshoot Day gets earlier every year. Earth Overshoot Day is the date when humanity’s demand for resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can naturally regenerate in that year – in 2024 it was the August 1st.

‘Transitioning to a circular economy entails decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources. This represents a systemic shift that builds long-term resilience, generates business and economic opportunities, and provides environmental and societal benefits.’ - Ellen McCarthur Foundation

Use and operation – Optimise use of existing resources within the office and minimise waste created during day to day use:

• Office space users should endeavour to reduce the amount of resources consumed on a daily basis. For example, encouraging reusable bottles and cutlery and reducing printing.

• Old or broken furniture and equipment should be refurbished and reused wherever possible, as opposed to being thrown away and replaced with brand new products.

Deconstruction – When deconstructing and stripping out an office, it is important that all materials are considered:

• Deconstruction should be carefully planned, with time given to allow for different elements to be removed carefully to allow for potential reuse, such as ceilings, flooring and partitions.
• You can also use manufacturer take back schemes that will recycle old material into new products.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for designers and contractors is creating an open mindset to consider ways of challenging traditional design, doing things differently and being innovative. This is needed to break away from the norm of what worked before in the linear economy.

One of the first actions for the contractor when thinking in circular terms is to identify ways they can design out waste from the design and construction process, thereby increasing material efficiency:

• Ordering materials: Carefully consider the phasing and quantity of materials when ordering, ensuring that there’s no wastage from over ordering materials. When materials are onsite, ensure they are adequately protected from damage.

• Phasing of works: Carefully consider the phasing of works on the project to ensure structural elements are undertaken before finishing materials are applied and installed, preventing damage and the need for replacements.

• Regular and linear sizing of materials and elements: Ensure the space has been designed to regular sizings, for example, regular sized doors purchased as part of door sets rather than individual doors and frames. Look to ensure items such as raised access flooring tiles and ceilings are in a linear layout to avoid wastage and the need for half tiles.

When designing a space, consider the different scenarios that would change the use of the space and design accordingly. COVID was a good example of how the use of offices changed, with a greater need for hot desking, social distancing and collaboration spaces, rather than the traditional workspaces we are used to. Ensure that the spaces being designed are adaptable to future needs without needing large level changes and wastage of materials.

• Building in layers: ‘During refits or refurbishment, the ability to peel off layers and apply new ones ensures the neighbouring layers are undamaged.' Handbook to Building a Circular Economy

• Onion skin model: In this model the core of a product (or office) is the structural elements, with the other elements of the product attached to this structure, moving out by each layer of the ‘onion skin’. This means that the elements that have the shortest lifecycle and will need replacing first should be the outer onion skin, which can be repaired, changed or replaced without touching the remaining layers. In an office this would be the unfitted furnishings and furniture, then the fitted furniture and then the ‘scenery’ items such as partitions and ceilings and so on. Concept from 'Sustainable Materials: With Both Eyes Open' by Julian M Allwood and Jonathan M Cullen

• Reconfiguration rather than full fit out: Rather than refit a whole office, look to retain some of the ‘layers’ and reconfigure the space to meet the new needs of the occupants.

Recycling is the outermost ring of the circular economy and so is less desirable than reuse or designing out waste. However, it is not always possible to use reused or refurbished products and in these situations contractors should look to source products with high levels of recycled content within them.

Many manufacturers offer direct recycling take back schemes where they take offcut and stripped out material to be directly recycled into new products; this is common in the plasterboard and carpet industries. Closed loop recycling means the material keeps its value and is recycled into a new product of the same value with the same material properties; this is a circular option, where the value is retained.

Part of a successful circular office is ensuring longevity of the space and that it’s built to last. Often when a product has broken it is either in a sealed container or is too complex to be able to repair; for example, the internal components of iPhones are in a sealed unit that is difficult to take apart and fix. Longevity involves ensuring that the products installed are repairable or replacement parts are widely available. Materials and equipment should be easily accessible and repairable throughout the space, including through access panels in the walls and ceilings for concealed plant.

Interface: Interface’s i2 tiling mimics the haphazard and random patterns of nature, where every tile is different in colour, pattern and texture. This means the tiles blend together no matter where or when they are purchased and installed, meaning if one tile is damaged it can be swapped out for a new tile without replacing the whole floor.

Lighting as a service: Signify offers a ‘Pay per lux’ service, where a client pays for the light they consume rather than buying the lighting units themselves. Instead, they are paying for the design, install, maintenance, repair and upgrade of the lighting. This means it is in Signify’s best interest to ensure the lighting is the most efficient, long lasting units they can be. At the end of the contract, the fittings are returned to be refurbished or upgraded to be used again.

During a recent project, we have identified what we see as the missing piece of the fit out circular economy puzzle - a ‘Deconstruction & Disassembly Guide’.

This deconstruction guide formed part of the project training and handover period, allowing the end users to input and provide feedback. The guide is in digital format (sitting separately from the O&M manuals) and contains descriptive and visual (images and videos) information.

This guide was developed in close collaboration with our subcontractors with input on each of their packages on how to disassemble/deconstruct their various components, as well as paths for maximising material recovery and reuse and avoiding materials making their way to waste streams.