Exploring the relationship between the level of circularity and the life cycle costs of a one-family house

In the last couple of years, actors in the construction industry have shown an increasing willingness to move towards circular businesses. However, many consider circular construction to be a more expensive option, which makes actors reluctant to invest in circularity. This study contributes to the existing literature by relating the Level of Circularity (LoC) for a one-family house to its Life Cycle Costs (LCC). Using design-orientated research, the design of the one-family house was altered to gradually increase its LoC. The results revealed that it is possible to double the LoC to 0.41 compared to the initial design (LoC = 0.20) without increasing the LCC. Furthermore, the measures do not require radical changes to the design and construction process. Rather, it only requires replacing virgin materials with recycled or biological materials, and using building products that can be disassembled relatively easily. The results also revealed that increasing the circularity level further resulted in a sharp increase in product costs, and therefore an increase in LCC. This makes it less economically attractive for construction companies. Therefore, we suggest starting with relatively easy measures, which can already double the current circularity level of typical one-family houses.