Almere Pampus - A timber city steering towards a nature-inclusive urbanism

Cities are constructed with extractive, finite resources that put enormous pressure on global climatic conditions. The building and construction sector is responsible for 36 percent of the global energy demand and 37 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. With the prospect of massive urbanization, the built environment will...

Multi-Objective optimisation in grid-shell design: Structural, Fabrication and Sustainability trade-offs in grid-shells at early-stage design

The following work focuses on giving an appreciation of gridshell performances at an early stage of design. It has per goal to implement a tool that will orient the user toward a set of possible “best performing” designs. The aspects of interest in this trade-off exploration are the global warming potential, time of fabrication and construction,...

Timber-Glass Curtain Wall: An embodied carbon, structural and thermal performance study for timber and glass bonded with structural silicone

The present research investigates the potential of timber-glass composites in unitized curtain wall façade applications. Hybrid aluminum-timber curtain walls and timber-glass composites are explored, while specific design criteria, timber and adhesive limitations and unique material properties are defined. A geometry study is conducted though...

Exploring the impact of the EU emissions tradings system allowance price on sustainable construction: a Dutch case study: Exploring the relation between the allowance price and the affordability of a wooden structure compared to conventional structures out of steel and concrete for a large distribution centre

The global population is growing rapidly, so the construction sector must keep up by increasing the number of houses and improving the infrastructure. The construction sector is importance to support economic growth and social development within society. However, the conflict that arises here is that the activities of the construction sector are...

Retention not demolition: how heritage thinking can inform carbon reduction

Two key benefits of building retention and adaptation, over demolition and new build are identified in the academic literature as: the conservation of heritage, and reductions in embodied greenhouse gas emissions from construction materials. A four-year research project, including expert interviews, focus groups and three detailed case...

Towards Zero Carbon Buildings: Reducing the embodied carbon footprint of a construction

The building industry accounts for almost 40% of the total carbon emissions that are directly responsible for climate change. The buildings are now deploying energy-efficient solutions to lower carbon emissions from the operational phase. This adversely affects the share of embodied carbon emissions of building materials. The graduation thesis...