The REINCARNATE project advances circular economy practices in the European construction sector by extending the lifecycle of buildings and materials. Its ambition is to reduce construction and demolition waste (CDW) by 80%, increase reuse of building materials, and reduce sector emissions by up to 70%. The key innovation demonstrated is BIM for Circular Value Flow Planning (BIM-CVFP), a digital method that uses Building Information Modelling (BIM) to map, quantify, and assess material flows in buildings, enabling more informed decisions on reuse, recycling, or disposal. The demonstration focused on a 1960s building (Teknikhöjden) owned by Akademiska Hus and scheduled for demolition. Using 3D laser scanning, a point cloud model was generated to create or enrich a BIM model. Windows were manually inventoried and assessed for quality, and the data were integrated into the CP-IM digital platform using an ontology for flat glass. The system then evaluated which materials could be recycled into new flat glass (“flat-glass-to-flat-glass”), downcycled, or sent to landfill. Results show that combining 3D scanning, BIM, and CP-IM significantly improves efficiency and accuracy in building inventories. A full-building inventory took about 4 hours digitally compared to roughly two days manually, identifying 3,887 kg of recyclable glass. The project demonstrates strong potential for scalable digital material inventories, enabling new circular value chains and supporting future replication in demolition and renovation projects
Ragn-Sells et al. (2026) studied this question.