The Japanese building stock and a management system for the re-use of building materials from the viewpoint of improved resource utilization

The general idea of this paper is the attempt to extend the idea of "urban mining" to construction, regarding the city as a huge source of different types of re-usable building materials. Firstly, an estimation of the potential resources accumulated in the building stock is implemented and the result shows that huge potential recourses are accumulated. Compared with the demand in general use of those materials, the importance of creating new possible demands emerges, such as recycled aggregate for concrete and biomass-use for wooden materials. Secondly, a management system for the re-use of building materials is proposed and the procedural elements as well as the potential developments in the future are discussed.