Enabling circular economy principles within the construction industry through digitalisation (SF25/EE/ABE/JONES)

About the Project

Enabling circular economy principles within the construction industry through digitalisation

We are inviting applications for a PhD project that explores how advanced digital technologies can drive the adoption of circular economy (CE) principles in the built environment. This research aims to develop innovative strategies and tools that support resource efficiency, waste minimisation, and sustainable lifecycle management of buildings and infrastructure. The built environment is one of the largest global consumers of raw materials and a major contributor to waste and carbon emissions. The current reliance on linear models which are based on the take-make-use-dispose approach is increasingly unsustainable considering the emerging concerns including climate change, urbanisation, and resource depletion. CE principles, focusing on closed-loop systems, offer the construction industry a compelling alternative through reduce, reuse, recycle and recover. The core principle of CE is transforming the traditional end-of-life stage of the product lifecycle by integrating strategies across production and consumption activities at various levels - ranging from individual businesses to entire industries and economies. Compared to other sectors, the construction sector faces specific difficulties in adopting CE principles and their implementation remains limited due to fragmented nature of construction activities and data, lack of standard methods or tools for circularity across the entire building lifecycle including deconstruction, uncertainties regarding cost and availability of rescued materials as well as disengaged and resistant stakeholder. Playing a fundamental role in enabling the circular economy across multiple industries, digital technologies promise to enhance the adoption of circular economy principles within the built environment as well. Emerging technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), Digital Twins and Artificial Intelligence (AI) offer transformative potential to achieve CE and overcome the challenges that the industry encounters towards circularity. These technologies can lay the foundation for a digitally enabled circular built environment by facilitating enhanced collaboration, automated processes, real-time data exchange, predictive maintenance and material traceability.

This research project will investigate how a suite of advanced digital technologies can be used to embed circularity across the design, construction, operation, and end-of-life phases of buildings. Key objectives include (1) identifying current barriers and opportunities for applying digital technologies to support CE in the built environment, (2) developing an integrated model that leverages tools such as BIM, Digital Twins, and AI for circular practices like material passports, deconstruction planning, and adaptive reuse,(3) demonstrating the model through case studies or simulations, with a focus on measurable sustainability and circularity outcomes, and (4) generating actionable guidance for industry stakeholders on implementing digitally enabled circular workflows.

The research will contribute to the transformation of the construction industry toward more circular, low-carbon, and digitally enabled practices. It aims to deliver practical, scalable solutions to support smarter design, efficient material use, and more sustainable urban development.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Academic excellence i.e. 2:1 (or equivalent GPA from non-UK universities with preference for 1st class honours); or a Masters (preference for Merit or above); or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement.
• Appropriate IELTS score, if required.
• Applicants cannot apply if they are already a PhD holder or if currently engaged in Doctoral study at Northumbria or elsewhere.

To be classed as a Home student, candidates must:

• Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or
• have settled status, or
• have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
• have indefinite leave to remain or enter.

If a candidate does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as an International student.

International applicants will need to be aware of the following additional costs that may be incurred, as these are not covered by the studentship.

• Immigration Health Surcharge https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application
• If you need to apply for a Student Visa to enter the UK, please refer to https://www.gov.uk/student-visa. It is important that you read this information carefully as it is your responsibility to ensure that you hold the correct funds required for your visa application, otherwise your visa may be refused.
• Costs associated with English Language requirements which may be required for students not having completed a first degree in English, will not be paid by the University.

For further details on how to apply see https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/how-to-apply/

In your application, please include a research proposal of approximately 1,000 words and the advert reference (e.g. SF24/…).

Deadline for applications: Year Round

Start date of course: Standard cohort dates are 1st March and 1st October

Funding Notes

Home and International students (inc. EU) are welcome to apply on a self-funded basis. Fee information including fee bands can be found at View Website

Please also see further advice on additional costs that may apply to international applicants.