We encourage you to print this checklist and share it with your colleagues, partners, and contractors throughout all phases of your project. Whether you’re in the planning and design stages, selecting materials, building or unbuilding, this checklist will help you ensure that circularity is considered at every step.

To explore the full details of each element and learn how to apply these practices in your exhibition or project, visit the Five Elements in the SAGE toolkit. 

Planning

Communicate, Engage & Specify 

  • Align internal and external teams on specific circularity goals and invite ideas.
  • Start and end with the Project Pledge, reviewing it in the debrief.
  • Foster a Circular Culture: Guide internal teams on low-waste practices and materials longevity.
  • Share your commitment to circularity with your audience.

Manage Time & Budgets

  • Allocate time in planning and design to engage all parties in circularity goals.
  • Don’t rush your building or unbuilding schedules to maximize material reuse potential.

Design

Rethink & Refuse

  • Challenge designers to rethink design to design-out waste.
  • Design with what you have – check your inventory.
  • Borrow and share to extend the life of materials.
  • Maximize materials use and minimize offcuts.

Design for Today & the Future

  • Design for adaptability and design for disassembly to extend the life beyond one exhibition.
  • Standardize pieces and elements for reuse across galleries or for future exhibitions and theatre sets.
  • Design and budget for this project and future staged environments to amortize design and materials investments.

Materials

  • Prioritize the reuse and repurposing of materials before buying new ones.
  • Choose durable, adaptable materials that withstand disassembly while considering embodied energy.
  • Avoid materials with high embodied energy and other negative environmental impacts.
  • Learn about regenerative materials and explore opportunities for their use.
  • Explore alternatives to disposable and plastic-based interpretive panels.

Building

  • Identify circular building techniques during the planning and design stages.
  • Ensure fabricators are committed to circular practices, including material reuse.
  • Invest in reusable joinery, modular walls, and other modular elements.
  • Build to minimize offcuts and waste, and reuse offcuts where possible.
  • Plan time for circular building practices.

Unbuilding

  • Establish unbuilding policies and procedures.
  • Train fabricators to disassemble items in a way that preserves materials for reuse.
  • Plan time and resources for unbuilding.
  • Store materials for reuse or share them with your community.
  • Update your material inventory when unbuilding.