Circular Building (CB) Adoption: Identifying Barriers and Enablers Among Australian AEC Stakeholders

Mohana Motiei¹, Usha Iyer-Raniga^1,2, Mary Myla Andamon¹

1. RMIT University
2. Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, UNEP

Published in Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024), edited by Ali GhaffarianHoseini, Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini, Farzad Rahimian and Mahesh Babu Purushothaman. Springer Nature, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, volume 591, 2025, pages 433 to 442. DOI 10.1007/978-981-96-4051-5_42.

Abstract

The building industry in Australia has experienced significant growth in recent years, leading to an increase in new building projects and associated stock. While researchers and policymakers propose the circular economy (CE) as an effective system to overcome the conservative approach to design and construction, stakeholders in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) professions face critical challenges in transitioning to circular building practices. This study aims to explore stakeholders’ perceptions of key circular design factors and the main barriers to the adoption of circular building (CB) practices in Australia’s building sector. A qualitative method involving semi-structured interviews was conducted with Australian AEC stakeholders to assess the challenges of adopting CB design factors. Initial findings indicate that among the variety of barriers faced by AEC stakeholders, technical and programming barriers—such as lack of adequate design and construction techniques among disciplines, timing constraints and cost implications—are prominently highlighted. Conversely, collaboration and early contract involvement (ECI) are identified as potential main enablers. The results inform clients and government organisation to recognize the current issues and highlight the need for appropriate actions to address the challenges faced by AEC stakeholders.

Keywords

Session

Presented in Track H, Friday 8 November 2024, 16:30 to 18:30, room WG 1020, Auckland University of Technology. Session chair Dr Dat Doan.

How to Cite

Motiei, M., Iyer-Raniga, U., & Andamon, M. M. (2025). Circular Building (CB) Adoption: Identifying Barriers and Enablers Among Australian AEC Stakeholders. In A. GhaffarianHoseini, A. GhaffarianHoseini, F. Rahimian, & M. B. Purushothaman (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024) (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Vol. 591, pp. 433–442). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4051-5_42

About the Conference

Presented at SASBE 2024, the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, held in Auckland from 7 to 9 November 2024 and chaired by Professors Ali and Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini, founders of GDI Academy. The version of record is published by Springer Nature; this page is the conference archive record kept by GDI Academy.