Purpose: The construction industry is responsible for great amounts of resource consumption, waste generation and both carbon and greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union. The currently still predominant linear mindset of take-make-consume-dispose must shift to reduce the industry’s environmental impact and enable the transition towards a circular construction industry. Circular material hubs facilitate more circularity by collecting, processing, and redistributing secondary building components to make them available for another life cycle. In literature, little can be found about the system circular material hubs are embedded in and their connection to architects. This study investigates the system of circular material hubs in the Netherlands, its challenges, opportunities, and potential future developments in the transition towards a circular construction industry. A special focus is placed on the role of architects within this system, as a circular construction industry also needs designers to include secondary building components in designs. The Netherlands is one of the top nations in the reuse of secondary raw materials and therefore provides as an exemplary setting for this exploratory research. Methodology: An exploratory, qualitative research approach was chosen. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from circular material hubs, architects, as well as experts in the fields of circular economy, circular construction industry and construction logistics. Practitioner interviews aimed at identifying practices performed within the system of circular material hubs, and detecting challenges, opportunities and potential future developments as perceived by practitioners in the field. Expert interviews were conducted to validate the information gathered through literature review and practitioner interviews. Findings: The research found four practice bundles which are important for the system of circular material hubs. These practice bundles are acquisition practice, processing practices, sales practices, and material harvesting practices. Within these practice bundles, different practices and performances of these practices were identified. The practices influence each other. Which building components are acquired influences which processing practices need to be performed. The type of building component also influences the sales practice as different building components target different groups of clients and are sold through different communication channels. It is also crucial whether the building components are sold offline or online. The online marketplace of Insert was found to be particularly helpful, as it is specifically designed for the construction industry and used by circular material hubs as well as architects. This shows the influence of the choice of communication channel on a circular design practice and scouting practices. By providing as much information as possible about the secondary building component at hand, circular material hubs also facilitate a circular design practice. Additionally, challenges, opportunities, and potential future developments of the system of circular material hubs were identified. Challenges the system faces are related to uncertainty and irregular assortment, guidelines, costs, and the provision of guarantees, while opportunities are governmental decisions, the provision of information and the use of shared online marketplaces. Missing collaborations are both a challenge and an opportunity. Future developments are primarily related to changes in the provision of secondary building components. Research limitations: The limitations of this study are that social practice theory was not applied to the entire research as it is not suitable for the assessment of challenges, opportunities, and potential future developments. A greater variety of circular material hubs, not in number but in their field of activity, could present a different view on the system. Semi-structured interviews also always have certain limitations. Identifying the practices while they are being performed could also have led to more in-depth results. Originality/value: By providing a comprehensive view on the system of circular material hubs in the Netherlands, this research helps to understand the dynamics within the system and allows the identification of potential interventions based on the practices that constitute the system.

In order to overcome the existential threat of climate change the energy transition is needed. The energy transition has multiple challenges, one of them being that it risks increasing inequality. This challenge also occurs in Amsterdam Zuidoost. In Amsterdam Zuidoost almost one out of five households lives already in energy poverty, which risks to increase due to the energy transition. The LIFE project, located in Amsterdam Zuidoost, aims to reduce energy poverty and contribute to the transition towards clean energy. LIFE is an acronym for Local Inclusive Future Energy. The aim of the project is to stimulate smart energy use which enables flexibility of the local energy system. To ensure meaningful interaction between future users and the design of the project, this research aims to develop a framework that presents the conditions for interventions that contribute to a more inclusive energy transition in Amsterdam Zuidoost. For this research, inclusivity is conceptualised as the active involvement of citizens in the energy transition. This means that an open door policy is not enough, inclusion is a reflexive process in which the competences and desires of the excluded are put at the centre. The data collection method consisted of an exploration of the literature, ethnographic research in Amsterdam Zuidoost and an analysis of transcripts of interviews with key-informants. This led to a framework consisting of nine conditions for interventions for an inclusive energy transition. The established conditions are the following agency, identification of the community, skill development, multi-objectivity, the need for safety, communication methods, practical examples, lightheartedness and youth. These conditions were found to emphasise, ensure or stimulate the inclusivity of the interventions for the energy transition. The different conditions are heavily interlinked and are able to stimulate each other. Intentional participatory observations led to the suggestion of interventions that align with the found conditions. Some suggested interventions are a pop-up park, energy desk, training on how to save energy, heat photos, smart meters and energy classes at schools. These suggested interventions meet some of the conditions of the established framework, and therefore aim to contribute to a more inclusive energy transition in Amsterdam Zuidoost. Finally it is recommended to evaluate the outcome of the different intervention and compare those for further steps. Also investigating if the framework is applicable to other neighbourhoods or other types of transition might be of value.

This research provides a framework to evaluate participation processes and their contribution to citizen support for top-ups. The findings have illustrated how participation processes contribute to the support for top-ups by using a context-specific approach, adjusting the level of participation to the needs of both current and future residents, and combining both issue- and action-based activities. Additionally, it presents an overview of key social factors for top-ups, that moderate the influence of the participation process on the support for top-ups. By acknowledging the social domain in the decision-making of top-ups, it can guide future participation processes to be more inclusive and effective, accelerating the implementation of successful top-ups.

This thesis addresses the problem of light pollution in cities, caused by public lighting. Currently, 99% of American and European citizens live under light-polluted skies (Falchi et al, 2016). Light pollution has measurable negative effects, as it increases energy consumption, disrupts ecosystems and wildlife and harms human health (IDA, 2013). This research aims to reduce the amount of light pollution in Amsterdam Noord, a district in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in the form of a case study. A Design for Darkness strategy, that helps reintroducing darkness into our urban nightscapes (Stone, 2019), is applied to structure this thesis. With the help of a literature review, interviews and observations of the research area, a short term Design for Darkness strategy for Amsterdam Noord can be developed. The outcomes of this research suggest that the lighting in the green structure in Noord can be turned off, that experiments with lower light levels in residential areas should be conducted, that light nuisance in the form of glare and light trespass should be diminished, and that more lighting plans should focus on a qualitative, perception-based lighting approach, instead of only designing with a quantitative basis. Furthermore, the results indicate that dimming the lighting would be beneficial for the reduction of light pollution, but the lighting system in Amsterdam Noord is currently not fit to apply dimming regimes, and more budget is needed before this system can be applied. Based on the insights from the Design for Darkness strategy, a list of policy recommendations for Amsterdam Noord is drawn up, and these measures express the need to set up regulations to minimize the causes of light pollution, and to educate people in the public and private sector about ways to preserve darkness.