prEN 18177
(Main)Circular economy in the construction sector - Framework, principles, and definitions
Circular economy in the construction sector - Framework, principles, and definitions
This document defines key terminology, establishes circular economy principles at the levels of construction works as well as construction products of all kinds, and provides a guidance framework for the implementation and assessment of circularity in the built environment.
Kreislaufwirtschaft (Circular Economy) im Bausektor - Allgemeine Rahmenbedingungen, Grundsätze und Definitionen
Economie circulaire dans le secteur de la construction- Cadre, principes et définitions
Krožno gospodarstvo v gradbeništvu - Okvir, načela in definicije
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SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-junij-2025
Krožno gospodarstvo v gradbeništvu - Okvir, načela in definicije
Circular economy in the construction sector - Framework, principles, and definitions
Kreislaufwirtschaft (Circular Economy) im Bausektor - Allgemeine Rahmenbedingungen,
Grundsätze und Definitionen
Economie circulaire dans le secteur de la construction- Cadre, principes et définitions
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 18177
ICS:
01.040.13 Okolje. Varovanje zdravja. Environment. Health
Varnost (Slovarji) protection. Safety
(Vocabularies)
01.040.91 Gradbeni materiali in gradnja Construction materials and
(Slovarji) building (Vocabularies)
13.020.20 Okoljska ekonomija. Environmental economics.
Trajnostnost Sustainability
91.010.01 Gradbeništvo na splošno Construction industry in
general
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.
DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
April 2025
ICS 01.040.13; 01.040.91; 13.020.20; 91.010.01
English Version
Circular economy in the construction sector - Framework,
principles, and definitions
Economie circulaire dans le secteur de la construction- Kreislaufwirtschaft (Circular Economy) im Bausektor -
Cadre, principes et définitions Allgemeine Rahmenbedingungen, Grundsätze und
Definitionen
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 350.
If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations
which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.
This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.
CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.
Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG
CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2025 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 18177:2025 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.
Contents Page
European foreword . 4
Introduction . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
3.1 Terms related to circularity and the circular economy . 6
3.2 Environmental terms . 7
3.3 General terms . 9
3.4 Terms related to measurement and assessment . 12
3.5 Terms related to construction . 13
3.6 Terms related to circular actions . 15
4 Introduction to circular construction . 18
4.1 General . 18
4.2 Materials/raw materials . 20
4.3 Construction products . 21
4.4 Construction works and the construction . 22
5 Principles, objectives, and actions of circular construction . 24
5.1 General . 24
5.2 The principles and objectives of circular construction . 25
5.3 The loop methodology for classifying circular actions . 26
6 Implementation of principles, objectives, and actions . 28
6.1 General . 28
6.2 The role of circular actions in further standardization . 28
6.2.1 General . 28
6.2.2 Test methods . 29
6.3 Circular product information . 29
6.4 Time related aspects . 29
6.5 Assessment of circularity . 30
6.6 Overview . 30
7 Guidance for the assessment of circularity in the construction sector . 32
7.1 General . 32
7.2 Where circularity assessment should be applied in the construction industry . 32
7.3 The system in focus and the system boundaries . 33
7.4 Steps of a circularity assessment . 33
7.4.1 General . 33
7.4.2 Measurement . 34
7.4.3 Evaluation . 34
7.4.4 Assessment . 34
7.5 Measurement types for circular construction, and possible tools and indicators . 34
7.5.1 General . 34
7.5.2 Material Level Resource Flow Analysis (RFA), or Material Flow Analysis (MFA) . 34
7.5.3 Measurement of the principles and objectives of a circular construction . 35
7.5.4 Measurement of circular actions . 35
7.5.5 Measurement of the impacts of circularity related actions on society, environment, and
economy . 36
Annex A (informative) Considerations used in formulating the principles of circular
construction . 37
A.1 Considerations used in developing the objectives for circular construction . 37
A.2 Considerations used in developing the principles for circular construction . 38
A.3 Considerations used in formulation circular actions according to the ‘loop’ methodology . 40
A.3.1 General . 40
A.3.2 Relation between loop methodology and principles and objectives . 40
A.3.3 Loop methodology vs. “R strategies” . 41
Annex B (informative) Non-exclusive and illustrative examples of indicators and tools that
might be used for measuring circularity for various actions . 42
Annex C (informative) Examples of indicators and tools for measuring the impacts of
circular actions . 46
C.1 Examples . 46
Bibliography . 48
European foreword
This document (prEN 18177:2025) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 350.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
Introduction
This document addresses the transformation of the construction sector and related branches towards
a circular economy. It embraces the different observations of action (raw materials, construction
products, and construction works) in the sector, as well as the huge difference in service lifetime for
different construction products and construction works.
This document targets stakeholders involved in decision making processes in the built environment. It
is part of the CEN/TC 350 series on the sustainability of construction works, and the document is a
horizontal standard that brings a foundation for a set of standards supporting the transformation
towards a circular economy in the construction sector.
This document supports implementation of the European Green Deal, which is a roadmap and series of
policy measures to ensure that the EU’s economy is sustainable and meets climate, ecological and
environmental targets whilst enabling economic growth. A key focus of the Green Deal is moving
towards a circular economy that decouples economic activity from extraction of primary raw materials
and waste production.
A central pillar of the Green Deal is the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP, 2020) which provides key
measures and development of the Monitoring Framework for the Circular Economy using key
indicators. The Construction sector is directly addressed in the CEAP setting minimum targets for
recycled content for certain construction products as well as material recovery targets for construction
and demolition waste (the results from deconstruction as secondary materials and products or end-of-
life materials). As part of the CEAP the strategy for a sustainable built environment promotes circular
economy principles for building design and promote the use of Level(s), the European assessment and
reporting framework for assessing the sustainability of construction works. The Level(s) approach
provides indicators and reporting templates linked to macro-objectives: greenhouse gas emissions
through a building’s life cycle, résour
...
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