A life cycle carbon assessment and multi-criteria decision-making framework for building renovation within the circular economy context: a case study.

Seddiki, Mohammed; Bennadji, Amar

Abstract

Applying circular economy principles to the renovation of existing buildings is increasingly recognized as essential to achieving Europe's climate and energy goals. However, current decision-making frameworks rarely integrate life cycle carbon assessment with multi-criteria evaluation to support circular renovation strategies. This paper introduces an innovative framework that combines life cycle carbon assessment with multi-criteria decision analysis to identify and sequence circular renovation measures. The framework was applied to a residential case study in the Netherlands, using IES VE for operational carbon assessment and One Click LCA for embodied carbon assessment, with results evaluated using PROMETHEE multi-criteria analysis. Renovation measures were assessed based on operational and embodied carbon (including Module D), energy use intensity, cost, pay-back period, and disruption. The evaluation also introduced the embodied-to-operational carbon ratio (EOCR), a novel metric representing the proportion of embodied carbon, including Module D, relative to operational carbon savings over the building's lifecycle. The homeowner's preferences regarding these criteria were considered in determining the final ranking. The findings show that circular insulation options involving reused materials and designed for disassembly achieved the lowest embodied carbon emissions and lowest EOCR scores, with reused PIR achieving a 94% reduction compared to new PIR boards. The impact of including Module D on the ranking of renovation options varies based on the end-of-life scenario. The framework demonstrates how circular renovation benefits can be made more visible to decision-makers, promoting broader adoption.

Citation

SEDDIKI, M. and BENNADJI, A. 2025. A life cycle carbon assessment and multi-criteria decision-making framework for building renovation within the circular economy context: a case study. Buildings [online], 15(11), article number 1894. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15111894

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 21, 2025
• Online Publication Date: May 30, 2025
• Publication Date: Jun 15, 2025
• Deposit Date: May 30, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 2, 2025
• Journal: Buildings
• Electronic ISSN: 2075-5309
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 11
• Article Number: 1894
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15111894
• Keywords: Circular economy; Building renovation; Retrofitting; Life cycle carbon assessments; Whole life carbon assessments; Net zero; Multi-criteria decision-making
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2849457