Imagine trying to track every piece of a Lego set after it's been built and broken apart many times. This work tracks how materials like steel and cement move through the building industry to see where carbon is wasted. It creates a digital map to help planners figure out how to reuse materials without accidentally creating new pollution elsewhere.
Construction companies struggle to quantify the actual carbon savings of reusing materials because current climate models are linear. This leads to inaccurate sustainability reporting and missed opportunities for cost reduction in material procurement.
A modified climate mitigation model based on JRC-EU-TIMES and a database mapping the value chains of 12 subclasses of construction materials.
If you are a manufacturer dealing with high carbon taxes and waste — this project developed a value chain map for 6 carbon-intensive materials that identifies how circular practices reduce emissions. This helps you align production with 2070 carbon neutrality goals.
If you are a developer dealing with strict green building regulations — this project developed a model that accounts for embodied energy and water usage in materials. This allows you to prove the actual environmental impact of your building's lifecycle.
If you are an operator dealing with the massive material needs of renewable energy — this project developed a specific case study for offshore renewable energy production. This helps you optimize the material flow for large-scale green energy projects.
Based on available project data, no specific pricing or commercial cost for the model is provided, as it is a research-funded initiative.
Yes, the project maps 6 pervasive carbon-intensive materials (steel, cement, brick, glass, wood, and insulation) and applies the results to the entire EU+ energy production and consumption system.
Based on available project data, there is no mention of specific licensing terms; however, the outcomes are intended as policy support information for global use by modelers and policy makers.
The project specifically augments and disaggregates the JRC-EU-TIMES model by adding circular economy flows, trade-offs, and costs.
The project is active from 2022-06-01 and is scheduled to conclude by 2026-09-30.
The consortium is purely academic and research-driven, consisting of 7 partners from 7 countries (DE, DK, EL, ES, IT, PT, UK). With 4 universities and 3 research organizations, there is a 0% industry ratio, meaning the project is focused on theoretical modeling and policy support rather than immediate commercial product development.
Contact Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU) regarding the JRC-EU-TIMES model enhancements.
Contact us to find out how to apply these circular material models to your supply chain.
