The transition to a circular built environment requires more than better recycling. It means rethinking how we value existing buildings, use materials and design for the future.

What if the most sustainable building material is the one we already have? And what if the greatest opportunity for creating more resilient buildings and cities lies not in what we construct next, but in what we choose to retain?

These questions were at the heart of the Association for Sustainable Building Products’ (ASBP) Building Resilience Through Reuse event, held at the British Library in London on 4th November 2026. Bringing together voices from policy, planning and the built environment, the event explored how we move away from a linear model of construction – extract, manufacture, build, demolish and dispose – towards an economy that values resources for as long as possible.