Durability.
Feedback from Nicholas Duxbury Ransome.
1. Understanding waste as transition
Waste isn’t an unavoidable endpoint, it’s a transitional state in the life of materials. The idea that something will become waste is a human concept that has nothing to do with the endless cycle of reuse in nature.
All material is constantly in transition – it temporarily exists in a certain form before it transforms into another. Recirculation, reuse and recycling are fundamental natural processes found everywhere, from ecosystems to solar systems. We need to reflect these processes in the way we manage resources in the built environment.
This change in perspective would mean that we no longer see the materials around us as waste, but as valuable resources in transition, waiting for their next change. If we fail to change our perspective, we will be maintaining a wasteful system that is in contradiction to the regenerative processes of nature – and ultimately putting our own lives at risk.
2. The end of externalisation
Our current economic system functions by externalising environmental costs, by passing off the true price of resource extraction and environmental damage to future generations and different species. If we wish to achieve true sustainability we have to end this practice.
To advance, we have to fundamentally change the processes within our market economies or use the current system in a way that stimulates sustainable behaviour. One way we can do this is by removing incentives for actions that have a negative impact on society and the environment.
If we create mechanisms that truly support sustainable development, transparency in the measurement and allocation of these costs is crucial. We have to stop concealing the environmental costs of our actions and instead establish a system in which these costs are reflected from the beginning – and ideally eliminated.
3. Upgrading existing building stock
The ageing of buildings is a growing problem, particularly in industrialised countries. Many buildings no longer fulfil their intended functions, but the materials of which they are made often remain valuable. This discrepancy between functionality and material value leads to unnecessary demolition, waste generation and ultimately the release of huge volumes of fixed carbon for new structures. Architects, construction companies and developers should instead be viewing outdated spaces and structures as a chance for reconfiguration, redesign and refurbishment, in which existing spaces offer new functional and aesthetic opportunities that arise from the encounter of new and old. This age-old approach highlights the fact that the durability of a building is related to its adaptability to changing human requirements over the course of time.
4. Monetarising the worthless
Under current systems, materials from dismantling and demolition projects are often disposed of as waste. Yet these materials have an immense value if we are prepared to see them in a new light. The concept of “monetarising the worthless” includes upgrading that which would otherwise be thrown away, and points to the potential within these materials.
5. Expanding the scope of possibilities
The greatest barrier to the widespread reuse of materials is not their availability, it is the mental, procedural and statutory conditions that restrict this potential. Provisions and standards often determine what we can and cannot do – even when we have a surplus of materials.
To overcome this barrier, we have to expand the scope of possibilities through knowledge, dialogue and experimentation. A more open approach to the reuse of materials and questioning of existing statutory regulations can help us tap the potential of these unused resources. The barriers to better, faster implementation of sustainable practices are not insuperable – but they require a willingness to fundamentally rethink our view of the built environment. Through cooperation and a shared commitment to innovation we can reconfigure these conditions and accelerate the transition to a more sustainable, more durable future.
Waste isn’t an unavoidable endpoint, it’s a transitional state in the life of materials. The idea that something will become waste is a human concept that has nothing to do with the endless cycle of reuse in nature.
All material is constantly in transition – it temporarily exists in a certain form before it transforms into another. Recirculation, reuse and recycling are fundamental natural processes found everywhere, from ecosystems to solar systems. We need to reflect these processes in the way we manage resources in the built environment.
This change in perspective would mean that we no longer see the materials around us as waste, but as valuable resources in transition, waiting for their next change. If we fail to change our perspective, we will be maintaining a wasteful system that is in contradiction to the regenerative processes of nature – and ultimately putting our own lives at risk.
2. The end of externalisation
Our current economic system functions by externalising environmental costs, by passing off the true price of resource extraction and environmental damage to future generations and different species. If we wish to achieve true sustainability we have to end this practice.
To advance, we have to fundamentally change the processes within our market economies or use the current system in a way that stimulates sustainable behaviour. One way we can do this is by removing incentives for actions that have a negative impact on society and the environment.
If we create mechanisms that truly support sustainable development, transparency in the measurement and allocation of these costs is crucial. We have to stop concealing the environmental costs of our actions and instead establish a system in which these costs are reflected from the beginning – and ideally eliminated.
3. Upgrading existing building stock
The ageing of buildings is a growing problem, particularly in industrialised countries. Many buildings no longer fulfil their intended functions, but the materials of which they are made often remain valuable. This discrepancy between functionality and material value leads to unnecessary demolition, waste generation and ultimately the release of huge volumes of fixed carbon for new structures. Architects, construction companies and developers should instead be viewing outdated spaces and structures as a chance for reconfiguration, redesign and refurbishment, in which existing spaces offer new functional and aesthetic opportunities that arise from the encounter of new and old. This age-old approach highlights the fact that the durability of a building is related to its adaptability to changing human requirements over the course of time.
4. Monetarising the worthless
Under current systems, materials from dismantling and demolition projects are often disposed of as waste. Yet these materials have an immense value if we are prepared to see them in a new light. The concept of “monetarising the worthless” includes upgrading that which would otherwise be thrown away, and points to the potential within these materials.
5. Expanding the scope of possibilities
The greatest barrier to the widespread reuse of materials is not their availability, it is the mental, procedural and statutory conditions that restrict this potential. Provisions and standards often determine what we can and cannot do – even when we have a surplus of materials.
To overcome this barrier, we have to expand the scope of possibilities through knowledge, dialogue and experimentation. A more open approach to the reuse of materials and questioning of existing statutory regulations can help us tap the potential of these unused resources. The barriers to better, faster implementation of sustainable practices are not insuperable – but they require a willingness to fundamentally rethink our view of the built environment. Through cooperation and a shared commitment to innovation we can reconfigure these conditions and accelerate the transition to a more sustainable, more durable future.
Nicholas Duxbury Ransome, born in Copenhagen, is an architect and expert in sustainability and the circular economy in construction. He is Managing Director at Lendager. The company has grown from startup to award-winning interdisciplinary full-service consultancy and architectural practice which combines the opportunities of sustainable architecture and integrated, environmental urban planning with the circular economy. Among the company’s best-known projects are Denmark’s tallest wooden high-rise in a wood hybrid construction, Resource Rows in Ørestad, and The Swan kindergarten, which was constructed from recycled materials in Gladsaxe. Ransome also holds talks throughout Europe and is a lecturer in sustainability management and certification.
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