Environmental protection is one of the objectives of the implemented concept of sustainable development and circular economy. The construction industry and its products (building objects) have a large contribution in negative influences, therefore all actions limiting them are necessary. One way of doing this is to apply substitution to existing unfavourable solutions, both in terms of construction and materials as well as technology and organization. The aim of the article was to determine the key factors conditioning the use of substitution at each stage of the investment and construction cycle, leading to environmental protection. The research paid attention to the use of substitute recycled products. The defined factors were subjected to a SWOT analysis and then, using the DEMATEL method, cause-andeffect relationships were identified that determine development in the application of substitution in the environmental context of sustainable and closed-cycle construction. The analysis was carried out by using a summative, linear aggregation of the values of the position and relationship indicators.