Sustainability Integration in Engineering Practice: A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Study for the Case Study of a Wing Rib

Having seen exponential growth in demand for air travel, the aviation industry has found itself trying to find a balance between economic growth, technological development, and environmental sustainability. This saw a shift in attention towards materials such as fiber reinforced composites, predominantly thermoset in the past with higher...

Consensus-based single-score life cycle assessment for space missions

With a continuously growing number of satellites in orbit, it becomes increasingly important to assess their impacts on the Earth's environment in a standardised manner. While interest in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for space missions has gained in strength in the past few years – particularly in Europe – no consensus has yet been reached on a...

Redesign of Ultrasound Gel Bottle: A Systematic Sustainable Solution for the Radiology Department at the Leiden University Medical Center

Radiology department at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) aims at preventing ultrasound gel waste of leftover ultrasound gel in the bottle and reducing the waste of plastic gel bottles. The study identified a critical environmental issue – the excessive use of disposable plastic ultrasound gel bottles in hospitals – and undertook a...

Environmental trade-offs of aerostructures: A prospective lifecycle assessment of wing ribs

Emerging in the domain of composite manufacturing, thermoplastic polymers can enable the reduction of process times, costs, and waste. In this study, lifecycle assessment (LCA) is used to evaluate a design for a carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) wing rib, made from carbon fibre and polyetherketoneketone (CF/PEKK). The CF/PEKK rib is...

Measuring the environmental impact of a livestock feeding robot life cycle

The pursuit of sustainability is at the forefront of international conversation in an era marked by urgent environmental challenges. This research aims to shed a light on tools, indicators, and methodologies used to assess sustainability, paving the way for informed decisions, actionable insights, and a brighter tomorrow. <br/><br/>The Paris...

Life Cycle Assessment of microfluidic devices for point-of-care testing: A comparative analysis of PDMS, paper and PLA

In microfluidics, typical laboratory processes can be condensed to a miniature device. This reduces analysis time and required volumes of samples and reagents, increases mobility and flexibility, and is cost effective. In this work, the environmental impacts of three microfluidic devices for glucose detection are assessed using a comparative...

Life Cycle Assessment of Offshore Low Head Pumped Hydro Storage

Aiming to comply with the Paris Agreement, the reduction of Europe’s GHG emissions in the energy sector is a must. Due to the intermittency of renewable sources, energy storage technologies are essential to this plan. Offshore Low Head Pumped Hydro Storage (LH PHS) is presented as an alternative to partly solve this problem. Considering that its...

Designing a sustainability strategy for BEAT Cycling Clubs Professional Team

Though cycling as a transportation method is widely seen as a sustainable method, professional cycling and racing are not. Though the first calls for sustainable action are made and the first efforts start to appear, not much has changed yet in the complex world of professional cycling.<br/>This report describes the design of a sustainability...

Building a sustainable future: a comparative life cycle assessment of a cross-laminated timber and a lightweight steel frame building

The Netherlands has faced rapidly increasing housing prices over the previous years. As a counter measure, the government is aiming to increase the construction of new houses from around 70 thousand annually to 100 thousand annually, to achieve 900 thousand new houses by 2030. At the same time the world is facing a climate crisis and the...

‘Total Value for Society’ Model: Creating a Decision Making Tool for the Selection of Building Designs with the Highest True Lifecycle Value For Society

The growing need for sustainability and circularity in the construction industry has given rise to the demand for proper sustainability valorisation and evaluation methods. Investors and project owners need sound rationale for their returns on investment made into sustainability – in financial, environmental and social benefits achieved....

Quantifying the environmental impacts due to resource consumption in cities: Case study of the Hague

In the past few decades, we have witnessed unprecedented impacts of climate change. The increase in Green house gas emissions due to human activities has disastrous implications for earth including an increase in global mean temperatures, rise in sea level and melting of polar ice caps. Climate change has<br/>impacted all forms of human life on...

The road to sustainable load bearing glass designs: possibilities and limitations of current glass design with focus on the connections

Despite the increased popularity of the application of load bearing glass in the built environment, its design does rarely address sustainable or circular aspects. This Master’s Thesis analyses what the influence of connections is on the sustainable performance of structural glass and informs about the limitations and possibilities of sustainable...

Accelerating circularity in Built-environment through "Active-procurement": An aggregated assessment framework to make sustainable choices while using secondary material at early design phase

In Europe, 1/3rd of all the products reaching recycling facilities can be sold as secondary materials, and this can be a high-quality replacement for low-quality new products. Circular Material Use rate shows how much material demand was catered by reused or recycled content. The Netherlands was estimated at 29% in 2016 is the highest among all...