AQUA-HQE® certification drives sustainable practices in construction projects and buildings, but structural challenges still limit circularity in the sector
Submitted at Mar 17, 2026, 7:14 PM
(André Nazareth/CASACOR)
The end of one cycle can also be the beginning of another. In architecture and construction, this logic has guided an important transformation: the adoption of the circular economy as a response to the need to reduce the sector’s environmental impact.
In simplified terms, the circular economy proposes replacing the traditional “take, make, dispose” model with a continuous system of reuse. In this model, products and buildings are conceived from the outset to last longer, as well as to facilitate the repair, reuse, and recycling of their components.
This shift in logic necessarily involves the careful selection of materials and construction techniques. Intelligent reuse, waste reduction, and the use of traceable raw materials cease to be differentiators and come to play a central role in contemporary projects. By integrating sustainability and elegance, architecture reinforces the idea that sophistication lies in inhabiting the world without exhausting it.
Bric Arquitetura - Mariana Teixeira e Pedro Pantoja - Palacito Bric. Projeto da CASACOR Rio de Janeiro 2023. (André Nazareth/CASACOR)
In this context, the AQUA-HQE® certification, from Fundação Vanzolini (FCAV), has established itself as a relevant tool for turning the circular economy into a concrete practice in the sector.
According to FCAV’s technical team, the label introduces concepts such as “potential for disassembly” and “preparation for the end of the building’s service life.” In practice, this means that a certified project is conceived with a deconstruction plan, allowing its systems to be reused rather than sent to landfills.
The certification also requires technical rigor in waste management throughout the construction process — including sorting at source, separation by type, storage organization, reduction of quantities generated, and traceability of destination. More than ensuring proper disposal, the AQUA-HQE® process incorporates source reduction, preparation for value recovery, and recycling. “This entire process prevents waste and helps structure reuse streams,” explains FCAV’s technical team.
On low-environmental-impact construction sites, waste management ceases to be a passive step — limited to final disposal — and takes on an active role. Source sorting and full traceability transform what would previously have been discarded into inputs for new production cycles.
This logic extends to the building’s use phase. The AQUA-HQE® label provides for appropriate spaces for sorting and internal flows that facilitate separate collection, making recycling an intuitive practice in users’ daily lives.
(Marc Goodwin/CASACOR)
More than that, the framework proposes a shift in perspective: the building ceases to be understood as a static block and comes to be seen as a temporary bank of materials. By prioritizing maintenance and repairability, the certification extends the service life of buildings and reinforces an architecture aligned with environmental limits, without sacrificing technical efficiency.
Despite advances, implementing the circular economy in the sector still faces significant obstacles. One of the main ones lies in the very structure of the supply chain.
The life cycle of real estate assets is long and involves several actors — designers, builders, developers, suppliers, and end users — who do not always share the same economic incentives. This misalignment hinders the adoption of circular practices.
According to professor Marly Monteiro de Carvalho, from the Department of Production Engineering at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, fragmentation of the supply chain is the main bottleneck. “This misalignment makes it difficult to internalize the long-term benefits associated with circularity, such as waste reduction and the valorization of materials at the end of their service life,” she states.
Another challenge lies in the difficulty of structuring financial models capable of capturing not only direct economic value but also the environmental and social benefits of circularity. The absence of consistent tax incentives and adequate mechanisms for pricing waste disposal aggravates this scenario.
Casa Agüé, por Marko Brajovic. Com uma arquitetura de tipologia horizontal e modular, sua construção está suspensa entre duas pedras maiores, que se divide entre decks abertos e módulos de programa fechado. (Gustavo Uemura/CASACOR)
In addition, the use of reclaimed materials still faces resistance. “Reused products often face technical certification barriers, undermining engineers’ and investors’ confidence in the durability, structural performance, and technical liability of buildings,” the professor explains.
Reverse logistics also represents a hurdle. The transport of construction waste — generally heavy and bulky — can be more expensive than acquiring virgin raw material, especially in the absence of local processing infrastructure or economic incentives.
Among the most promising solutions is the industrialization of construction combined with modularity. Building systems based on standardized components, produced at industrial scale, reduce the typical waste of traditional construction sites and facilitate both the assembly and disassembly of buildings.
“By reducing material losses, rework, and execution time, these systems directly lower construction costs and make housing developments more affordable,” says Carvalho.
In addition, modularity enables strategies such as design for disassembly, allowing components to be reused or reconfigured over time — an essential step toward consolidating the circular economy in construction.
