Blockchain for a Circular Digital Built Environment

Blockchain was repeatedly mentioned as a promising solution for a circular economy in the built environment, while others remain critical of its applicability and disruptive potential. Proposed applications remain scattered, mostly at a conceptual or prototypical level, and focused on track and trace aspects. This paper proposes six promising applications of blockchain related to data-level requirements for enabling circular information flows - time stamping, storage, access, incentives, decentralized markets, and machine agents. The applications presented, linked to the technological characteristics of blockchain, should help the reader to better understand the promise and associated challenges of blockchain towards a circular digital built environment.

Construction Blockchain Conference (CBC2023): IoT, Blockchain, and Smart Environments