State of play for circular built environment in North America

The United Nations (UN) One Planet Network Sustainable Buildings and Construction programme initiated a study to understand the current state of play with regard to circularity in the built environment in the seven different geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), North America and Oceania. This is the first in-depth study ever conducted on the subject. At Yale CEA, we contributed to this initiative by authoring the North American report. The goal is to characterize the current context including current linear practices in the USA and to highlight promising measures and initiatives in the region which would help decouple material use from economic growth towards meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. The expected impact is to globally map circularity in the built environment for the first time, with this report focusing on North America. It should help with the transition from a linear built environment process to a circular one. The study also emphasizes the role of monitoring and reporting to ensure that we stay on track and reach the goal of living and working in a world that enables efficient resource use, has little or no environmental impact, and ensures a just society. The SDGs can assist in monitoring and reporting as the foundational principles of circular economy and sustainability are the same.