Re-veal <rock wool> - Care model for tapping into the circular potential of hidden materials

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The project is developing and testing a new model for the reuse of hidden materials using rock wool as an example. With the help of the Care model and targeted information gathering, the aim is to harness the recyclability of used resources. Deconstruction, reuse, responsibilities, technical feasibility, stakeholder needs, framework conditions and business models will be examined - with the aim of creating a practical proposal for the use of hidden materials for the circular economy and local value creation. What challenge in the circular building and construction industry does your idea address?Insulation materials often remain unused for reuse, and end up as construction waste [Hiltbrunner, 2016] [Jakob et al, 2016]. They are invisible and rarely perceived as architectural elements – although there is high unused circularity potential in them. This potential is to be harnessed through the combination of novel responsibility processes.What is your vision for solving this challenge, and why is your approach innovative? Our vision is an applied practice in which the potential of hidden materials is recognized and transferred into new cycles of use as a permanently available resource. We want to systematically integrate the collaborative approach from the Care Model* into the deconstruction process and enable upscalability to economic models. The responsibility towards the material resource shall raise through a holistic understanding of the material value and by creating a practical handling of relevant information for decision-makers. *Integrative care model approach for reuseThe vision is inspired by Tronto and Fisher's [1990] Care Model, which proposes an ethical framework for a systematic description of the care process. The model shifts the focus from technical solutions to relationships, responsibility and sustainability - and therefore shows great potential for the circular construction.We intend to test this using rock wool insulation as an example. The four phases of the Care Model, applied to deconstruction processes for rock wool, are: Caring about: Identify hidden materials, integrate stakeholder and user needs, Caring for: Develop willingness to act, clarify resources, data and responsibilities, Care giving: Put recovery and reuse into practice, and Care receiving: Transfer materials into new cycles, communicate and validate.What assumptions or ideas do you want to test? What do you want to work on during the booster program and what do you want to achieve at the end? The aim of the work is to develop and test the Care Model for the deconstruction and reuse of rock wool - taking into account technical feasibility, stakeholder needs and economic potential. 1: Development of the process model: A possible process of the Care Model is outlined: Who cares? What do [caretakers] need to make [invisible] material usable?What information is needed to make invisible material [usable]?[Caretakers] --> Identify relevant stakeholders and their needs[invisible] --> Focus on hidden building materials (rock wool)[usable] --> Focus on relevant information regarding technical, legal and economic conditions.The technical evaluation is based on DIN SPEC 91484:2023 «Pre-Demolition Audit». Regulatory and economic framework conditions and business models are examined. Stakeholder needs are collected via interviews on existing and potential processes.2: Demonstration: A real project with construction elements such as timber stud walls or façade systems is defined to test the feasibility of the model. Adjustments to the model are planned in this phase.3: Evaluation of feasibility: The evaluating of the test run is done - with the aim of deriving transferable information for stakeholders and applicable measures for other building material groups.Who is in your team, and what expertise or roles do they bring? The project team consists of experts from architecture, civil engineering and process management in order to be able to deal with the different perspectives. Furthermore, a manufacturer provides information on the material and its processing methods.Katharina Riedl, Bau-Teilen GmbH: Architect, site manager and craftswoman; expertise in alternative construction and dismantling processes, expansion of Bau Teilen, founding member of the component platform Bauteilcare. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Susanne Gosztonyi, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts: researches sustainable building envelopes at the Institute of Civil Engineering - supported by modern laboratories and cooperation with industry and research partners. Her focus is on practice-oriented in-situ analysis and measurement processes to retrieve data of installed components.Prof. Dr. Simon Züst, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts: researches sustainable production processes at the Institute for Innovation & Technology Management. His focus is on the analysis and optimization of industrial processes from a sustainability perspective. Specially developed analysis and simulation tools are used.Has your idea already been tested? If so, what are the results and what still needs to be tested? The combination of the Care Model and effective data collection on in-situ material has not yet been implemented in practice. Although there are theoretical approaches in architectural theory [Cohen und Fenster, 2021] [Mesiranta et al, 2024] or experiments such as at the 2023 Biennale (“Open for Maintenance“, Architekturbiennale 2023), questions of pragmatic feasibility in practice, such as technical-planning information qualities, business models or regulatory requirements, are not answered there. The development and transfer of the model to construction practice is therefore the focus of this project.How could your idea have a positive impact on the planet, people or the economy in the future? The application of the Care Model to construction processes in the circular economy is an innovative approach that has not yet been tested in practice. The aim is to integrate the ethics of care into the collection and utilization of installed materials, tested using rock wool as an example - a so far little-researched field with great potential. This approach raises awareness of the existing building material stock as a valuable material storage, promotes collective responsibility, new business models and local jobs and contributes to Switzerland's material independence.Who will benefit from a solution to this problem? How do you intend to secure the required 10% third-party funding? Rock wool serves as an example for the model development and thus, Flumroc AG benefits directly from the findings as a project partner. However, the model will be made publicly available for further processing and use for other building materials. Flumroc AG has been producing rock wool products for a wide range of applications in the construction industry for over 60 years, from façade components to HVAC technology. Rock wool is completely recyclable. According to a study on insulation materials by Jakob et al. (2016), there are around 11 Mio m3 of rock wool applied in Switzerland, the majority of which is disposed in landfills according to Hiltbrunner (2016). Its recycling potential is therefore enormous.With a contribution of CHF 2000,-, Flumroc AG supports practical testing and research into the suitability of circular processes based on a tried-and-tested Care Model.

Project Idea Metadata

Project Idea Name: Re-veal <rock wool> - Care model for tapping into the circular potential of hidden materials
Date: 4/9/2025 7:12:27 AM
Administrators:
- Susanne Gosztonyi

Project Idea Description

What challenge in the circular building and construction industry does your idea address?

Insulation materials often remain unused for reuse, and end up as construction waste [Hiltbrunner, 2016] [Jakob et al, 2016]. They are invisible and rarely perceived as architectural elements – although there is high unused circularity potential in them. This potential is to be harnessed through the combination of novel responsibility processes.

What is your vision for solving this challenge, and why is your approach innovative?

Our vision is an applied practice in which the potential of hidden materials is recognized and transferred into new cycles of use as a permanently available resource. We want to systematically integrate the collaborative approach from the Care Model* into the deconstruction process and enable upscalability to economic models. The responsibility towards the material resource shall raise through a holistic understanding of the material value and by creating a practical handling of relevant information for decision-makers.

*Integrative care model approach for reuse

The vision is inspired by Tronto and Fisher's [1990] Care Model, which proposes an ethical framework for a systematic description of the care process. The model shifts the focus from technical solutions to relationships, responsibility and sustainability - and therefore shows great potential for the circular construction.

We intend to test this using rock wool insulation as an example. The four phases of the Care Model, applied to deconstruction processes for rock wool, are:

Caring about: Identify hidden materials, integrate stakeholder and user needs,
Caring for: Develop willingness to act, clarify resources, data and responsibilities,
Care giving: Put recovery and reuse into practice, and
Care receiving: Transfer materials into new cycles, communicate and validate.

What assumptions or ideas do you want to test? What do you want to work on during the booster program and what do you want to achieve at the end?

The aim of the work is to develop and test the Care Model for the deconstruction and reuse of rock wool - taking into account technical feasibility, stakeholder needs and economic potential.

1: Development of the process model: A possible process of the Care Model is outlined:

Who cares?
What do [caretakers] need to make [invisible] material usable?
What information is needed to make invisible material [usable]?

[Caretakers] --> Identify relevant stakeholders and their needs

[invisible] --> Focus on hidden building materials (rock wool)

[usable] --> Focus on relevant information regarding technical, legal and economic conditions.

The technical evaluation is based on DIN SPEC 91484:2023 «Pre-Demolition Audit». Regulatory and economic framework conditions and business models are examined. Stakeholder needs are collected via interviews on existing and potential processes.

2: Demonstration: A real project with construction elements such as timber stud walls or façade systems is defined to test the feasibility of the model. Adjustments to the model are planned in this phase.

3: Evaluation of feasibility: The evaluating of the test run is done - with the aim of deriving transferable information for stakeholders and applicable measures for other building material groups.

Who is in your team, and what expertise or roles do they bring?

The project team consists of experts from architecture, civil engineering and process management in order to be able to deal with the different perspectives. Furthermore, a manufacturer provides information on the material and its processing methods.

Katharina Riedl, Bau-Teilen GmbH: Architect, site manager and craftswoman; expertise in alternative construction and dismantling processes, expansion of Bau Teilen, founding member of the component platform Bauteilcare.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Susanne Gosztonyi, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts: researches sustainable building envelopes at the Institute of Civil Engineering - supported by modern laboratories and cooperation with industry and research partners. Her focus is on practice-oriented in-situ analysis and measurement processes to retrieve data of installed components.

Prof. Dr. Simon Züst, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts: researches sustainable production processes at the Institute for Innovation & Technology Management. His focus is on the analysis and optimization of industrial processes from a sustainability perspective. Specially developed analysis and simulation tools are used.

Has your idea already been tested? If so, what are the results and what still needs to be tested?

The combination of the Care Model and effective data collection on in-situ material has not yet been implemented in practice. Although there are theoretical approaches in architectural theory [Cohen und Fenster, 2021] [Mesiranta et al, 2024] or experiments such as at the 2023 Biennale (“Open for Maintenance“, Architekturbiennale 2023), questions of pragmatic feasibility in practice, such as technical-planning information qualities, business models or regulatory requirements, are not answered there. The development and transfer of the model to construction practice is therefore the focus of this project.

How could your idea have a positive impact on the planet, people or the economy in the future?

The application of the Care Model to construction processes in the circular economy is an innovative approach that has not yet been tested in practice. The aim is to integrate the ethics of care into the collection and utilization of installed materials, tested using rock wool as an example - a so far little-researched field with great potential. This approach raises awareness of the existing building material stock as a valuable material storage, promotes collective responsibility, new business models and local jobs and contributes to Switzerland's material independence.

Who will benefit from a solution to this problem? How do you intend to secure the required 10% third-party funding?

Rock wool serves as an example for the model development and thus, Flumroc AG benefits directly from the findings as a project partner. However, the model will be made publicly available for further processing and use for other building materials.

Flumroc AG has been producing rock wool products for a wide range of applications in the construction industry for over 60 years, from façade components to HVAC technology. Rock wool is completely recyclable. According to a study on insulation materials by Jakob et al. (2016), there are around 11 Mio m3 of rock wool applied in Switzerland, the majority of which is disposed in landfills according to Hiltbrunner (2016). Its recycling potential is therefore enormous.

With a contribution of CHF 2000,-, Flumroc AG supports practical testing and research into the suitability of circular processes based on a tried-and-tested Care Model.

The project is developing and testing a new model for the reuse of hidden materials using rock wool as an example. With the help of the Care model and targeted information gathering, the aim is to harness the recyclability of used resources. Deconstruction, reuse, responsibilities, technical feasibility, stakeholder needs, framework conditions and business models will be examined - with the aim of creating a practical proposal for the use of hidden materials for the circular economy and local value creation.