From a circular standpoint it is interesting to reuse as much as possible construction and demolition waste (CDW) into new building projects. In most cases CDW will not be directly reusable and will need to be processed and stored first. In order to turn this into a successful business case CDW will need to be reused on a large scale. In this paper we present the concept of a centralized and coordinated location in the City of Utrecht where construction and demolition waste is collected, sorted, worked, stored for reuse, or shipped elsewhere for further processing in renewed materials. This has expected advantages for the amount of material reuse, financial advantages for firms and clients, generating employability in the logistics and processing of materials, optimizing the transport and distribution of materials through the city, and thus the reduction of emissions and congestion. In the paper we explore the local facility of a Circular Hub, and the potential effects on circular reuse, and other effects within the City of Utrecht.
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Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) is the main driver of resource consumption and waste generation in Europe. Although most European countries achieved 70% recovery rate of CDW, the majority is used for backfilling. Therefore, opportunities for Circular Economy (CE) practices in CDW management are underexploited. This research identifies the innovative practices, barriers, and enablers for developing tailored-made designs of Urban Resource Centre (URC) for managing CDWs in four European cities namely Riga, Tartu, Kavala, and Barcelona. Qualitative methods using multiple case studies were used to draw generalizations from cases. Data was collected from reports and interviews with different stakeholders, and a validation workshop for designing URC of each city. Current innovative practices include recycling and upcycling of CDWs; use of green points, exchange platforms, and waste management apps; repair cafés; selective demolition; and (pilot) initiatives on resource centers that function as material exchange point, recycling center, workstation for repair and creative ideas, and prototyping hub, among others. The identified barriers and enablers can be categorized as governmental, market, and individual factors. First, local governments (municipalities) play a key role for facilitating CDW management via both support such as provision of subsidies, green procurement, and mandatory waste sorting, and through strict regulatory requirements. Second, URCs must be locally rooted with inclusion of citizens, grass roots initiatives, and schools/universities to increase community acceptance, awareness, and education on CDW management. Third, partnerships with local stakeholders, such as repair cafes, waste management companies, and local NGOs, is needed to operate the URCs both in short- and long-terms. And fourth, the creation of niche markets such as linking localism (e.g. locally crafted CE stores) and supplying to businesses in need of CDWs, can support the operation of URCs. The identified barriers and enablers can help further improve the design of URCs for each city.
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The construction and demolition is a resource intensive sector, with Construction and Demolition Wastes (CDWs) considered as the largest waste streams accounting for 374 million tonnes in Europe. Although the 70% target for material recovery of CDWs set in the European Union Waste Directive Framework has been achieved by most European countries, the majority of these Circular Economy (CE) practices are through backfilling and downcycling [1]. This poses opportunities for improving the circular practices in CDWs. With the increasing population and urbanization, cities have important role in realizing the CE ambitions for three reasons. These are (1) CE is incorporated in policy frameworks focusing on closing material loops in production and consumption in cities [2]; (2) City governments have the capabilities and resources to transition towards circularity of CDWs; and (3) City governments serve as the link between various stakeholders such as citizens, companies, and knowledge institutes, and therefore can drive changes towards the city. This study analyzes how four European cities namely Riga, Tartu, Barcelona, and Kavala use different forms of governance to address the challenges and barriers and ultimately increase the circularity in CDWs. The methodology is qualitative, multiple case study using interviews, city reports, site visits, and validation workshop. Results show that cities deploy various forms of governance to address barriers and speed up the transition to a circular economy. These include contracting waste management companies, collaborating in local and international projects, fines for improper waste separation and illegal dumping, subsidies for recycled materials, and green procurement. Despite the use of different forms of governance, the majority of CE practices in the city are still focus on recycling and recovery, which is the lowest degree of circular practices. There is also an increasing focus on middle-level activities, such as repair and remanufacture, as well as on high-level activities such as rethink and reduce, yet these activities are mostly small scale and experimental. Therefore, cities are still learning on the process and have potential to further explore and integrate higher level circular practices.The implications of this study for city governments include to (1) set stricter standards for circular procurement, (2) collaborate and establish strategic (long-term) partnerships between universities, citizen groups, NGOs and businesses, and (3) provide creative spaces for developing and implementing circular ideas.
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From the article: "ABSTRACT: The research group Supply Chain Redesign in the Built Environment of HU University of Applied Sciences is working on research that combines principles of the circular economy with open source architectural design & urban planning. The aim is finding new ways to re-use demolition waste and recycled materials in small scale urban area developments. And to “democratize” traditional processes in the built environment. Different recent studies have shown the potential benefits, such as a reduction of emissions. In “Hof van Cartesius”, a practical case-study in Utrecht, the ambitions and implications of this approach are being questioned, investigated and tested."
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The Amsterdam Deysselbuurt, part of Nieuw-West, is undergoing major renovations and demolition/rebuild for the coming 10 years. Together with Rochdale, de Gemeente Amsterdam and other partners, the Robot Lab works on a case study to work towards (temporarily) urban structures, created from wood from the renovations, together with tenants. In Spring 2023, students and teachers from the Minor 'Robotic Production and Circular Materials' worked on the design and build of a first 'conversation piece'. This prototype construction was made from waste wood, harvested by wood industry partner Helwig during window replacements.
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The urgency for developing a circular economy is growing, and more and more companies and organisations are concerned with the importance of adapting their business to fit a changing economy. However, many analyses on the circular economy are still rather abstract and there is a lack of understanding about what circularity would mean for specific industries. This insufficient insight especially seems to be apparent in the building and construction sector. Besides, the building and construction sector is responsible for a major part of energy use and emissions. To tackle the issue of insufficient insight into the business consequences of circular developments, further research is necessary. Therefore, we propose to collaborate on a research project that aims to provide a more detailed level of analysis. The goal is to identify drivers and barriers to make better use of materials in the building and construction sector. This further research would benefit from an international collaboration between universities of applied sciences and industry from different European countries. An additional benefit of the applied orientation would be the relevance for professional education programmes. The article is published in the proceedings of the conference : http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/CARPE2019.2019.10582 Publisher Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València, 2019 www.lalibreria.upv.es / Ref.: 6523_01_01_01 Creative Commons Atribution-NonCommercial-NonDetivates-4.0 Int.
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This paper presents work aimed at improved organization and performance of production in housing renovation projects. The purpose is to explore and demonstrate the potential of lean work organization and industrialized product technology to improve workflow and productive time. The research included selected case studies that have been found to implement lean work organization and industrialized product technology in an experimental setting. Adjustments to the work organization and construction technology have been implemented on site. The effects of the adjustments have been measured and were reviewed with operatives and managers. The data have been collected and analyzed, in comparison to traditional settings. Two projects were studied. The first case implied am application of lean work organization in which labor was reorganized redistributing and balancing operations among operatives of different trades. In the second case industrialized solution for prefabricated installation of prefabricated roofs. In both cases the labor productivity increased substantially compared to traditional situations. Although the limited number of cases, both situations appeared to be representative for other housing projects. This has led to conclusions extrapolated from both cases applicable to other projects, and contribution to the knowledge to improve production in construction. Vrijhoef, R. (2016). “Effects of Lean Work Organization and Industrialization on Workflow and Productive Time in Housing Renovation Projects.” In: Proc. 24 th Ann. Conf. of the Int’l. Group for Lean Construction, Boston, MA, USA, sect.2 pp. 63–72. Available at: .
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Supply chain partnerships within housing refurbishment have not been given much specific attention which may be found surprising because the refurbishment market is becoming of increasing importance compared to new construction and has specific characteristics that require adapted approaches to supply chain integration. In this paper approaches, expected benefits and challenges of supply chain partnerships within housing renovation are explored. From general literature on building process innovation, dimensions of supply chain integration and potential advantages and challenges of have been derived and employed in a preliminary inquiry among Dutch housing associations and their partners that are experimenting with supply chain partnering in housing refurbishment projects. The results indicate that approaches are in a relatively early stage of development towards ‘mature’ supply chain partnerships. Furthermore, many of the general expectations also apply to the Dutch housing refurbishment sector, but at a more detailed level, refurbishment may require specific attention for the division of tasks and risks between the partners, particularly regarding communication with tenants.
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Construction and demolition waste (CDW) is the most important waste stream in the EU in terms of mass, with around 340 million tonnes between 2010 and 2018 (EEA, 2020). Most member states achieved a recovery target of 70% for this fraction, however, it is mainly based on backfilling or downcycling. Materials coming from demolition and renovation work are not often available for reuse or recycling activities, with some noticeable exceptions in the case of some pioneering Urban Resource Centres (URCs). URCs are physical centres that promote the circular economy at local level (Partnership on Circular Economy, 2019) prioritizing reuse, preparation for reuse, upcycling and remanufacturing activities over material recycling. This is an emerging concept throughout Europe, that has received much policy attention given its potential to help achieve Circular Economy goals set by the European Commission. So far there have been no systematic analyses of URCs, their operation and their impact. The goal of our paper is twofold: 1) to understand how frontrunning URCs currently operate and 2) to derive conclusions/policy recommendations/design principles for URCs. This article presents a comparison of seven URCs that to some extent allow the reuse of CDW in their locations. The data has been gathered in guided study visits to the different locations, complemented by additional information provided by the managers of the URCs through their yearly reports and follow up conversations. The research took place as part of the project Centers for Urban Resources, Reuse and Remanufacture (Cure+), which aims to establish URC pilots in the four project cities (Riga, Tartu, Kavala and Barcelona).
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Improved cookstoves aimed at reducing exposure to indoor air pollution have had a lasting presence in development and health discussions. Through this article we contribute to current debates in the field by reflecting on our experiences during a cookstove participatory project in two ‘non-notified’ communities, or ‘slums,’ in Bangalore, India. We interrogate the alignment between some of the central tenets and methods of participation and the lived experiences of participating communities. The current predominant recommendations focus on developing and implementing cookstoves tailored for user needs. Yet, the project implementation entered a space of uncertainty where the priorities and needs of participants were diverse and changing. While urban infrastructures related to housing and work security, drainage systems, access to health care, and aspects of governance, citizenship and rights, may seem to fall outside the scope of ICS projects, our experiences show how inescapably they shape participatory processes and technologies. We highlight the need to take a closer look at how we can include these broader and changing priorities and needs in our methodologies and reflect on how we can better respond and align them with the ways in which people live.
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