Early systems change necessary for catalyzing long-term sustainability in a post-2030 agenda

Progress to date toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has fallen short of expectations and is unlikely to fully meet 2030 targets. Past assessments have mostly focused on short- and medium-term evaluations, thus limiting the ability to explore the longer-term effects of systemic interactions with time lags and delay. Here we undertake...

Feasibility study for the introduction of synchromodal freight transportation concept

The current weaknesses of the conventional intermodal freight transportation system have led to the development of the synchromodal freight transportation concept introduced and piloted in the Netherlands. The innovative concept has the advantage of adding flexibility, cost reduction, and sustainability among other things, into the freight...

Hilland - Engineering the Landscape

The merging of building and landscape through the design of a smart sound barrier with integrated functions. The project is located in Utrecht and is dealing with the problems of insufficient housing, disappearing green areas, lack of connection between the city and its surroundings, and sound pollution caused by the A12 highway. In essence the...

Integration of water into an architectural design - Tamale city expansion

Since a few years, more than 50% of people live in urban areas and this number will increase, resulting in major city expanions while facing (potential) problems such as an inadequate access to drinking water, poor levels of sanitation and not enough space for rainwater. Therefore the integration between the water system and architecture becomes...

Sustainable Construction

Sustainable construction is about a new manner of thinking. This research defines a sustainable construction process as a cyclic manner of organizing a process, opposed to the current construction process which is organized in a linear manner. The achievement of a sustainable construction process involves various obstacles. This research...

A building for the United Nations Environmental Council: Employing natural resources as an essential part of the architectural appearance.

The building for the United Nations Environmental Council has an exemplary role, has to be recognizable, easily accessible, facilitate lobby, stimulate people to participate and above all radiate to the world the importance of sustainability. Since sustainability can not be confined and even more so the future interpretation of sustainability is...

Challenges for bio-based products in sustainable value chains

This work concerns studies related to strategic development of products in which bio-based plastics are or will be applied, referred to as bio-based products. The studies cover (1) current and potential benefits of bio-based products in extended value chains including activities after end-of-life of products, (2) value communication between...

Exploring integration options in the energy sector, Including a case study of the integration of solar thermal energy into a combined cycle power plant

Energy and the environment are major issues of discussion in the last years. Security of energy supply in the future is questionable, as energy reserves are depleting. Moreover, damage has been caused to the environment by human actions. Therefore, sustainability has become a major challenge. Scientists and researchers around the world are...

Collaborative design in a context of sustainability: The epistemological an practical implications of the precautionary principle for design

Sustainable design is an approach that seeks to adopt an ethic of the future, where the vision of the solutions is based on a temporal and spatial perspective that is predominantly long-term and global. Design is characterized by its projective and ambivalent nature, and therefore a conscious effort to anticipate the outcomes of design...