The effectiveness of hempcrete in the reduction of the environmental and financial costs of residences: A case study in the Netherlands

The aim of the current graduation project is the investigation of the potential of using hempcrete for the construction of residences in the Netherlands. The research focuses on the prefabricated block form of the material and investigates different aspects that can play a major role and eventually affect the choice for the selection of the...

Reducing the environmental impact of distribution centres: Designing green-enveloped biobased alternatives to compare with reference steel and concrete designs

The climate emergency calls for a global shift towards a low-carbon economy, to preserve natural resources and biodiversity, while limiting global warming and its consequences. This project focuses on the impact of distribution centres, intended for the storage of commercial goods. Warehouses are characterised by large flexible spaces and simple...

Wierdok: Seaweedfarm, Seaweedloambrick factory and exploration site

Seaweed is a promising potential building material, but so far in 2022, very little market ready seaweed-based building products are available. Because of the success of the sargassum adobe block in Mexico by Omar Vazquez, the potential of a seaweed loam bricks in the Netherlands is researched in this paper, called the seaweed brick. The...

An improved model for the time-dependent material response of wood under mechanical loading and varying humidity conditions

Timber is one of the most widely applied engineering materials due to its favorable physical and mechanical characteristics. Nevertheless, over the service life, the combination of mechanical load and varying environmental conditions can have a critical influence on the mechanical response of timber structures, considering especially the...

Sustainable material research: CoffeeBased panels in a condiment organizer

Plastics that originate from renewable sources, such as potatoes or fungi, are called biobased plastics. Because of their origin, biobased plastics pose as sustainable alternative to traditional plastics, which are made from oil, a fossil substance. CoffeeBased is a small company that manufactures biobased plastic products, using their own...

Design and maturation of a seaweed material: A material- and product-strategy study guided by small-scale values

In the thesis, challenges and the possibilities are identified within the development and scaling of seaweed-based material, while exploring the initial values of small-scale stakeholders. Three research questions are set, that concern how to design industrially with a seaweed-based material, how the material can mature while guarding the...

PD lab: The development of a biobased cladding system

The building industry consumes a lot of energy, uses a lot of materials and generates a lot of waste. In order to achieve sustainable development, it has to change its focus from merely the use phase to the complete life cycle of buildings. The PD lab is an experimental platform that does so, by setting its aim to develop a modular and...

Architecture Engineering Bandung Indonesia bio based shophouse

Ape & Banana: A new user experience for collecting bio-based disposables at festivals

This paper reports a study on the implementation of a bio-plastic material (PLA) for disposables at the Lowlands Music Festival. The main aim of the study is to develop a system which motivates Lowlands festival visitors to litter their PLA disposables effectively. In the paper, littering behavior of festival visitors, their norms and values are...