Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Global Building Material Intensity Revealed for Circular and Low-Carbon Construction

Quantifying the material intensity of buildings (MIB) is fundamental for built environment stock accounting, construction resource and waste management, and embodied carbon assessment. However, existing MIB data reported in the literature are often sparse, heterogeneous, and scattered across archetypes, which hinders comparability, quality checks, and harmonization. Here, we compiled a global MIB database containing 3051 MIB records in a unified form measured in kg/m2 for 31 types of construction materials, based on both secondary and primary data from multiple sources. Applying a mean-absolute-deviation (MAD) rule to generate archetype-specific general MIBs, we revealed that the upward pressure on MIB from increases in floor area and building height has been partly offset by the use of light-weight materials, yielding a current aggregate MIB of 1464.3 kg/m2 that is comparable to the pre-1920 levels. Global building material composition shifted markedly away from brick and wood and toward higher shares of steel, cement, sand, and stone, alongside sizable heterogeneity across archetypes, regions, and periods. This expanded, standardized, and harmonized global MIB database can help inform material efficiency targets, embodied carbon baselines, and stock-aware planning for selective demolition, procurement, and renovation in a circular and low-carbon construction transition.