Connections and joints in buildings: Revisiting the main concepts on building materials life cycle’s circularity

Abstract

Joining methods were set as a field of study and the state of the art on connections in buildings within building materials circularity was reviewed. The cross reference of fields of connections in buildings and resources and waste management has highlighted a set of constraints for implementing circularity strategies such as reversibility of connections: the gap between existing systematisation of knowledge on connections in buildings and the strategies and guidance to support their design, the divergent conclusions reached resulting from partial approaches on circularity and its strategies and, lastly, the questions raised by the consequences of adopting reversible solutions that are still open for discussion.