At this year’s FOOTPRINT+ Conference we were delighted to be joined by members of the Madaster Network and FOOTPRINT+ delegates to discuss the financial value of circularity for asset owners. The group included investors, architects, engineers, contractors, and valuation specialists. It’s a vital topic to address head-on, and one that we will certainly revisit. The group had plenty to say on where the value sits, how to unlock it and what we as an industry must do to bring circularity into play for institutional investors.

“Understanding exactly what can be recovered, its estimated life cycle, and the predicted future market value of those components help create a more accurate valuation.”
Simon Joe Portal, Drees & Sommer UK

Simon Joe Portal from Madaster Pioneer Drees & Sommer kicked off the presentations, sharing success stories from Europe. The Venlo City Hall building opened a discussion around up-front investment vs. future-pay-back. The building was designed with circularity at its heart – all materials were carefully selected for their demount-ability and reusability, and material passports detailed material production and origin. Recent calculations showed that the deconstruction savings were of similar value to the incremental investment that were needed to enable the circular design. The project also highlighted other benefits, most notably positive environmental impact and positive outcomes for the building occupiers, thereby increasing value for investors.

“Offsetting is likely to get more expensive, raw material costs are predicted to go up and reputational risks must be considered.”
Hulisi Mustafa, Overbury and Morgan Lovell

Hulusi Mustafa from Overbury and Morgan Lovell, also a Madaster Pioneer, raised the importance of considering embodied carbon and its associated costs, particularly in respect of net zero. Offsetting is likely to get more expensive, raw material costs are predicted to go up and reputational risks must be considered. Designing for re-use is an important area which demands our attention now, with the benefits expected to increase over time.

“Valuers don’t currently integrate material value into their models – its not yet clear ro the market how this should be priced.”
Sam Carson, CBRE

Sam Carson from CBRE explained that Commercial property valuations are a simulation of a transaction at a point in time based on multiple factors and the prevailing market conditions. Valuers don’t currently integrate material value into these models – it’s not yet clear to the market how this should be priced. He explained that... READ ON

By Madaster UK