Linking Design, Deconstruction and Characterization: A Digital Ecosystem for Sustainable Reuse of Cast‐in‐Place Concrete Elements

Abstract Sustainable reuse of concrete elements from deconstructed buildings reduces material consumption as a circular construction strategy, but requires integrating multiple interdependencies between design demands, deconstruction planning, and element characterization into a digital ecosystem to assess the sustainability of a reuse element in different scenarios. The conceptualized digital ecosystem enables matchmaking between design demand and available element stock in a discrete‐event simulation, accounting for spatio‐temporal dependencies among elements and constraints on sustainability indicators. This research shows how digital twins of the concrete elements provide knowledge graphs enriched with in situ test data (e.g., compressive strength, reinforcement, degradation) and process information to facilitate their accessibility in the digital ecosystem. The reuse elements are typified into a construction kit that supports availability‐driven design, incorporating their temporal availability, capacities, and refurbishment needs. Eventually, sustainability metrics are integrated into the simulation via parametrized functions. The framework is demonstrated using a concrete beam from the deconstruction of the university building and the case of transport logistics.