Feasibility of Circular Bio-based Unitised Facade Systems

This thesis project proposes the introduction of bio-based materials in the design of unitised curtain wall façade systems. The work investigates a circular bio-based unitised façade design to understand its feasibility regarding thermal, technical, and environmental performance. The research is divided in four phases, including the material,...

Interaction between a sustainable water management strategy and Build Back Better: Sustainable drinking water management strategy for Grand Bahama Island

This thesis examines the role of the concepts of “Build Back Better”, “Disaster Cycle”, and “Sustainability” in water management and the possibility of the interactions between these concepts when designing water management infrastructure. Especially in cases where the disaster cycle is relatively short: 10 to 15 years between disasters.<br/>...

Life-Cycle Assessment of a Multi-Megawatt Airborne Wind Energy System

A key motivation for airborne wind energy is its potential to reduce the amount of material required for the generation of renewable energy. On the other hand, the materials used for airborne systems’ components are generally linked to higher environmental impacts. This study presents comparative life-cycle analyses for future multi-megawatt...

Housing Pathology: Towards a Holistic Pathological Approach of Residential Buildings

Housing pathology is the holistic approach to identify, investigate and diagnose housing deficiencies, specify preventive measures and remedial interventions and evaluate their effects. In analogy with health as the core condition for the quality of human life, the health of housing accommodations stands for housing quality, being the ability of...

Greentom Go: Designing a circular and sustainable hand cart

The main objective of this graduation was to design a sustainable hand cart product concept for young families in the Netherlands, which is simple in its design, easy to use, and affordably priced. The hand cart should furthermore be suitable for up to three children to sit in and suitable to transport goods. Research was done on current hand...

A Holistic Sustainability Framework for Waste Management in European Cities: Concept Development

Waste management represents a challenge for public authorities due to many reasons such as increased waste generation following urban population growth, economic burdens imposed on the municipal budget, and nuisances inevitably caused to the environment and local inhabitants. To optimize the system from a sustainability perspective, moving the...

Exploring Deep Uncertainty Approaches for Application in Life Cycle Engineering

Uncertainty assessment and management, as well as the associated decision making are increasingly important in a variety of scientific fields. While uncertainty analysis has a long tradition, meeting sustainable development goals through long-term Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) decision making demands addressing Deep Uncertainty (DU). DU...

Sustainability, Ethics and Nuclear Energy: Escaping the Dichotomy

In this paper we suggest considering sustainability as a moral framework based on social justice, which can be used to evaluate technological choices. In order to make sustainability applicable to discussions of nuclear energy production and waste management, we focus on three key ethical questions, namely: (i) what should be sustained; (ii) why...

Repurposing cultural heritage: A modular approach to sustainable dwelling

Vacant property in The Netherlands, especially cultural heritage, can be attractive housing facilities when repurposed. However, such transformations are often very pricey one-off projects that do not easily allow for adaptations nor replications once installed. Pun aside, this rigidity characterizes the construction sector in general. It...

Exergy and Sustainability: Insights into the Value of Exergy Analysis in Sustainability Assessment of Technological Systems

A major challenge in striving for a more sustainable society is the selection of technological systems. Given the capital intensity of industrial production plants, power generation systems and infrastructure, investment decisions create path dependencies for decades to come. It is difficult to know which technological system is preferable when...

Natural dimensions: Cultivation in inner cities. The case of The Hague

My vision on sustainability resulted in a research regarding 'Creating a sustainable living environment; integrating urban farming in existing urban areas in the Netherlands’ and my design, a framework for urban farming in existing urban areas, for the case of The Hague. Graduation at ExploreLab 16

Sustainability Maturity Model: The Pilot Sustainability Agenda-Setting in Business

The Master’s programme Industrial Ecology is jointly organised by Leiden University and Delft University of Technology. Sustainable development is a young, developing field in which many standards, certificates, and initiatives are spawning. Companies are expected to work on sustainable development by its customers, investors, and society in...

Life Cycle Costs of Dutch school buildings

There is a gap between investment and operating costs of public school buildings in the Netherlands. This gap is caused by separated responsibility for the financing of the accommodation for the primary and secondary schools. Municipalities finance the initial costs of construction of these schools and school boards are responsible for the...

Green Map: A tailormade sustainability approach for FLEX/the INNOVATIONLAB

Sustainable Product Development (SPD) is an inevitable response to the growing awareness that current production, consumption and disposal systems are not feasible on a long term. FLEX/the INNOVATIONLAB® (Flex), a design studio with more than 20 years of experience in product design, recognizes this need and wants to include sustainability in...

Sustainable BATA footwear

BATA has a heritage of being a responsible company since its founding, but has not yet institutionalized and measured their social and environmental accomplishments. This study starts measuring the environmental impact of 4 current BATA shoes by means of life cycle calculations. Thereafter, the effects of different communication strategies are...

Failure of Engineering Artifacts: A Life Cycle Approach

Failure is a central notion both in ethics of engineering and in engineering practice. Engineers devote considerable resources to assure their products will not fail and considerable progress has been made in the development of tools and methods for understanding and avoiding failure. Engineering ethics, on the other hand, is concerned with the...

Replacement or reuse? The choice between demolition and life cycle extension from a sustainable viewpoint

What is better: renovation or new construction? Following the plenary debate on the ENHR 2007 conference in Rotterdam we continued our search for the answer to this question. The choice between reuse and replacement of existing buildings is a vital but very difficult one, involving a wide range of aspects and affecting contradictory and often...

Integrating health and sustainability in Life Cycle Assessment