The "Donor Skelet"

Abstract

The goal of this thesis is to research the feasibility level of reusing existing structural concrete elements. Nowadays, a major problem that the Dutch building industry is facing is the high vacancy rate of office buildings. The available solutions for the vacant offices are transformation or demolition. Transformation is the best solution but it is not always possible due to the high costs. On the other hand demolition leads to a big pile of concrete debris which can be processed and recycled. It is a sustainable solution but it still demands a lot of energy. Another issue that is caused from the building industry is that the manufacture of new elements leads to the depletion of raw materials and increases global warming. It is possible to further reduce the energy used for recycle and minimize the environmental impacts of producing new elements by reusing existing elements. Furthermore it is a smart solution since the technical lifetime of a concrete element is approximately 200 years. In order to identify the technical obstacles of reusing structural elements the whole reuse process was analyzed. The analysis was made with extended literature research, discussions with experienced professionals with different specialties and final with a detailed analysis of a case study.