BUD-MI: a template that optimizes material intensity data collection and utilization

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Materials Science
• Urban Planning

Background:

• Spatial material stock studies are crucial for understanding resource flows and promoting a circular economy.
• Current methods face challenges in material intensity data development, leading to coarse study results.
• Accurate material intensity data is vital for effective socioeconomic metabolism analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce BUD-MI (Bottom-Up Data: Material Intensity), a novel data collection template.
• To streamline material intensity data collection for building sampling and support cumulative research.
• To enhance the practical utility of material intensity data for the construction industry.

Main Methods:

• Development involved identifying material intensity challenges and eliciting requirements.
• Existing domain work was mapped, and gaps were addressed to create the BUD-MI template.
• The template was structured with data input tabs, mini-tools, and result generation tabs.

Main Results:

• A case study in Sheffield, UK, demonstrated BUD-MI's ability to generate disaggregated material intensity results.
• The template facilitates bespoke data collection, enabling detailed analysis across building elements.
• BUD-MI ensures data quality, granularity, comparability, transferability, and availability.

Conclusions:

• BUD-MI enhances socioeconomic metabolism and circular economy research by improving material intensity data collection.
• The template supports researchers, students, and practitioners in developing standardized and usable material data.
• BUD-MI advances the field by ensuring robust, comparable, and transferable material stock data for sustainable practices.