Circular Rubber Sports Flooring: A strategic roadmap towards a circular business for Stockz

Rubber is by the European Union stated a critical material (Critical Raw Materials, 2020). For our society the material is essential but can be depleted. The search for circular solutions for rubber is urgent. <br/><br/>In 2020 27.4 million metric tons of rubber has been produced globally (Tiseo, 2021). Around 70% of all produced rubber is used...

Controlled Environment Agriculture to Renovation: Bio-base Materials from Element to Global Scale

In the global shift towards decarbonization of the built environment, the nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB) goals in the Directive 2010/31/EU had been set as an achievable goal for the EU. By requiring all future constructions to utilize the integration of energy efficient services into the building as well as emphasize the reduction of...

The technical or biological loop? Economic and environmental performance of circular building components

The construction sector can become more sustainable by applying the Circular Economy concept, which distinguishes two main pathways: substituting materials for biological materials, or optimizing the use or reuse of technical materials. Practitioners sometimes choose one pathway over the other, but knowledge of which of these pathways yields...

Towards circular EV chargers: Assessing and improving the circularity of EVBox’s commercial AC chargers

Over the past years, electric vehicle charging company EVBox has, in collaboration with design agency VanBerlo made the first steps in becoming more circular. Within this project further steps have been explored on both strategic- and product level of EVBox’s commercial AC chargers. First, an analysis on the EV context led to the conclusion that...

How can Circular Strategies be implemented in Real Estate Valuation Practices: An Exploratory Research

The construction sector, as one of the world's greatest waste generators, is responsible for a cascade of events such as global warming, climate change, and natural resource depletion. Raw materials are continuously extracted from nature, and the rate at which they can refill is insufficient to meet demand. This system suffers significant losses...

Stimulate consumers to perform product care behaviors with optimal balance between user control and product agency

The environmental impact of our current consumption pattern on the earth is growing. The linear economy is accelerating the environment pollution and increasing the use of resources. If we want to be able to gradually move towards a circular system it is vital to include in this strategy the way products are being cared for, which is Product...

Circularity in the structural design: The implementation of circular design alternatives for the load-bearing structure in the preliminary design phase

Politicians, scientific researchers and companies all know; the transition to a Circular Economy [CE] should start now, or actually should have started yesterday. The CE is an economic system that replaces the current take-make-waste linear system and replaces this with the reduction, reuse and recovering of resources. The challenge is to build...

The circularity principle in the design process of the public client: The project ‘Stuwen van de Maas’ for future generations

The climate is changing and industries world-wide need to transform to assure a liveable earth for future generations. Within the construction sector, this requires a different approach and perspective on the life-cycle of civil engineering assets since the construction industry and its build environment is the world’s largest consumer of raw...

Enhancing Circularity of KPN In-home Products by Customer Engagement

Many responsible companies are committed to promoting sustainability and circularity, but suffer from not being able to communicate these concepts and efforts to their users and influence them. KPN is one of these companies. This project aims to find effective approaches to communicate with customers so that they can engage more deeply in the...

Façade Reverse Logistics: Achieving circularity by application of reverse logistics strategies for curtain walls & window wall façade constructions

If the Netherlands wants to achieve its goal of being completely circular by 2050 (Berkel, Delahaye, &amp; Faasdreef, 2019), radical solutions must take place. Implementing a circular economy is a challenge, but it proves to be significant given the rate at which resources are being consumed. Designing is one of the most important tasks to...

Revitalising Parkstad: A linear park with a circular approach

‘Revitalising Parkstad’’ is an architectural strategy that demonstrates how Parkstad can make use of its environmental deficit of the past to shape its future. After closing the mines Parkstad is now suffering from shrinkage, unemployment and fragmentation. Besides that there is the problem of upcoming mine water that forms a problem regarding...

Circulair Succes Canvas

Uit verschillende onderzoeken blijkt dat de architect een belangrijke rol vervult bij de totstandkoming van circulaire bouwprojecten. Tijdens de ontwerpfase worden immers keuzes gemaakt die het wel of niet circulair zijn van een bouwproject grotendeels bepalen (Galle et al,2018; Osmani et al, 2008). Toch heeft de helft van de architectenbureaus...

The redesign of CPAP supplies for the Circular Economy: A product service system as a modular solution

The business wide objective of Philips regarding the transition to the circular economy is among others, that 15% of the total revenue should be from circular revenue from products and services by 2020.Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome use a CPAP machine at home to keep their airways open during sleep. The Sleep &amp; Respiratory...

An Eco-Effective Structure: A qualitative approach into eco-effective structural design perspectives, criteria, and strategies both in theory as in practice

Globally the construction is a major contributor to the severity of the anthropogenic environmental impact. The sector emits 39% of the global CO2 and is responsible of 40-50% of material flows. The focus of reducing the environmental impact in buildings is, in the past, mostly attributed to the operational energy. However, due to increasing...

In transition towards a circular future in north-east section of Nairobi river: An exploration of potential (re)implementation of circular resource management in Dandora, Kenya

This graduation project addresses the problem of waste management in Nairobi, Kenya. The current inadequate waste management throughout Nairobi remains a spatial challenge as it contributes to health concerns, threatens local ecologies, and degrades public space. Analyzing waste flows, the social construct and in particular communitybased...

Quantifying Life Cycle Environmental Benefits of Circular Steel Building Designs: development of an environmental assessment tool for reuse of steel members in building designs for the Netherlands

The re-use of building components and structural elements is an underdeveloped practice which could be an important strategy in the global paradigm shift towards a circular economy. Steel is one of the most important structural building materials which combines incredible strength, favourable mechanical properties and excellent durability...

The Marinepassage: A case study project for circular design & material usage strategies in architecture

The Marinepassage is a case study design project for circular architecture, using a guidance tool framework for circular buildings. It is located at the Marineterrein in Amsterdam and contains temporary program aimed at stimulating innovative businesses and institutions, enhancing the waterpark area and facilitating events.

The circular pathfinder: Development and evaluation of a practice-based tool for selecting circular design strategies

The Circular Pathfinder tool, which provides guidance to companies looking for appropriate circular design strategies, was developed based on OEM (original equipment manufacturer) case studies. Ease of use was one of the main requirements during development of the tool, resulting in a software-based guide that asks a maximum of ten product...