All what we do in life is connected with Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom: this is the most valuable human intangible asset because it encompasses the history, traditions, cultures, explicit and also more and more tacit knowledge, thanks also to social media. This sounds good, but such a so valuable asset and capital is very fragmented, lying unused in ‘cemeteries of information’ and is not used because it still lacks the structure, methods and instruments needed to filter and offer them in ways that brings tangible benefits to the users. The problems we are facing nowadays at global level are (i) the lack of interactive communication and a shared understanding that could make human knowledge and wisdom available internationally, as well as (ii) the ability to quickly identify the value, or non-value, of the enormous amount of data and information we are faced with. The more new technologies gather big data and large-scale information, the more we are confronted with our limited ability to distinguish between the essential, the necessary and the ‘nice-to-have’ elements of data and information.

The most used resources in the building sector, such as sand and metals, are non-renewable resources. Extracted, transported and processed in ever-increasing quantities, at ever-higher energy costs and with consequences which are far from negligible for the environment, their use does not fit with a sustainable logic. Thinking in terms of circular economy prompts us to take another look at these linear and consuming models, at both the level of materials for building, energy, land, and that of waste management.