Impressions of the practical workshop "Reuse of building components", which the Rethink Materials collective held in mid-January in the city of Zurich.

It was an intensive, varied and interactive workshop day: After an introduction to the topic of reuse, the participants learned the basics of component inventory and were then able to put this into practice straight away. An empty building of the Canton of Zurich served as the location, and there were plenty of components to inventory and practise. Exciting questions arose:

• Which components can be dismantled at all without damaging them?
• Which components are worth dismantling, taking into account the costs for interim storage, processing and transport?
• Can the building user be convinced by the concept of reused components, does it even make a building more attractive?

In the afternoon, too, the balance between practice and theory was good, with inputs on "Reuse in today's planning process", "Reuse players in Switzerland and Europe" and a whole series of best practice examples.

And after that, groups deconstructed for all they were worth! Put on protective goggles and gloves and get to work with the tools. With the specific aim of testing the deconstructability and suitability for reuse of individual components, the participants dismantled components in 4 groups. Floor coverings such as tiles and parquet, hollow floors, small parts and more were sampled.

During the final exchange of experiences, many valuable insights from one day on the topic of reuse were gathered. Many thanks to all participants from the Hochbauamt Zürich and EK Energiekonzepte AGfor their active and motivated participation and for sharing this day with us. Your commitment during the day and also your great feedback on the workshop spur us on to continue working for closed material cycles.

A big thank you also goes to the two guest speakers who shed light on the topic of reuse from exciting perspectives:

• Cyrille Veron from Sumami GmbH convinced us with his presentation on "Cost savings thanks to reuse" that reuse pays off in terms of costs and inspired those present with inspiring project examples.
• Dr Oliver Streiff from the ZHAW School of Management and Law gave us insights into the legal aspects of reusing used building components and pointed out the exciting challenges involved. These are currently being investigated at the ZHAW as part of a research project .