Conventional construction systems persist in linear, single-use material ftows, which limit resource efficiency and lifecycle performance. Transitioning to circular practices requires methods and tools that preserve the utility and value of building materials and components across multiple cycles. This paper presents a circular construction system that integrates robotic fabrication and collaborative digital models to enable material value retention from early design and fabrication to assembly and disassembly, suggesting new end-of-life scenarios. The workftow combines Design for Disassembly (DfD) and Design for Recycling (DfR) principles with continuous, cloud-based tracking of geometrie, material, and process data, ensuring coor dinated decisions across teams and phases. Developed within Target-X-an EU initiative advancing 5G-enabled industria! testbeds, including construction-the project TRAP (The Remote-controlled Assembly Process) was conducted, resulting in Green5Wall, a dry-assemblable wall system designed using computational and generative methods and manufactured via robotic concrete 3D printing using recycled aggregates from the construction and demolition market. The project shows that the integration between robotic concrete 3D printing and collaborative digital models can reduce resource use and waste generation, establishing practical conditions for material value retention. In this framework, collaborative digital models act as actionable support tools for circularity, outlining a scalable pathway for transitioning construction systems toward circular practices.
Integration of robotic fabrication for circularity: enabling material value retention through collaborative digital models
Roberto Ruggiero;Pio Lorenzo Cocco;Roberto Cognoli
2026-01-01
Abstract
Conventional construction systems persist in linear, single-use material ftows, which limit resource efficiency and lifecycle performance. Transitioning to circular practices requires methods and tools that preserve the utility and value of building materials and components across multiple cycles. This paper presents a circular construction system that integrates robotic fabrication and collaborative digital models to enable material value retention from early design and fabrication to assembly and disassembly, suggesting new end-of-life scenarios. The workftow combines Design for Disassembly (DfD) and Design for Recycling (DfR) principles with continuous, cloud-based tracking of geometrie, material, and process data, ensuring coor dinated decisions across teams and phases. Developed within Target-X-an EU initiative advancing 5G-enabled industria! testbeds, including construction-the project TRAP (The Remote-controlled Assembly Process) was conducted, resulting in Green5Wall, a dry-assemblable wall system designed using computational and generative methods and manufactured via robotic concrete 3D printing using recycled aggregates from the construction and demolition market. The project shows that the integration between robotic concrete 3D printing and collaborative digital models can reduce resource use and waste generation, establishing practical conditions for material value retention. In this framework, collaborative digital models act as actionable support tools for circularity, outlining a scalable pathway for transitioning construction systems toward circular practices.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
