Environmental harm is an influencing factor in policymaking, as climate pressures are frequently on the global agenda. An important tool to guide decision-making in the construction industry is the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, where the quantification of environmental harm is realised. In the method, an estimation of numerous environmental impact indicators can be made by assessing the various life cycles of a product, material, or process. Bio-based materials have been considered a valuable option to mitigate climate change. However, the LCA methodology appears to disregard certain characteristics of the material that could potentially improve their corresponding results. With the growth of bio-based materials, atmospheric carbon is stored as biogenic carbon and subsequently released at the end-of-life, the last life cycle phase of a material. The current methodology is unable to credit such storage, as it models all emissions through the life cycle as if they occurred at the same time. This research aims to explore the various options to comprehend, assess, and credit the storage of biogenic carbon. First, the different approaches to assess the storage of biogenic carbon, that are described in the literature, are assessed. Second, various methods to credit the timing of emissions in the LCA methodology will be elaborated upon. Third, the different currently active European standards are described. For biogenic carbon assessment, three methods were described: the 0/0 method, the -1/1 method, and the dynamic method. Here it was concluded that, respectively, complexity and accuracy increased, making practical implementation difficult but potentially valuable. Especially, the dynamic approach is shown to be a promising tool to accurately assess temporalities within the life cycle of a product. For possible crediting mechanisms, three methods were discussed: the Moura-Costa, Lashof, and ILCD crediting methods. Each method was based on specific assumptions, which resulted in varying credit strengths. In general, each crediting mechanism answered the demand for crediting delayed emissions, but to decide whether one of the methods is better suited than the other, further research is necessary. It is found that the organisational complexity of standardisation within the European Union influences possible alterations in the LCA. However, the research can conclude that the methodology is currently unable to capture the benefits of biogenic carbon storage, and by looking into potential crediting mechanisms, this limitation can be answered. Depending on the demand of our climate and, therefore, of policymakers, possible crediting mechanisms for the storage of biogenic carbon can be considered to be implemented through the LCA methodology.

Challenging a predominant focus in academia on studying societal and spatial challenges primarily in the Global South or non-Western environments, this project investigates the urban fabric and hidden socio-political mechanisms of precarity in the city of Munich, Germany. Houselessness appears as the manifestation of a global housing crisis and is with its implications exclusive to the neoliberal city. Within the context of housing distribution and provision, the neoliberal housing market's association of performance with ownership implies a necessary exclusion based on financial capacity. Accepting that the scope of this reality lies outside of the discipline of architecture, shifted the focus on an analysis of the city through the lens of the guiding motif of urban displacement. The aim was to find out how the city defines spaces for public use, what mechanisms are at work in terms of inclusion and exclusion of certain groups of people, and which spaces are essential - but missing. The visibly precarious conditions of public living imply that public space is not a place meant for all functions. Theories on human motivation suggest that basic human needs are not linked to spaces per se but to an action rendered possible by the protective frame of the built environment. Thus, the project explores the potential outcomes of reimagining domestic patterns outside the confines of conventional residential units. Through ethnographic fieldwork paired with experiments on filmmaking as an architectural method of analysis, a human-centred design evolved that aims at transforming "street dwelling" into a tangible and viable alternative to conventional urban living. The design endeavours to embed a system for both residential and commercial use within the existing urban reality of Munich. Building on current and necessary transformation processes of the urban fabric, the redevelopment of an exemplary streetscape of the Baaderstraße in Munich houses different acts and scales of appropriation in a design frame that works at various temporalities. The first and most permanent intervention docks on the cities' above- and below-ground infrastructure. On top of it, units are placed that in their design adapt in shape, size, and functions to the local ground-floor conditions. Different lifetimes are included in the temporalities of the site by designing the initial unit for a possible future disassembly. The modularity of the prefabricated wooden construction and sanitary units also allow for a possible scalability to other streets. Highlighting a necessary shift of the role of the architect to a mediator between the user and the corporate client, the project presents a compromise at the intersection of realism and utopia, offering new dimensions to concepts of urban, communal, and private notions of comfort and emphasizing the importance of inclusive spaces and innovative approaches to address the housing crisis in Western cities.

In this paper, design principles for a co-housing project focused at young adults (18-27 years old) wishing to live in the Tarwewijk in Rotterdam Zuid are being proposed. These principles are based on literary research, reference projects, fieldwork and workshops held for students familiar with the design location. Topics that are touched upon are affordability, co-housing principles and the living wishes of young adults wishing to live in Rotterdam Zuid. While the target group did not perfectly fit the proposed target group, results were interpreted as if they were. The most important findings through different methods of research, among others, include that different types of housing should be realised, the building should contain several shared facilities in rooms which have a flexible floorplan, the neighbourhood should be involved in shared spaces, housing units should be designed as small and with as little walls as possible and that bathrooms and bedrooms should always be private. These results were combined into a design brief specifically created for the Tarwewijk in Rotterdam Zuid, yet the basic principles can be implemented in other affordable co-housing projects as well.

Preventive measures for a healthy population are becoming a trending topic in the Netherlands because of rising costs of care and an increasing population of elderly. Due to this, prevention methods in the built environment can help with minimising this problem. Urban area developments are ways for improving or developing new built environments. Health will need to become part of these developments. To research this, the following question was answered: ‘’How can actors involved in urban area (re)developments in the Netherlands realise healthy urban areas?’’ The research was conducted using mixed methods of literature study, questionnaires and case studies. What was found is that actors need to collaborate following the rules of collaborative governance. Many challenges are seen such as ambiguous definitions and difficulties with monitoring. However, recommendations are found. These are: extended front-end work; digital twinning; involving medical actors; assigning an ambassador of health; introducing an after-delivery team for health; collaborating with knowledge institutes; monitoring on city level and introducing a database; investing increased returns in health interventions; clear norms set by the state; and a communal knowledge of health. These can help future healthy developments to be realised.

By bringing landscapes inside, this project is opening up nature to the people of Berlin, with a multi climate approach in the city. This prototype for condensed public green, is the starting point for creating a new modular building type with integrated urban gardening. Other Berlin neighbourhoods already have temporary communal gardens and commons as a central meeting place. With a permanent building as a centre, a neighbourhood garden’s position can be guaranteed for a long period of time. In this indoor green condenser a combination of multiple green related functions and gardens can be enjoyed all year round. To make that possible, the site gets divided into acres through a grid of 10m by 10m. This grid is both suitable for landscape architecture as for open plan buildings with a column-structure. Every segment of the grid is then programmed with building functions or as part of the landscape around those functions. To every function one or more indoor green typologies are applied. These are then modified to fit in the grid. That way a patchwork of gardens and modules starts to take shape. A great variety of landscaping and functions will give the users an experience that exceeds the lack of green in the city. The components of this prototype can be applied to a location where there is active demand for an expansion and condensation of greenspace in densifying cities, specifically in post-war neighbourhoods. It can be tailored to the proportions and the climate zones of the locations where the concept is applied. Thereby, Landscape Inside outlines an answer to the reality we all face in the unstoppable urbanisation of the future.

Coinciding with the decline of post-war neighborhoods and the housing shortage in the Netherlands the trend towards individualism and one-person households has emerged since the 1950s. This report investigates the densification and reinvigoration strategies of these post-war neighborhoods by using co-housing as a strategy. In the past co-hous- ing has been tried as a solution for social injustice and vulnerable groups within a society. To develop these strategies, case studies of postwar renovation projects have been analyzed as well as co-housing spatial principles and fundamentals to combine into a design strategy for the renovation plan of IJssel- monde. The results are a design approach for densification of a postwar neighborhood that takes into account the current resi- dents while providing suitable housing for new residents and connecting them through co-housing.

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 also responsible for a tremendous amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This makes the construction sector a key player in the fight against global warming and its consequences. The construction sector can help reduce its emissions and slow down global warming by constructing more sustainable. Sustainable construction minimises the impact on the environment and assures safety and comfort while a financial profit is made. However, the most significant barrier to the implementation of sustainable construction is the affordability of sustainable projects. Sustainable construction often results in higher costs than conventional construction methods, which slow down the return on investment for the project owner. In 2005, the European Union (EU) introduced the emissions trading system (ETS). The ETS is a policy measure aimed to lower the European emissions by letting the polluter pay for its emissions of GHGs. This policy measure could help overcome the barrier of affordability towards implementing sustainable construction. This research aims to find the ETS allowance price tipping point that financially stimulates the use of natural construction materials like timber over conventional materials like steel and concrete. The tipping point results could stimulate the implementation of sustainable construction and help to slow down global warming. The results show that the allowance price could help lower the barrier of affordability because a higher allowance price increases the market price of carbon-intensive construction materials like steel and concrete. However, the found allowance price tipping point is unlikely to occur based on the current allowance price of around € 85. Therefore, the current ETS can be considered helpful but not decisive towards a financial favourable timber structure for buildings in the Dutch built environment.

Placemaking is currently a popular concept to implement for the revitalisation of urban areas, often connected to achieving various social goals in neighbourhoods. However, while the concept of placemaking has been in use for some decades, still a lot of confusion exists concerning the specifications of placemaking. This thesis analyses how participatory placemaking in public spaces is defined according to scientific studies regarding developed economic regions, to find out if multiple diverging concepts of participatory placemaking co-exist, muddying the term, or if only slight deviations in terminology exist. The research method consists of a semi-systematic literature review to map all the different ways participatory placemaking occurs in recent scientific material. The concepts of placemaking distilled from this literature review are validated by a focus group. With their feedback then being used to reflect on the findings from the literature review and fine-tune them. This resulted in the identification of five placemaking concepts: ‘Humanistic placemaking’, ‘Organic, aggregate over time placemaking’, ‘Creative placemaking’, ‘Strategic placemaking’, and ‘Tourism, economic placemaking’, along with their specific characteristics, that will help clear up future conversations regarding participatory placemaking among professionals. With multiple distinct placemaking concepts having been identified throughout this research, which are quite evenly represented in the literature about placemaking, it is even more clear that actors discussing placemaking together have a high chance of misunderstanding each other.

This thesis project investigates the potential of the 'creative condenser' within the context of Berlin as an approach to the ‘public condenser’, a term introduced by the board of the Public Building graduation studio within the MSc Architecture track at Delft University of Technology.

This thesis examines the potential of small, low-carbon, (near) zero-energy dwellings as a solution that would both address sustainability challenges and answer to the growing housing shortage in North-West Europe. It adopts a multidimensional outlook that encompasses institutional, social and technical aspects surrounding the dwellings. The institutional aspect is addressed through an investigation of financial, legislative, technical and cultural barriers to the implementation and uptake of small, low-carbon, zero-energy dwellings. A context specific approach is adopted taking into account contextual peculiarities for the formulation of more refined policy suggestions. The social dimension is addressed first from the perspective of market supply through an investigation of the perceptions of housing professionals. The distinction between perceived versus actual barriers identified by housing professionals is made highlighting a potential desynchronization between policy developments and local practice. Accordingly the study calls for innovation in information dissemination between policy and local practice and between housing professionals themselves. The social dimension is then addressed from the perspective of market demand through an investigation of consumers’ current housing preferences. The assumption stating that, due to an increase in smaller, elderly, and lower-income households, current housing preferences are leaning towards smaller dwellings is refuted underlining the importance of distinguishing between smallest and smaller dwelling sizes. Lastly, the technical dimension is addressed through conducting a partial life cycle assessment that focuses on the embodied carbon of the dwellings. Both downsizing and the use of low-carbon materials such as timber are investigated as embodied carbon reduction strategies. Together, the three dimensions provide a holistic evaluation of the potential of small, low-carbon, zero-energy dwellings as a solution while addressing the complexity in reaching sustainable outcomes.@en