An extensive Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is used to determine the efficiency in reducing the carbon footprint of a graving dock. Firstly by identifying the hotspots in a base design, and then by comparing the various design alternatives. The focus is on reducing the amount of reinforced concrete used in the design of the dock floor by adding fibres to the concrete mixture and on prevention of having to dispose of in-flowing sediment after every docking procedure. Other evaluation methods such as a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) that compares the economic viability and a Multi Criteria Analysis that combines the results of the LCA and CBA and assesses the design alternatives on other criteria such as ease of operation and maintenance are used to determine the optimal dock configuration for Damen Shipyard and Conversion B.V. in Harlingen.

This report includes all the research conducted during the last phase of the Master of Science Building Engineering within the faculty of Civil Engineering. The main aim is to form a strategy for designing demountable unitized curtain walls; one that could actually be used in practice by future engineers and architects. This is why this graduation project includes an application on 4 chosen adaptive concepts. Having already been applied in a comparison study of these quite complicated and costly designs, this framework can provide one extra consideration that will be critical in the near future at the very early stages of designing a building: the Design for Disassembly.

Due to global warming, in the construction sector there is aimed for a transition towards the circular economy. The past years, many utility buildings were demolished, consisting of a concrete structure. This results in concrete rubble which is often down- or recycled. For new construction projects, new concrete elements will be produced. However, instead of producing new concrete structural elements, potentially concrete structural elements can be reused. Therefore, this research focuses on the reuse potential of in-situ concrete elements whose can be dismantled from demolition projects of utility buildings. In order to stimulate structural engineers to reuse concrete structural elements in practice, this research presents the Reusability Tool. This tool assesses the reuse potential of in-situ concrete structural elements based on structural safety, environmental impact, and economic impact. Based on an extensive desk research, interviews with experts from the field, and a case study, the processes of three circular strategies are analysed: reusing, upcycling, and downcycling. These processes are made operational in the Reusability Tool. Based on input information about the analysed structural element, the Reusability Tool assesses the element on structural safety, environmental impact, and economic impact. This assessment result in an advised circular strategy for the element: reuse, upcycling, or downcycling. The Reusability Tool is validated by a case study and feedback sessions with structural engineers. The Reusability Tool is a user friendly tool which can be used to assess the reuse potential of in-situ concrete structural elements from utility buildings, and will prevent valuable elements to get lost. The tool can give insight in the reuse potential in an early design stage of a future project, and can form the basis for further investigations.

In April 2018, a graduation project in the field of architecture was concluded. The project entailed the design of a temporary community centre in the earthquake-damaged historic town centre of L’Aquila, Italy. The underlying social concept was focused on participation of the local population in the construction of the community centre. The design includes a grid-like timber shell structure, built-up out of a repetition of only two main structural and light-weight elements: the members and the joints. The load-bearing structure of this architectural design formed the basis for this graduation thesis, which is aimed at its optimisation. The optimisation is carried out focused on many objectives, e.g. its weight, its environmental impact, its structural validity. The goal of this thesis can be summarised by the following research question. Given the architectural design, how can the main load-bearing structure be optimised for seismic contexts using parametric modelling, considering the following objectives: maximal demountability and structural simplicity, minimal material use, structural weight and environmental impact? An optimisation method has been chosen combining automated and manual processes, as this gives a high sense of control to the designer. Using computational and parametric modelling techniques (Rhino, Grasshopper and Karamba), a database comprising 10 836 different structural configurations has been generated with different geometries and materials. The database contains the generated outcomes to structural and environmental analyses for each of the structural configurations. The database entries have been ranked manually based on structural, architectural and social demands, resulting in a top 28 models. Having defined a ranked set of structural configurations, manual checks and iterations can take place. The first step is checking the global and local stability using proposed joint designs as input. The next step is checking the safety of the structure during seismic events using a response spectrum analysis. As the Top-1 design passed all analyses, no iterations were deemed necessary. In conclusion, with regard to the design, further structural optimisation could take place by reconsidering the shape of the structure. However, the process of automated database generation followed by manual exclusion, ranking and iterations give a great sense of control compared to automated optimisation alternatives. This optimisation process has proven to be very effective in finding a design that balances all objectives well.

The construction and waste industry would move towards applying Circular Economy (CE) strategies, to meet the circular ambition of the Dutch government before 2050. In order to accelerate this transition, it is necessary to explore and adopt more innovative and sustainable solutions within the construction and waste sector. A small amount of waste including materials and elements from the construction projects is being reused after End-of-Life phase, and this issue must be optimized considerably. On the other hand, the aforementioned sector suffers from the lack of a centralized and harmonized data platform which can contribute either to advancing of CE transition by optimizing reusability or the collaboration among the stakeholders involved in the deconstruction process. There are still various sustainable and circular issues that need to be taken into consideration when realizing, developing and enriching a newly designed data sources. Therefore, this research is aimed to conceptualize and develop a ‘Circular Construction Element (CCE) Information System’ as a tool which consists of an import sheet, an analysis and processing sheet and a dashboard. The ‘CCE Information System’ takes into account the functional performance characteristics of the existing elements and also the cost-related issues of the stakeholders involved in the deconstruction for reuse process. The developed tool is therefore intended to support various stakeholders in the decision-making process regarding reusing the existing elements. In this study, different functional performance properties of the existing concrete elements have been analyzed and it can be concluded that those characteristics depends largely on functional properties of the substances used in them. On the other hand, there are a large number of stakeholders involved in deconstruction process with different ambitions and benefits. The research showed that deconstruction for reuse is an uneconomic process for the actors, as this process requires more time, manpower, equipment and costly interventions. By measuring the Reuse Potential (RP) factor from a functional (qualitative) and economic (quantitative) perspective, it is possible to indicate the extent to which the functional residual value and also the profitability of reuse of the element is. The developed tool has been applied in real cases and the results showed that the existing elements have sufficient functional reuse potential value, but this depends largely on the function of the newly designed projects. Furthermore, the reuse cost including deconstruction and other associated costs can be optimized by the proposed tool. Thus, based on the results obtained by applying the CCE information system in real cases, it can be concluded that the existing elements can be kept in a closed loop by finding the elements and linking them to the most suitable project from a functional and economic point of view. Moreover, the client and the contractor (demolition company) can deal with many costs uncertainties, including benefits and loss. These parties may also face different uncertainties that can arise due to many other reasons such as the exceedance of process time, additional labor costs, and uncertainties regarding salvage value. Therefore, it can highly be recommended to analyze the impact of those uncertainties on the deconstruction cost and consequently on the reuse and other associated costs as these uncertainties will take into consideration in the deconstruction process.

The steel sector is responsible for 4-5% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Reusing structural steel elements can potentially decrease the need for the production of new steel. However, designing a load-bearing structure with reusable elements poses challenges to the design process. The starting point of the process is different due to a limited availability of structural elements. The design of the load-bearing structure should be based on the measurements of the available reusable elements, while traditionally the amount of elements and their measurements were based on the design. However, the freedom in a design is often limited by certain architectural and structural constraints. Therefore, the focus of this thesis is on how to organize an optimization process in which the aim is to design a load-bearing structure containing the least amount of new steel by means of implementing reusable elements, while taking into account the architectural and structural constraints. In the optimization method developed in this study, a primary design for a load-bearing structure functions as an input. The method consists of four big steps: the definition of the geometry, the assignment of (reusable) elements, structural calculations and the formulation of results. The goal is to assign reusable elements which are respecting the given constraints: the minimum and maximum UC-value allowed and the maximum deviation in length. The output is a modified design in which reusable elements are implemented, in a way that lowers the amount of steel required to realize the design. By performing a case study, the model is tested and the influence of the constraints and the implemented stock can be determined. Several analyses are conducted, using three different stocks. Stock 1 and stock 2 can be considered more diverse than stock 3.  The characteristics of the resulting designs are influenced by the relation between the stock and the original design. For the more diverse stock, there are only results whenever the minimum allowed UC-value is set to 0.01. While the required amount of steel lowers (up to 79% for stock 1 and 74% for stock 2), the actual UC-values of the implemented elements can be considered low and the change in design can be considered big (up to 19 out of 24 angles in the beam-configuration changing more than 10%). For the less diverse stock, all analyses give results, independent of the values for the constraints. In this case, the results UC-value are high compared to the results related to stock 1 and 2, and the changes in design are less (0 changing angles). Besides, all elements can be reused, which lowers the amount of required new steel to zero.  Therefore, applying the optimization method developed in this study to a design for a load-bearing structure results in a modified design in which the amount of new steel required to realize the design is minimized. However, the actual UC-values corresponding to the different elements and the changes in the design are dependent on the available stock and the constraints.

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 materials and responsible for 25-40% of the CO2 emissions. To make the transit to a more sustainable system, an increasingly discussed approach is a shift from the current linear lifecycles to a circular orientated economy. This latter means the preservation of used materials rather than dispose. In this way, the lifecycle loop of the materials is closed and the energy demand and the scarcity of raw resources is reduced. This more circular way of constructing entails the integration of the assets’ end-of-life phase and its’ circular solutions into the design. The reuse of assets, flexibility and adaptability in its’ function, modular based structures and a material database are all possible ways in dealing with assets after their lifetime in a circular manner. The shift towards a circular economy provides the possibilities for reducing the use of primary materials, protection of material resources and reduce the carbon footprint. This enhances a more sustainable practise of the construction industry though asks for major changes in its current operation. Clients play a substantial part in the transition towards a circular construction industry due to their responsibility in the formulation of the scope, project ambitions and requirements in the initiation phase of a project. Rijkswaterstaat, the biggest public client in the Netherlands, has the ambition to tender all the projects climate neutral and circular together with enhancing the sustainable living environment by 2030 and be fully circular by 2050. Circular pilot projects and programs are developed to promote the use of circular principles in the initiation phase, although circularity is currently often seen as an additional feature instead of an integral design principle. This results in a late consideration of the aspect and therefore a low level of circularity. To enhance circularity in projects there is a need for a clear and integral design process that includes circularity and an increase in knowledge among all team members of a project on circularity and the possibilities for the design. The aim of this research is to unite the circularity principles with the design process of hydraulic infrastructure projects and enable circularity to become common practice and a way of thinking. This is accomplished with a framework for implementing circularity in the design process based on state-of-the-art literature and results in a flowchart that aims to guide a project team to consider circularity and its opportunities during the integral design process of an asset. The flowchart visualizes the important development steps needed for the implementation of circularity, together with a circular way of approaching de design of an asset that includes the circular design principles. Thereafter, the public clients’ current design process and practice on implementing circularity is researched in an empirical quantitative study. These findings are reflected against the approach based on literature and show the points of attention for the public client on implementing circularity in the design process. The flowchart is verified with a case study on the project Weir Grave concerning the reconditioning of a historical weir in the river Meuse in the province of North-Brabant. This case study showed that the flowchart is valuable for the implementation of circularity and includes the significant aspects to consider. Although, the flowchart is not yet an applicable chart for design teams due to the high amount of information, layout and English language. A workable version with instructions is realized to improve this. Various barriers accompany the implementation of circularity in the construction sector with the most substantial being the necessary integral character of the industry and design process along with the timing of including the aspect in this process. An integral design method benefits circularity because numerous aspects and lifecycle phases of an asset influence the level of circularity. The integral character also assist the required early consideration of circularity, which is now often considered too late in the design process. Currently, the circular guidelines for the public client are focused on their role as an acquisition party and not on their part in the design. Therefore the design steps for circular assets are not part of the clients’ procedure, although this procedure does influence the possibilities for circularity. Therefore, the public client needs to take circularity into account prior to the tender procedure, in the initiation- and design phase, as relevant decision that influence the possibilities for circularity are made in these phases. This also influences the collaboration with the market party and requires a clear and uniform ambition towards them. Additionally, support, knowledge and an organization wide approach on circularity are of significance when implementing circularity in the design process. This reduces the current risk avoidance culture on circular design and supports the decisions made. One of the most practical measures to enhance circularity in a project is the implementation of the aspect as a requirement from the start in the clients’ internal project assignment and in the tender towards the market to create a responsibility for considering the aspect.

Urban development in the Rijnmond-Drechsteden requires large quantities of sand and gravel for its application in e.g. concrete in buildings or fill sand for subsidence maintenance. The graduation project focuses on how urban design can reduce this consumption within the sand and gravel metabolism in the construction ecosystem. Based on a material flow analysis, extended with a dynamic stock model and material intensity study, a business as usual scenario is made for the region. An exploration of solutions and a new developed method, called the ‘material conscious approach’, is used to reduce material consumption in four urban design examples. These examples represent different conditions in the sand and gravel metabolism which cause flows. The results are extrapolated to the regional metabolic impact. In order to reduce the material consumption of sand and gravel, a multi-scalar perspective within the material conscious approach is required.

Construction industry is the biggest waste producer industry in the world. Circular economy introduces methods to increase the recovery of materials’ value by returning them back to construction cycles; as its cornerstone, deconstruction is introduced to eliminate demolition. Design for Deconstruction (DfD) facilitates deconstruction at the end of building's lifetime by designing and planning. Availability of buildings’ information is also vital to achieve DfD goals. BIM is a suitable solution for interoperability of different information through different phases of a building lifetime, and between different participants. However, lack of standards for using BIM hinders its utilization. Desk research and case study provide theoretical and practical input to the research. By investigating the requirements of DfD and the practical issues that hinder the use of BIM, a process map is developed for applying BIM to DfD.

The construction sector contributes to a significant portion of global energy consumption, CO2 emissions and the use of material resources. As climate change escalates with rapidly increasing temperatures, more extreme weather patterns and rising sea levels, an urge to reduce the environmental impact is evident. A discrepancy is visible between early structural design and the required information for performing an environmental assessment. The first phase of design is an excellent time to steer the design to be more sustainable. However, today's procedures, involving LCA, only provides feedback at a later phase. This is due to the required highly detailed information for performing this complex and time consuming assessment. An assessment tool that supports the conceptual design would help to reduce the environmental impact. The research project aims to show the feasibility of sustainability feedback using analytical methods on stored building data in early design. It provides LCA feedback in the conceptual design phase. A proof-of-concept is developed on industrial warehouses showcasing the functionality of the framework. Lacking the required building data and LCA scoring, a fully automated script is created with the parametric plugin Grasshopper, to generate the warehouse data. Due to time constrains and performance limitations, the scope was limited to the structural system of beams, columns, purlins and braces. The script randomly iterates over its parameter domain, automatically changing the geometry, performing a structural optimisation and calculating the LCA. This assessment is limited to a cradle-to-gate system boundary. Data is automatically written to a web-hosted database on the Packhunt.io platform of White Lioness technologies. The feedback is based on retrieving data from the database, applying a performance based algorithm, and finding the parameter that decreases the LCA score the most. Results are visualised to the user. The result is the Interactive Design Assist (IDA) prototype that suggests parameters to the engineer in reducing the LCA score. This information provides guidance in the conceptual design phase on structural design of industrial warehouses. It demonstrates the large potential of reusing 'knowledge' inside the design process to improve building designs.

The undeniable benefits of urban open spaces, such as parks and urban forests, has triggered a steady increase in “natural capital” demands. Nevertheless, the uncertainties surrounding open spaces and ecosystem services jeopardize their consideration in public decision making. Certain of their aspects are not fully translatable in economic terms, primarily due to the absence of proper valuation tools. This results in not only under-provisioning of natural capital, but also unsustainable urban development. Hence, an imperative need to incorporate efficient ecosystem valuation tools emerges. The objective of this research is twofold. Firstly, it aims to prove and quantify the influence of urban open spaces on the surrounding real estate’s market value. Secondly, it investigates which characteristics of these spaces bear the largest impact, with a particular interest in ecosystem services. The methodology employed in the present study is a combination of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative part, designated as Phase I, includes the establishment of a hedonic pricing model, which quantifies the added value of proximity to the selected clustered open spaces, which are also called “Ecosystem Service Hubs” (ESHs). The qualitative part, addressed as Phase II, swifts the focus from the housing samples to the ESHs. It consists of activities attempting an ecological profiling of the ESHs. Phase I’s Hub Hedonic Pricing model revealed that ESH1 bears the largest influence on surrounding real estate, followed by ESH3 and ESH2. Notably, a 1% increase in distance would lead to approximately 2,7€, 0,8€ and 1,6€ per m2 for each hub respectively. Inserting the distance variable as a dummy variable, instead of a continuous one, displayed a similar behaviour. Thence, each housing sample is divided into categories in order to execute a distance effect sensitivity analysis. It is suggested that “young, large, row houses in greener neighborhoods” exhibit the largest distance decay effect sensitivity. Lastly, the overarching monetary values are roughly estimated. These are 5,81, 1,98 and 3,28 million € for each hub respectively, whereas the average value per m2 per house is 77,44€, 57,68€ and 107,47€ respectively. Concerning Phase II, the ESHs’ core components and characteristics are identified. Then, an association between the economic benefits and the core characteristics is attempted, through qualitative correlations. These are summed up in the following statement: “Ecosystem Service Hubs generate higher economic benefits when they are larger and more diverse, in terms of both composition and ecosystem services, with a significant sensitivity to recreational opportunities”. This research’s findings could prove to be insightful for urban planning, since they could be applied in two major ways. Firstly, given an identified Ecosystem Service Hub, the development of the surrounding area could be adjusted to encompass primarily the optimal house and neighborhood characteristics. Secondly, given the “house composition” of a certain area, the optimal location and profile of a new Ecosystem Service Hub could be selected. In both cases, maximizing the value of surrounding real estate is achieved through optimal spatial configurations. In conclusion, the added value of urban open spaces is plural and reflects the use and non-use value derived from residents. This research’s rough estimation of an average of 80,86 € per m2 per house is an indication of this added value, subject, however, to the narrow scope of the study. Attributing this added value to particular open spaces’ characteristics could only be executed through qualitative correlations. In order to enrich the previous results, an integration of multiple valuation methods (social and ecological), which incorporate the various value dimensions, is recommended. More conclusive and definitive results will motivate planners to opt for polices revolving around ecosystem services and natural capital, thus, satisfying the steadily increasing demand.

This study aimed to evaluate the field scale potential of Microbially Induced Desaturation (MID) to improve the compactibility of silty sands. Conventional soil compaction techniques for saturated silty sands often require either high compaction effort or even fail to reach aspired relative densities. This thesis is a follow-up study based on the promising small scale results of Stals 2020. The proposed solution consists of a two-stage method in which, firstly, a soil sample was desaturated by means of Microbially Induced Desaturation (MID) through denitrification and, secondly, dynamically compacted. The objective of this, and previous, research was to assess whether biogenic gas formation could be used as a pretreatment to increase the effectivity of soil compaction techniques. Tests with a height of 1m and 2.5m were developed, opposed to the previous 15cm small scale tests. Series of tests were conducted on a silt-sand mixture of 16% fines. Each series was compacted with both a different compaction method and energy input. The investigated scale effects included: the desaturation stage, bubble growth, bubble distribution, gas migration and final degree of compaction. All treated soils were able to desaturate to, and even below the optimum water content. In this research the in-situ shear strength was linked to swelling and bubble production. Based on a qualitative inspection, the gas distribution in the sample was found to be homogeneous over depth. In order to estimate swelling and venting of the sample during the desaturation stage, a model was produced based on a saturation dependent gas conductivity. It was suggested that a continuous gas phase was responsible for the highest amounts of compactive strain. With a non-intrusive compaction method, more compactive energy led to faster, but not more, release of gas. All 2.5m tests ended with a residual amount of gas. A 1m test series, consisting of three tests resulted in higher degrees of compaction for the treated tests opposed to the untreated tests. The final relative density of the treated tests was at least two times higher than the final relative density of the untreated test. A 2.5m test, which included surcharge, had a final RD 2.8 times higher opposed to a similar untreated test without surcharge. Taking into account the uncertainties of the results, it was concluded that a field trial is feasible. A hypothetical field case was set up of 500 m3. The costs of the proposed method were a factor 2.2 times cheaper opposed to the current soil improvement for silty sands, namely a stone column vibroreplacement technique.

Fiber-reinforcedplastic (FRP) is an upcoming material in the construction industry due tocharacteristic material properties such as its high resistance to corrosion andhigh strength to density ratio. Also, it is often claimed that structures fromFRP have lower life-cycle costs and eco burden compared to constructions madefrom steel, concrete, or wood; this can be attributed to the low amount ofrequired maintenance and longer life span of FRP. Therefore, FRP seems a verysuitable material in the harsh environments where hydraulic structures residecompared to conventional materials.No actual commercial jetties, besidessmall pedestrian jetties, are yet constructed from FRP: knowledge regarding thepotential financial savings or the environmental impact of such jetties are notwell known. Also, specific consequences of constructing a jetty from FRP areunknown, as well the ability of FRP jetties to maintain their structuralcapabilities over their entire life-time. Therefore, this thesis investigatesthe feasibility of FRP jetties and judges whether FRP jetties are betteralternatives than jetties constructed fromtraditional materials. In the scope of this thesis, the research is narrowed down to comparing FRP withreinforce concrete (RC).The main design challenge of FRP incivil engineering related structures is coping with the relatively lowstiffness of FRP, as this presumably determines the dimensions of thestructural elements and restrictions of the structure as a whole. Governingstructural safety criteria in steel and concrete are more often strengthrelated. The research rests on a case study of an RC jetty, which provides boundaryconditions and a program of requirements. An FRP jetty is designed whichcomplies with the structural criteria. These criteria were both extracted fromthe case study and provided by the CUR96, a Dutch design guideline for FRP incivil engineering practice. Most structural elements are designed from scratch:laminates are designed for the flanges and webs in a composite calculator namedeLamX2. The finite element method (FEM) software program SCIA Engineer is usedfor the structural analysis. One dimensional structural elements were firstvalidated before utilizing them in the FEM model. The pile properties anddimensions are based on contemporary literature and commercially availableproducts. The driveability of the FRP piles is researched by means of Wave EquationAnalysis of Piles (WEAP), for which the program AllwavePDP is utilized.Furthermore, sustainability aspects of both jetties are researched by means ofa Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The LCA determines how much equivalentgreenhouse gases are expelled over the life-time of the jetties for a set ofimpact categories. These results are normalized by calculating the respectiveshadow costs for each impact category; this makes the total environmentalimpact of the structures comparable. The financial feasibility is the lastinvestigated topic; under various scenarios, life-cycle costs of both jettiesare investigated. The scenarios contained different variables such as estimatesof FRP raw material costs or assumed share of maintenance costs; end-of-lifecosts were not included in the analysis.The structural analysis of the FRPjetty indicated that both Serviceability Limit State (SLS) criteria and UltimateLimit State criteria (ULS) determine the dimensions of the structural elementsand the jetty design in general. The most crucial parts are partially embeddedFRP piles, which are prone to buckling. Initially, the FRP piles in thedetailed design were to be installed to a depth of 13 meter below ground level,but the results from the WEAP indicated that the piles refused duringinstallation before reaching this level. An analysis indicated that drivingshorter piles to a depth of 8 meter is possible: at this depth, the piles donot refuse and have accumulated sufficient bearing capacity by shaft frictionto support the superstructure. The eco burden of the FRP jetty was foundsignificantly higher compared to the RC jetty: in the base case LCA, therelative difference is 365 percent higher for the FRP variant. After asensitivity analysis, the relative difference is still 59 percent higher when comparingthe best-case scenario of the FRP jetty with the worst-case scenario of the RCjetty. The RC jetty also performed better than the FRP jetty regardinglife-cycle costs in various considered scenarios. The relative difference inlife-cycle costs for the most favorable scenario of the FRP jetty is still 28 %higher compared to the life-cycle costs of the RC jetty.Due to the poorer performance of theFRP jetty regarding the life-cycle costs and environmental burden, it isconcluded that FRP jetties, for the time being, are not better alternativesthan RC jetties. Regarding the type of jetty, the conclusion can begeneralized. The jetty is designed for the turnover of liquid bulk; imposed loadsare generally lower than loads on Ro-Ro, solid bulk, or container transfer jetties.It therefore seems unlikely that FRP does seem to be a better alternative forthose cases. Regarding the material choice, the conclusion cannot begeneralized. The FRP jetty was compared to an RC jetty. Jetties made from steelor wood are likely more vulnerable to degradation in harsh conditions. Thedurability properties of FRP might be more beneficial to the assessment of FRP jettiesin these cases. Certain future developments might affect the conclusion.Innovation in manufacturing techniques and an increase of market demand for FRPcould lower the price. Besides, biodegradable FRP materials are being developedwhich potentially may reduce the environmental burden of FRP. Keywords: FRP, composite design,hydraulic structures, jetty, pile driving, LCA, life-cycle costs

Equalized involvement of stakeholders in decision-making processes (DMP) allows them to achieve a balanced outcome, when aiming to create value for each participant. However, as the number of stakeholders increases, traditional methods of interactive engagement become more complex, often leading to unbalanced solutions. Identifying such balanced outcomes also becomes more challenging and time-consuming, considering the wide range of potential outcomes. To address this complexity, this thesis introduces a new approach, Preference-based Goal Attainment (PBGA), and develops a tool for its application in DMPs. The PBGA tool facilitates transparent communication of stakeholders' needs, desires, and values within the DMP, helping to bridge satisfaction gaps among various stakeholders and yield an equitable and optimal outcome. For the development of this tool, a multi-objective optimization framework is proposed. This framework allows stakeholders to integrate their needs, desires, and values as objective functions, with decision parameters represented as variables, in the tool. Crucially, it enables stakeholders to specify preferred states within their objectives, known as preferences. The framework also considers the varying influence of stakeholders by incorporating a weighted goal attainment method. This method focuses on improving the objective with the largest weighted preference deficit in each iteration of the genetic algorithms used in the optimization process. For testing and validation, the approach is applied to a DMP in a selected case study. Data, including objectives, variables, and stakeholder preferences, are collected through semi-structured interviews, and transformed into a computational format for MATLAB® implementation. The outcomes are verified using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Chi-Square comparative methods. Additionally, the tool and its results are validated by stakeholders, ensuring the tool's practicality and acceptance of the new design. With the PBGA tool, stakeholders can transparently communicate their needs and desires in the DMP and achieve an outcome that involves equal participation from each stakeholder. The thesis concludes with a comprehensive discussion on the practical applications, limitations, and assumptions of the tool, highlighting its potential to improve stakeholder collaboration and decision-making in project management.

The Netherlands is currently in the process of transitioning from a linear economy to a circular economy, in accordance with the ”Nederland Circulair 2050” policy. To increase the circularity of buildings, several approaches can be integrated. In this research, the so-called Design for Deconstruction and Donor Structural Framework concepts are elaborated as possible approaches. The first concept focuses on taking the future de- and remountability of a building into consideration during the design process. This concept allows buildings that approach their end-of-life phase to be (partially) reused as structural components, on a new location. The second concept can be applied during the construction phase of a building, where structural components of an old building are dismantled and reused in the to be constructed building. The difference between the two concepts thus being the life cycle in which they are applied. Therefore, the resulting benefit of using a Donor Framework can be seen immediately, whereas the benefit of applying the Design for Deconstruction concept can only be stated in the future. Unfortunately, the current procedure to measure the sustainability score of a building, the Life Cycle Assessment methodology, does not take these concepts into account. This makes determining their impact on the environment hardly possible. Also, due to the fact that detailed information about a design is required, a Life Cycle Assessment is made only once the design is final. In this order, all design variables are set such that designing towards sustainability is not an option. This research focuses on solving the introductory problems and aims to enable sustainable material choices for a structural design possible in the early design phase. Both the Donor Structural Framework and the Design for Deconstruction concepts were taken into consideration. This main goal has been split into two sub–questions:- How to assess the environmental impact of a steel, concrete and timber load bearing structure in the early design phase? -How to implement the Donor Structural Framework and the Design for Deconstruction concept into the existing Life Cycle Assessment methodology? The research questions have been answered by executing the following approach: 1.A parametric model is used in which not only the geometry and structural calculations are included, but the Environmental Impact Calculation as well. In the event of a design change, the Environmental Impact Calculation is automatically reiterated, which means different designs can be compared quickly based on their environmental impact. The model constructed for this study is suitable for designs in steel, concrete and timber. For each material a reference design is created. The Bill of Materials of these designs serves as input for the Environmental Impact Calculation on which the materials were compared in a later research phase.2.First, an existing end-of-life allocation method has been adjusted to include reuse during both the construction phase (Donor Structural Framework) as the end-of-life phase (Design for Deconstruction). Secondly, the Building Circularity Index, which recognizes a ”circularity score”, has been implemented in this method. In this study the Building Circularity Index is assumed as the ”probability of future reuse of the building”. The modified method was implemented in the parametric model to enable a real-time Environmental Impact Calculation. This approach has been fully implemented into a parametric visual script, executed in the Grasshopper, a parametric environment plugin of Rhino which enables visual scripting. Input parameters are imported from Excel, the Grasshopper script calculates the environmental impact and exports the results to Excel where they are visualized in a dashboard. Ultimately, the developed parametric model has been divided into a part containing the geometry and structural calculations of the reference designs and a part where the newly developed Environmental Impact Calculation method is implemented. Combining the results of both parts in the total model, it becomes possible to assess whether a design is best built in a certain material in the early design phase. The final model can provide results with or without the use of a Donor Structural Framework and with or without application of the Design for Deconstruction concept. For the purpose of demonstrating the functioning of the model, a reference design in steel, concrete and timber was implemented as a basic geometry. This geometry was assumed equal across all designs and for comparability purposes, dimensions were fixed. Consequently, it can be concluded from the results of these reference designs that using a Donor Structural Framework results in a lower environmental impact than applying the Design for Deconstruction concept by maximizing the remountability of a structure. Until a lifespan of 75 years, using a timber donor framework is the most sustainable solution for the reference design. From 75 until 100 years this is the case for steel and from 100 years onward, a concrete design, whether or not using a donor framework, results in the lowest environmental impact. In the current design practice of a building, the default lifespan has been determined by the function of the building (Functional Service Life). By using the model developed here, this lifespan can be determined on the basis of sustainability requirements instead of functional requirements. The differences in environmental impact for different lifespans can easily be compared. Therefore, it is made possible to steer towards a certain lifespan, in order to determine the most sustainable construction based on the clients requirements. This is currently not possible in the Dutch construction industry. However, these results do have their limitations, as they should not be interpreted as general but rather specific conclusions. The following points of attention apply: -Results should not be interpreted as general results, but these results only apply on the three reference designs as elaborated further in the research. These reference designs are not optimized for every material used. -Changing input parameters can have a significant impact on the results. In addition, a number of important parameters (reuse percentage, material lifespan etc.) have been assumed due to insufficient existing research. -The developed allocation equations include the incineration of timber too favorably. This results in a significant deviation in timber environmental impact for lifespans much shorter than 75 years. This flaw can be either due to the model, or the impact parameters as stated in the NIBE EPD app. Lastly, it is recommended to further research the assumed parameters in this research, especially the material lifespan and the incineration impact parameters. As these parameters can have a major impact on the environmental impact of a specific design.

Green roofs can play an important role in reducing problems in urban areas by being flexible, multifunctional and adaptable. These features of nature have proven effective in combating climate change and contribute to human well-being. Previous research has shown that green roofs can sometimes be cost-effective, but the benefits included in cost-benefit analyses are fragmented and an absence of a learning curve in the literature regarding green roofs is discernible. This research focuses on how to determine the economic value of the benefits of green roofs and what methodologies are used to do so. There is also a need to bridge the gap between research on costs and benefits and research on external costs of production materials. This research contributes to bridging this gap by creating a full life-cycle cost-benefit analysis of a green roof by mapping and analysing current methodologies. This research contributes to sustainable development and in it serves as a starting point to determine the utilisation of green roofs with the pursuit of sustainable urban development.

Waste generation is one of the main environmental problems and is a result of the current linear economy. Materials/elements are used whereafter they are wasted which is a problem considering the finite material supply on earth. Therefore, the current linear economy needs to move towards a circular one in which materials are reused and thus kept in the circle. However, reuse is still not a common practise. This is due to the fact that there are no insights in the structural feasibility, potential savings on environmental impact, and costs related to reuse. Besides the lacking knowledge about the different aspects there is no clear image where the potentials for reuse are located within the sector. The goal of this research is to give insights in the reuse potentials and to find opportunities within the sector. This research started with a material flow analysis to find promising material flows in the sector. In this material flow analysis it was found that the demolition of office buildings is responsible for a big portion of the outgoing material flow and the majority of the ingoing material flow is related to the new construction of serial houses. In the analysis it was found that the elements with the highest ECI and mass are floor elements. Next the available floor elements coming from office buildings and the floor elements needed for the construction of serial houses were examined to check possible matches. It was found that new plank- and hollow core slab floors used in serial houses can potentially be substituted for reused monolithic- and hollow core slab floors out of office buildings. Thereafter, two different tools were developed. One related to the reuse of monolithic floors and one related to the reuse of hollow core slab floors. These tools are means to give insights in the reuse potentials considering the structural feasibility, potential savings on environmental impact, and costs. Different cases were checked using the tools and the following results were found: -In all cases it was structurally feasible to use reused floors coming from office buildings in the new construction of serial houses. -When reused floor elements are used it is possible to save 40-90% on environmental impact. -Reused floor elements can be cheaper or more expensive as new floor elements. These results are promising and hopefully contribute to an acceleration of reuse in practise. The research states where the potentials for reuse are located in the sector and presents two tools which check the reuse potentials considering structural feasibility, environmental impact, and costs.

In order to study the effects of Urban Heat Island and the possibilities of combating it with Vegetation Cooling, this thesis project proposes the use of available tools/information in Building Information Modelling. By building on an empirically validated model for the calculation of UHI, this project undertakes the translation of that model into the digital environment. By automating calculations and applying them to larger scales, the project then evaluates the validity of the initial model through a satellite thermal imagery comparison. Throughout the undertaking, much is experienced regarding the difficulties of BIM implementation in projects, which is later reflected upon.

The building industry consumes a lot of material, which causes depletion of material stocks, toxic emissions, and waste. Circular building design can help to reduce this impact, by moving from a linear to a circular design approach. To reach a circular build environment, all disciplines should be involved, including fire safety design. However, there is a contradiction between the objectives of circular and fire safety design, either affecting the aim of protection of material sources, or protection against fire risk. Timber is a material that has high potential in contributing to a circular building industry, as it is renewable, recyclable and can store CO2. However, timber is combustible, which increases the risk of fire. Therefore, mass timber building design has traditionally been restricted by building regulations. To enhance mass timber building design research on timber buildings has increased, to allow understanding of the risks. However, yet general guidelines or understanding on the fire behaviour and risk in timber buildings is lacking. This is a problem for the fire safety design and the potentials of timber contributing to a circular building industry. Until now, there was no specific method available that quantifies this relation between material use and fire risk in mass timber buildings. This limits the possibility of fire safety design and mass timber design to contribute to a more circular building industry. By creating a method that allows comparison between the economic and environmental impact of material use and fire risk, a well-founded choice of building materials is easier to make. The design tool created in this research quantifies the impact on material use for fire safety measures relating to CLT, encapsulation and sprinkler availability and their effect on the fire risk in mass timber buildings. This way insight is provided between the balance of material use and fire risk. By the sum of the impact on material use and fire risk, the total “circular fire safety impact” value is calculated. This value represents the total economic and environmental impact of the design based on the choice of building materials. By changing the fire safety design, the most optimal design variant can be determined. This is the variant with the lowest total impact value. This way, a circular design approach is used to steer fire safety design in mass timber buildings towards a design solution that does not only provide sufficient safety for people, but also provides maximum economic and environmental safety from a material point of view.

Amsterdam city is currently facing problems of old quay walls and bridges renovation, followed by insufficient greening in the city. This study aims to propose a method to increase Amsterdam's greenery that will add social and environmental value through the renovation work of quay walls. The main objective is investigating how the quay walls can be redesigned to gain improved moss colonization as the primary greening method. The research question is: “How can quay wall elements be designed with improved bio receptivity to stimulate high moss growth coverage that will add social and environmental values to Amsterdam citizens’ wellbeing?”. It is further divided into six sub-questions to gain knowledge of bio receptive definitions and concepts first, followed by the study of bio receptive construction materials properties in the second part. The third part aims to gain fundamental moss knowledge. Afterward, a moss field survey is conducted on construction materials in The Netherlands as the fourth part. The fifth part consists of the moss cultivation technique and experiment to gain more practical knowledge of the construction materials. Finally, with the acquired results, a bio receptive quay wall design with other practical considerations is proposed in the last part. Initiated with fundamental literature research on existing bio colonization works, followed by more specific building materials properties and moss knowledge studies on the first three parts. Afterward, a simple field survey on twelve sites has been conducted to determine moss growth conditions on building materials related to quay walls. Later on, an indoor moss cultivation method through the use of terrarium has been done to gain insights into material properties, ideal growing condition for mosses and moss cultivation technique. Based on the acquired knowledge, a simple quay walls element is redesigned to promote moss growth, keeping the site orientation in mind and moss cultivation practicalities. The first three parts' results will not be described since these are basic definitions and knowledge needed for the following three parts. During the field survey, the importance of moisture for moss growth on building materials is crucial. Therefore, not one specific material property value margin is needed, but a set of material properties and environmental conditions should be satisfied to gain successful moss growth. The duration of direct sunlight exposure will influence the site's moisture condition, which will further affect moss growth. Only twelve moss species were found and identified that are able to grow on construction materials, which is used for the moss cultivation method on the construction materials during the experiments. The use of a terrarium to test moss growth on construction materials followed by a moss cultivation idea gained interesting moss growth results. It turns out that the mosses' growing temperature should be below 25 degrees Celsius at all times, especially during the germination phase, followed by a humidity level above 80 percent. For this reason, significant moss growth results on the terrarium test samples are only gained during the end of the fall season and the winter season when the temperature is below 25 degrees Celsius. Sadly, this method is still uncommon, therefore, not fully understood and controllable; improvement on the temperature and lighting control of the terrarium test method is needed to further develop the terrarium test method into a moss receptivity testing method. Finally, the redesign of the quay wall element focus is to increase moisture gain through capillary action on the masonry finish of the quay walls. This can be achieved by using bricks with an Initial rate of absorption value above 3.0 kg/m2*minute and pointing made of either trass lime or lime 4 | P a g e mortar to promote capillary absorption of the masonry finish. Site consideration regarding quay wall orientation should be taken into account since this will influence the moisture condition and the moss cultivation technique time of application during winter and protection against external factor that prevents moss germination. It is concluded that moss growth on quay walls can be stimulated by particularly improving the moisture condition on the quay walls exterior finish, as moisture was found to be the key parameter that determines the presence or absence of mosses on concrete structures such as quay walls. Resulting in an increase in greenery in Amsterdam city, which can be further translated into social and environmental values such as better air quality by filtering airborne dust, stimulating the ecosystem by producing food for the primary consumer and followed by an increase in the benefits of access to nature to human health. How citizens will perceive the green moss quay walls is unknown, especially since the moss growth comes with other organisms' growth and is not evergreen throughout the whole year and how will the moss growth influence the durability of the material over a long period. Therefore, more studies and experiments regarding moss greening should be conducted to understand this greening method better.