ReBUILD

What if instead of tearing down and building new, we transformed?

The construction sector accounts for 37% of global CO₂ emissions, largely due to the extraction and processing of natural resources used in construction. Repurposing existing buildings, rather than constructing new ones, offers a powerful opportunity to reduce emissions, land consumption, and urban waste.

ReBUILD aims to co-design a resource-building system that enables the sufficient repurposing of vacant buildings to meet essential societal needs while addressing environmental challenges. The project will include tools, infrastructures, consultancy, and knowledge exchange frameworks to support acquisition, renovation, and management strategies aligned with social and ecological justice.

To address this, ReBUILD pursues three objectives:

1. Developing case-specific resource models through two Brussels-based case studies
2. Activating a learning framework for a national and international community of practitioners and policymakers
3. Co-designing a resource-building system. While the system’s design will be finalised within the project, its implementation and scaling will continue through follow-up funding and long-term collaboration.

For more information, email us at contact@swifft.be.