Reusability of components from single-storey steel-framed buildings

This paper presents the development of the method for predicting the reusability of building components and whole structures and a pilot study of three different single-storey steel buildings in Finland. The method enables various building parts and products to be classified through a procedure to calculate their reusability index. These values can be further used to produce a single reusability indicator for the whole end-of-life scenario (e.g. complete or partial building reuse). The aggregated result of the whole building may be very useful when planning demolition or reconstruction works as well as when assessing the environmental impact of the new buildings. The main new thing explored in this paper is the possibility of integrating the economyaspect of the recovered components in the reusability assessment. Indeed, the reusability index developed earlier was purely based on the technical requirements of recovering, remanufacturing and reusing components. Hence, it was a technical reusability indicator. The possibility ofincluding information on the prospective marketability of the recovered component is a valuable extension to this method.