Circular economy in concrete construction through modular construction, automated design and production of structurally optimised reusable concrete building components

Concrete, as the most widely used construction material globally, exhibits a marked imbalance between its high volume of consumption and the relatively low utilisation of its mechanical properties, contributing significantly to its environmental footprint. At the same time, current production methods in the concrete prefabrication industry remain largely inefficient, limiting the potential for material optimisation. This paper introduces a novel, fully automated design and production approach aimed at improving the resource efficiency of concrete prefabrication across the entire workflow and life cycle. The core objective is to achieve structural optimised building components with minimal environmental impact without increasing labour intensity, enabling the production of components with full load-bearing capacity. This is achieved by digitalising the design process, allowing for the automated structural optimisation of concrete elements, which can be manufactured at scale in conventional plants using a new production cell and reengineered shuttering system. In parallel, the development of a modular component kit facilitates the reuse of structural elements, laying the foundation for a more robust and high-value circular economy within the industry. Preliminary experiments validate the technical feasibility and potential of the strategy, while also highlighting further research demand. Initial findings indicate that the proposed optimisation approach can reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 14.6 %, without disrupting existing mass production frameworks. Notably, the newly developed modular formwork system is designed to be compatible with existing technologies and to accommodate various concrete types, facilitating gradual integration into current production workflows rather than requiring fundamental changes. • Structurally optimised concrete components with voids can be produced automatically. • Reuse of concrete components is crucial to reduce environmental impact. • Automation in design and production boost efficiency of precast concrete components. • Modular design increases resource efficiency/circular economy of precast construction.