Reuse Audit

The construction industry is one of the most resource-intensive industries worldwide and generates significant CO₂ emissions, waste volumes, and raw material consumption. At the same time, large quantities of valuable materials and building components are lost during remodeling, renovation, and demolition, even though they could often be reused. Buildings should therefore be viewed not as finished end products, but as temporary material storage facilities whose components can be preserved, reused, or returned to material cycles. Circular construction practices require new methods for inventorying and evaluating existing structures. The Pre-Deconstruction Audit according to DIN SPEC 91484 provides a systematic framework for identifying existing resources prior to demolition and determining their potential for high-quality subsequent use.

The seminar “Reuse Audit—Documentation, Assessment, and Reuse in Existing Buildings” applies this approach to a real building stock. In three sequential phases—preliminary analysis, site inspection, and evaluation—students survey and examine the building, from the overall structure down to individual components. Materials, construction methods, conditions, connections, dismantlability, and potential contamination are documented and evaluated in terms of their technical, ecological, and economic potential. Based on the results, strategies for preservation and selective demolition, as well as scenarios for reuse, are developed. Finally, the results are compiled into a structured component catalog, and the entire audit process is critically reviewed in terms of its methods and potential applications.