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...

Assessment of the reuse potential of existing concrete: Enhancing circularity in the Dutch building sector by harvesting structural elements from demolition projects

Awareness about our planet is more important than ever before. Thereby, the transition towards a Circular Economy (CE) aims to keep products in use and to design out waste. In the construction industry, one way of reducing the use of raw materials is by transforming waste residuals from demolition projects into resources to be reused. By...

Modern Industrial Heritage: A catalyst to new sustainable development

To reduce carbon emissions and restrict global average temperature rise, coal power plants are being decommissioned in the EU under the Paris Agreement. In the next few decades, defunct coal-powered plants would pop up all over the EU and the world. This raises concerns regarding the modern industrial landscapes, their possibilities and...

Sustainable Fast Ferry for Commuters Concept Design

C-Job Naval Architects, a naval architecture company committed to developing sustainable ship designs, received a request from the coastal tourist agency IJmuidense Rondvaart to study the feasibility of a Sustainable Fast Ferry for Commuters concept design. This passenger-only ferry is featured by operating at high speeds (22 knots) between the...

Circular Affordable Community: Exploration of sharing-oriented residential architecture models

The master thesis focused on the exploration of shared-living models in relation to use of circular economy principles within the architectural design of housing. Case study of the implementation of researched strategies on the scale of a neighbourhood located on post-industrial site of Suiker Unie Terrein in Groningen.

Bethlehem: from exploitation to ecosystem service

Bethlehem - from exploitation to ecosystem service, is a project based on Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. The lower social classes of Sint Maarten experience trouble with their building culture, especially in combination with the reoccurring hurricanes and earthquakes. Vulnerable communities mostly rely on self or communal building, since both...

Integrated movement: The reintegration of the marine establishment into the public space of Amsterdam

The marine area in Amsterdam, currently only partially publicly available, needs to be reintegrated into the public space. To start the reintegration process, a swimming pool and spa, which both meets the identity of the area and the vision of the municipality, will be added to this area. A new central route is placed through the marine area on...

Hybrid Timber Construction Technology: Investigation in a hybrid building construction technique, that could be encoded in a digital tool, by maximizing the use of local building materials such as natural timber, in seismic zone of Meghalaya, India

While the world is advancing with taller structures using engineered wood, little importance is being given to natural wood, which is abundantly available in most regions of the world. The lack of technological research using this material in its natural state has caused a drawback in its usage. Also, the dependence on engineered wood for modern...

Reed Robotics: Discrete Digital Assembly of Biodegradable Reed Structures

Common Reed (Phragmites Australis) is an abundantly available, sustainable construction material that can be found throughout the world. Reed is most commonly used for thatch roofing in Europe, providing insulation and a weather-tight surface. Elsewhere, traditional techniques of weaving and bundling reeds have long been used to create entire...

Designing a Sustainability Support System for Product Designers: An explorative study to identify Design Criteria

The Master’s programme Industrial Ecology is jointly organised by Leiden University and Delft University of Technology. In this research design criteria were formulated that can be used to develop support systems for product designers in the field of sustainable design. An extra focus lay on the product designer as a human being, which soft...

Towards an open delta: Research and design for sustainable urban landscapes in an open Dutch Southwest Delta

The invention of technology for land reclamation in the 10th century started a unique transformation in the delta. Sand plates were dike-ed and pumped and became polders. Examples of early harbor cities created on the dike-ring are Ooltgensplaat and Oude Tonge. These cities were founded at the main creek of a sand plate. The polders created a...

Complexity Aspects in Design for Sustainability

Anthropogenic environmental impact is growing despite large technical efforts to reduce it. Its dependency on technology induced human behaviour makes designing for environmental impact reduction particularly difficult. Despite the fact that the sustainable conundrum is characterized as a “no technical solution problem”, a framework is proposed...

Integrating sustainable development into the undergraduate engineering curriculum through a mandatory first year engineering design course at the University of Toronto

This paper discusses how Engineering Science, an undergraduate division within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada, has worked to foster engineers that can meaningfully contribute to sustainable development (SD). Specifically, Engineering Science has developed ESC102: Praxis II, a core course required for...

The practice of ecodesign: A study of small product design consultancies

This paper reports on an ongoing study that explores how UK based designers, in small design consultancies (SDCs), locate information and learn new skills. Semi-structured interviews were used to improve understanding of the context within which these designers operate and how their design process works. The interviews also helped to construct a...