August Nazareth, MBA, Circular Economy

Building Owners + Digital Twins + Circular Economy = Winning at Sustainability and Future Proofing Growth

The benefits to owner's embracing the right technologies for long term operational sustainability are many. Imagine the value of a building that has a digital twin, fully updated throughout every adaptation iteration, changing supplier information, regulatory updates, retrofits, EPR Information and Take-back linkages to suppliers, equipment life status, maintenance records, fire and… Show more

Building Owners + Digital Twins + Circular Economy = Winning at Sustainability and Future Proofing Growth

The benefits to owner's embracing the right technologies for long term operational sustainability are many. Imagine the value of a building that has a digital twin, fully updated throughout every adaptation iteration, changing supplier information, regulatory updates, retrofits, EPR Information and Take-back linkages to suppliers, equipment life status, maintenance records, fire and safety records, sensor data, etc. and equipped with artificial intelligance to query and find anything from this single-source-of-truth? This article explores what's possible for the Built Environment Show less

...The journey has not been easy for either the CE to take hold, nor for graduates to find suitable positions in organisations. These obstacles lead us to the formation of CE360-Alliance.com. A little background might be useful to understand how we have arrived here and the current state as we interpret it.

After many fits and starts over the years, in 2019 it has been gratifying to note that the circular economy has accelerated greatly to the extent that Gartner predicts it will be the… Show more

...The journey has not been easy for either the CE to take hold, nor for graduates to find suitable positions in organisations. These obstacles lead us to the formation of CE360-Alliance.com. A little background might be useful to understand how we have arrived here and the current state as we interpret it.

After many fits and starts over the years, in 2019 it has been gratifying to note that the circular economy has accelerated greatly to the extent that Gartner predicts it will be the ONLY economy by 2029, replacing wasteful linear economies. Additionally, already over 400 major corporations and organisations have committed to the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, a collaboration between the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (circular economy champion and evangelist) and the UN Environment Programme... Show less

To accelerate the built environment and construction industry's uptake of the circular economy, we can begin by highlighting and publicising the construction industry's closest circular project examples that seem to (unintentionally) utilise recommended circularity principles and frameworks. The Ellen McArthur Foundation's (EMF's) Toolkit for Policy Makers has an easy-to-follow ReSOLVE (REgenerate, Share, Optimise, Loop, Virtualise, Exchange) framework. There are many initiatives in the… Show more

To accelerate the built environment and construction industry's uptake of the circular economy, we can begin by highlighting and publicising the construction industry's closest circular project examples that seem to (unintentionally) utilise recommended circularity principles and frameworks. The Ellen McArthur Foundation's (EMF's) Toolkit for Policy Makers has an easy-to-follow ReSOLVE (REgenerate, Share, Optimise, Loop, Virtualise, Exchange) framework. There are many initiatives in the construction industry to create less wasteful and operationally efficient building lifecycles including BREEAM, LEED, and LEAN etc. as well as design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA), offsite and modular, scan to BIM (Building Information Modelling), Internet of Things (IoT), Virtual Reality (VR), Virtual Design Construction and Digital Twins. In addition, with innovative technologies and digitalisation it is now possible to not only design new buildings with facilities management efficiencies in mind at the onset, but it is also possible to digitalise older and even heritage buildings, built hundreds of years ago. However, whether these initiatives are "circular", remains fragmented in an industry that is unfamiliar with the "circular economy". This paper will extrapolate the EMF's ReSOLVE frameworks through the context of three examples in vastly different formats; a desert lodge in the NamibRand Reserve (Namibia) close to achieving circularity; the tallest modular building in New York City that completely negates notions that pre-fab is undesirable and unattractive; and a large supermarket chain that has used BIM and other digitalisation to increase its operational efficiency, reduce material waste and increase visibility into space availability. Show less

“Last year, the average cost of breaches to large businesses that had them was 36,500. For small firms the average cost of breaches was £3,100. 65% of large organisations reported they had suffered an information security breach in the past year, and 25% of these experienced a breach at least once a month. Nearly seven out of ten attacks involved viruses, spyware or malware that might have been prevented using the Government’s Cyber Essentials scheme.” (Quoted from 2016 Government Cyber Health… Show more

“Last year, the average cost of breaches to large businesses that had them was 36,500. For small firms the average cost of breaches was £3,100. 65% of large organisations reported they had suffered an information security breach in the past year, and 25% of these experienced a breach at least once a month. Nearly seven out of ten attacks involved viruses, spyware or malware that might have been prevented using the Government’s Cyber Essentials scheme.” (Quoted from 2016 Government Cyber Health Check and Cyber Security Breaches Survey) Show less

Guidelines highlighting key themes associated with the GDPR changes. For those familiar with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), these are new and different requirements.