The construction industry is undergoing a significant transformation driven by digitalization and an unwavering commitment to implementing circular economy (CE) principles and sustainability into its core practices. Emerging digital technologies (DTs), such as Material Passports (MPs), Building Information Modelling (BIM) Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Scanning technologies, Blockchain technology (BCT), the Internet of Things (IoT) stand out as pivotal tools capable of expediting the transition towards CE implementation in buildings. This study highlights the significant potential of six DTs to support CE application throughout the building lifecycle. Furthermore, it delves into the potential synergies among these diverse DTs, highlighting the additional benefits that collaboration can bring across different lifecycle stages of a building project. Particular emphasis is placed on the integration of MPs with other DTs, showing promise in assessing resource availability, volumes, and flows. This integration optimizes waste reduction and recycling plans, contributing to more precise selective and smart deconstruction planning. The combined use of DTs offers substantial benefits to stakeholders, enabling them to make informed decisions regarding maintenance and understand the current quality of specific materials. Through these means, the study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the array of DTs propelling circular building practices. It also explores emerging trends in this dynamic field, scrutinizing the effectiveness of adopting these technologies throughout the building life cycle stages, and anticipating potential challenges these technologies may face.

The transition towards a Circular Economy (CE) stands as a pivotal strategy in reshaping our prevailing consumption patterns towards more sustainable resource management. Within this context, the European Union places a strong emphasis on elevating recycling and renovation rates while reducing dependence on primary resources, with a particular focus on the construction industry. Material and Building Passports have emerged as potential tools to facilitate this transition. They play a multifaceted role in CE, serving to raise awareness of the building’s performance, functioning as digital repositories of extensive data, and acting as consulting instruments for stakeholders involved in renovation actions, energy management, and building operation. However, a universally accepted definition of these tools remains elusive, and diverse interpretations persist. To contribute to a deeper understanding of these tools, this study embarks on a comprehensive review, tracing their evolutionary journey and delving into the potentialities and synergies they offer in fostering circularity throughout the life cycle of buildings. It also examines the barriers hindering their full-scale development and adoption, including the lack of standardization and legislative measures, financial constraints, issues of stakeholder involvement and responsibility, as well as challenges associated with data accessibility.

The twin transition driven by European agendas emphasises the dual benefits of integrating digital technologies with green sustainability concepts. In the built environment and construction sector, this integration is exemplified by leveraging digitalisation to enhance circularity in construction processes. This chapter explores this synergy by focusing on the development and application of Material and Building Passports (MPs and BPs). It discusses how these passports are digitally utilised to optimise circularity aspects of buildings and construction materials. The chapter delineates the evolution of MPs and BPs, clarifying their various definitions, variants, and potential applications to support the sector's twin transition. Additionally, it examines numerous initiatives and pilot projects aimed at defining the passports, including their requirements and conditions, and the standardisation efforts to ensure their widespread adoption through a unified content structure. The roles of MPs and BPs across different lifecycle stages are elaborated, with a particular emphasis on the enhanced functionalities enabled by Building Information Modelling (BIM). Moreover, the chapter identifies several barriers impeding the full adoption of these passports, such as legislative and standardisation challenges, information security concerns, lack of collaboration, and issues with information accessibility and sharing. It concludes by suggesting future research directions to further refine the passports for optimised use by construction industry stakeholders.

The characteristics of supply chains in the construction industry give rise to several information and collaboration system needs, such as system affordability and adaptability. The presence of several companies from a variety of industries in supply chains for the construction industry sets them apart. Information sharing and system integration therefore require cooperation and trust. In the manufacturing industry, a lot of efforts are being made to create tools, technologies, and strategies that would allow supply chain actors to communicate with one another and work together. However, it is more challenging to establish a solid environment for inventory and data management in the construction industry. The Internet and information technology are now being used in the construction industry to strengthen cross-organizational relationships. The employment of these tools in this industry is occasionally hampered by limitations like security worries, a lack of managerial commitment, high costs, and deployment rigidity. Additionally, a dynamic configuration of supply chains is required to integrate with more adaptable business models, increase internationalization, and enhance coordination. For this reason, this study primarily explores the inventory and supply chain tools currently in use in the construction industry and evaluates their functionality from a business and consumer perspective. Other areas of study are based on either inventory management for circular buildings or cross-organizational cooperation, and they include secure data storage, information exchange among stakeholders, and their modification. In the end, it aims to emphasize the key problems with data and inventory management in the construction industry, as well as inform about the potential technology solutions to make a guidance of academic and industry specialists within this study.

There is a vast building stock of existing buildings and the exchange rate is low (up to 0.2% per year). Therefore, there is a very strong need to deal with the existing building stock in respect to circularity. The effect of (new) regulations and standards on this volume for refurbishment and recycling of building materials is therefore crucial to meet the targets of CO2 reduction by increasing aspects of circularity overall to support environmental sustainability. The influence of standards towards the harmonization of technical requirements for refurbishment of existing buildings is therefore essential for wider implementation and acceptance in the market. There is, however, a gap identified between existing relevant standardization efforts and research in the field of refurbishment in the context of circularity. The effect of newly released standards and regulation will be analysed and identified barriers are discussed such as the generation and dissemination process of these standards.

The construction sector plays a significant role in global environmental impact, accounting for substantial resource consumption, energy use, and carbon emissions. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has emerged as a key methodology for evaluating the environmental footprint of buildings. This paper introduces a newly developed calculation tool designed to assess the role of transport within a comprehensive LCA of construction works, while also incorporating the benefits of reusing building materials in a circular manner. By applying this tool, we analyse the environmental and economic implications of transport in different scenarios, focusing on the case of recycled concrete versus landfill disposal. Cement, as one of the largest contributors to global warming in the building sector, makes this analysis particularly relevant for sustainable construction strategies. Using a structured calculation matrix, the tool quantifies transport-related gains and losses by incorporating key variables such as concrete composition, transportation distances to and from the construction site, landfill locations, diesel costs, deposit fees, and associated CO ₂ emissions. The tool enables a systematic evaluation of critical parameters, including transport distances and the proportion of recycled concrete, providing insights into optimising environmental performance. The results offer a practical framework for decision-making, supporting policymakers and industry stakeholders in understanding the role of transport within LCA methodologies. Integrating this tool into building assessments can serve as a guideline for promoting more sustainable and data-driven construction practices.