Design for biological and technical cycles

Baseline strategy · No score

Maintains materials compatible with safe biological return cycles or high-quality technical recovery.

Subject: Materials and circularityContext: Outputs · Construction · IndustryCost: mediumEffort: highLevel: ambitiousStage: designMaturity: context-dependent
Principle of Diseño para ciclos biológicos y técnicos
Operating principle

How it works

Maintains materials compatible with safe biological return cycles or high-quality technical recovery.

It considers materials and components throughout extraction, manufacture, transport, use, maintenance and recovery to conserve value and reduce impacts.

When does it make sense?

  • Before you specify or purchase materials and products
  • Where functionally comparable alternatives exist
  • With life cycle data and a realistic maintenance and end-of-use plan

How to apply it

  1. 1

    Defining what need resolves "design for biological and technical cycles" and establishing a starting situation.

  2. 2

    Compare alternatives and adapt design to climate, use, regulation, affected people and available resources.

  3. 3

    Apply with clear responsibilities, check the actual result and correct unwanted effects.

Potential benefits

Lower carbon life cycle

Less extraction and toxicity

More retained value

Limitations and precautions

  • The result depends on context, design, execution and how it is used and maintained.
  • An isolated label does not replace the comparison of the entire system.
  • Durability, security, quantity used and end-of-life scenario can change the result.

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