We are searching for topics and funders for the next Longitude Prize. This idea is a draft for discussion about one possible prize focus that we are exploring.
What is the problem?
Currently, the demolition of ageing infrastructure relies on brute force rather than precision, destroying components that still hold decades of structural value. We are effectively tearing down buildings “blind”, lacking the smart scanning technology and automated machinery required to catalogue, detach, and salvage intact building parts before heavy impact ruins them.
Why does the solution contribute to solving this?
Pairing advanced spatial mapping with automated heavy machinery, we can map a building’s “DNA” before it ever comes down. This shifts the industry from reckless, smash-and-grab demolition to strategic, data-driven disassembly, creating localised, ready-to-use stockpiles of reclaimed recycled parts and drastically cutting the energy needed to manufacture new building blocks
Who is the prize awarded to?
The innovators who successfully link pre-demolition AI surveying software with automated deconstruction hardware. The winning system must prove it can digitally catalogue a building’s reusable inventory, guide machinery to safely detach those specific elements intact, and systematically sort and stack the salvaged goods for direct commercial resale or reuse.
The best prize ideas are developed through extensive research and engagement with experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience of the problems they are focused on. We start with a first draft like the one above – then work to improve, refine and validate our thinking. If you are interested in sharing your expertise, or helping us secure funding for the next Longitude Prize, please reach out.