On Nov. 2, 2022, Nexii VP of Sustainability, Zosia Brown, and other experts participated in a Design for Disassembly (DfD) presentation and discussion.

DfD is not a new concept in construction, however, its adoption has remained slow, in part due to the perceived delay of economic payback until the building’s end-of-use. This session explored the advantages of DfD over the building’s lifespan to the building owner, occupants and the community, as well as its potential role in disaster response and addressing homelessness. Three case studies of permanent buildings whose design and construction span a 25-year period (two of which have been disassembled, with one scheduled to be reassembled in 2023) will illustrate the real-life challenges and opportunities that exist with bringing the built environment into the circular economy. The speakers’ perspectives cover the range of building panel design and manufacturing, deconstruction management, and research.