Reuse toolkit: Material sheets

Complementary to our documentation work of reclamation dealers on opalis.eu, we wanted to set the first step in describing the materials that they sell as well. From 2019 to 2021, within the framework of the Interreg FCRBE project, we worked on a collection of 32 material sheets, each of them highlighting a specific building material or element that is commonly available on the reclamation market or via other second hand channels. This collection was complemented by 4 additional sheets by Bellastock, on the (more experimental) reuse of concrete elements.

The sheets are intended for designers, specifiers and other members of construction project teams wishing to reuse one of these materials. They aim at bringing together as much of the available information to date, that is likely to facilitate their extraction or reintegration.

To do so, the sheets provide an answer to, among others, the following questions:

What building materials are suitable for reclamation?
What are the performance characteristics of these products and how can their “fitness for reuse” be evaluated?
How can you dismantle or install these materials correctly?
Where and in what quantities can these materials be found?
How can these materials be integrated into the prescriptive documents, in particular the specifications?

By helping to overcome these various obstacles, their aim is to encourage the reclamation of construction materials through a better knowledge of the possibilities and practical ways and means.

The total collection of 36 material sheets are available in French, Dutch and English, on our Interreg project website, and on Opalis.eu, via the material and documentation page.

Rotor project team:

Sebastien Paulet, Lea Bottani-Dechaud, Michael Ghyoot, Arne Vande Capelle, Romane Lavoine, Stijn Colon, Louise Huba, Tom Schoojans, Fien Deruyter, Emmanuel Cortes Garcia, Tristan Boniver, Pauline Goniau, Sophie Boone, Beatrice Godon and Lionel Devlieger.