Data-driven approach to trace and evaluate the recycling potential of PVC flooring in the building stock

Purpose and goal:

The aim is to systemize the information of PVC flooring records extracted from maintenance plans for existing public pre-school buildings, in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Kungsbacka regions, and use the statistical outcomes to forecast the recycling potential of PVC flooring in public preschools in Sweden, acting as an example of how building stock analyses and machine learning methods can be used to predict presence of a specific type of material or product in the building stock, provided that building specific information is available for a limited part of the stock.

Expected results and effects:

Based on data from inventories by three municipalities, the total amount of plastic flooring in the entire preschool inventory has been estimated to be approximately 1,236,000 square meters, of which about 86,500 square meters were installed after 2011. The results of the study can be used to make a rough estimate of the amount of plastic flooring available for recycling in the entire preschool stock in Sweden.

Approach and implementation:

A method for classifying preschools into sub-building categories has been developed through the integration of data from the preschool unit registry, property registry, and energy performance certificates. A calculation method has been developed to estimate the total amount of plastic flooring in Swedish preschools. Efforts have been made to predict the amount in individual preschool buildings, which has proven difficult due to the limited parameters that explain plastic flooring replacements in the existing registries.