This graduation thesis report is about the design of a better method of waste collection for new high-rise buildings in Rotterdam. The first part covers the research into the current situation of waste collection, including the specifics of how waste is collected in the city, the policy of the municipality and the factors that drive the recycling behaviour of people in general. The second part is about finding an ideal future scenario for the city, which can be compared to the current situation to find the factors that a design can improve. This part begins with a definition for the ideal scenario which is as follows: ‘In the ideal scenario, the amount of material from the waste stream that is being reused in the production of new consumer goods is as high as possible’. Next, this part shows the results from researches into the context of a new high-rise district in Rotterdam, followed by an analysis of how the waste collection is more successfully managed in other cities around the world, and on current and future technologies by which the recyclable wastes are sorted. The research part is concluded in a set of considerations for the municipality of Rotterdam to approach becoming a more circular city, and these considerations are used as design principles for the following design phase. The design part of the report shows how the design was approached, starting from a map of the different stakeholder concerns over the multiple stages of the context of waste collection. It was followed by ideation and the formation of concept directions. After some iteration, the concept directions culminated in a final concept, which is the Re-Posit system. The Re-Posit system aims to increase the convenience of separating and disposing of recyclable waste from the moment that a person starts living in one of Rotterdam’s new high-rises. It does this by offering the residents a space to collect their waste separately inside their own homes, as well as a system that takes most of their waste through one single receptacle and sorts the waste into the right containers automatically. Additionally, it includes the provision of all the information that the residents need to participate in the recycling efforts, as well as enabling the municipality to offer feedback and/or other incentives for the recycling behaviour. The design showcase starts with an overview of the Re- Posit system, and shows its daily use by the residents. The next parts goes into the different parts of the system in detail, and shows the considerations that were made during their design. The final part of the report discusses topics such as how the system relates to the current and future context, how it can be managed and paid for, and an evaluation that was done to verify the desirability of the system. ... Read more

Residential housing has to become more sustainable to meet global energy goals (Silvester et al., 2017), yet the challenge is to integrate the refurbishments that reduce energy with the way people live. The context of this project is the 2ndSKIN project, which refurbishes houses to become zero energy. Zero energy houses are more airtight as a result of improved insulation, therefore ventilation becomes increasingly important. Yet, residents struggle to integrate the new balanced ventilation system into their practices. Residents use the system different from how it is intended. This does not only impact energy goals (Behar & Chiu, 2013) but can also result in decreased comfort and unhealthy situations. Hence, the aim of the project is to support residents to transition their practices in zero energy homes. The project first described the practice of maintaining indoor air quality to identify points that hinder a transition of the practice. Insights show that the lack of feedback of the ventilation system makes residents insecure and makes it hard to understand the system. Besides, associations that mismatch the new material make residents reluctant to use the balanced ventilation systems. In the concept phase, I generated ideas to improve feedback and foster desirable associations with the ventilation system. Through the iterations, I learned feedback on functioning and on the systems’ activity helps residents. It helps them to trust the system is working, understand what the system is doing and develop appreciation for it. The final concept is the feedback fan. This add-on to ventilation valves spins on the supplied air. In a natural way, it provides residents with feedback. An evaluation proved that with increased feedback, residents are able to incorporate the system in their daily routines and even align their own actions to the systems’ activity. Future steps are to make a solid prototype and develop the service around it. Besides, future design projects can continue on other identified points that hinder the transition of practices. Moreover, insights about feedback of the ventilation system and the practice of maintaining indoor air quality will be valuable, when designing future ventilation systems. In conclusion, both the final design and the insights of the project can contribute to a transition of residents’ practices zero energy homes. ... Read more

Although there are systems that allow you to take your infant with you on a cargo bike, there were still many prejudices and concerns on this matter. Due to the transmitted vibrations, which could be a source of discomfort and a risk to human health, experts criticized travelling with infants on bicycles and cargo bikes. An infant safety seat is the smallest child safety seat for newborns up to 10-13 kg and is properly developed according to the highest crash test standards in the automotive industry. Yet, little is known about the vibrations transmitted from the cargo bike to a child fastened in child safety seat. The graduation project includes a consideration of the health risks and discomfort likely to be caused by vibration. Made analyses and research led to the design of a spring-damper seat system for the use of infant safety seats on cargo bikes. Moreover, the outcome of the graduation project encourages further researchers to investigate how to improve health aspects and comfort of infants during travel by cargo bike. This may lead to a revision of current recommendations for infants’ suitability for travel by cargo bike, placed in an infant car seat, and also have implications for the design of infant seat systems that emphasize comfort and health during travel. ... Read more

The Dutch market has been seeing an growing interest in electric bicycles in recent years. While the trend was propelled by elderly wishing to use a bicycle longer, the e-bike market has shown the potential to loose its stigma and expand to people of other age-groups. The urban commuter as a target group demands for a faster and more attractive type of electric bicycle: from Pedelec (<25 km/h) to Speed-Pedelec (<45 km/h) to a bicycle that can keep up with other motorized vehicles: the Super-Pedelec (over 45km/h). Spaac, a young Dutch company that designs, produces and sells motorized bicycles with a unique timeless appearance based on early 1900s motorcycles, wants to explore the possibilities to add a Super-Pedelec to their product line. The Spaac S7 is able to reach speeds up to 70 km/h which requires a re-evaluation of comfort and safety measures. While Super-Pedelecs are not allowed on Dutch roads yet, this thesis dives into the possible future of Super-Pedelecs and how their comfort and safety are assured and increased compared to the current pedelecs. The final design for the Spaac S7 achieved this by revising the frame (stiffness, seating position), suspension, road holding, ergonomics, visibility and power. ... Read more

In the process of urbanization, cities are becoming ever larger and denser, a process accompanied by a dramatic decrease in water permeable surface area. In addition to this, due to climate change, several areas are experiencing extended periods of heavy rainfall and serious droughts, resulting in an increasing water problem in many cities.
A major challenge is to find a good balance between measures preventing an overload of rainwater leading to urban flooding and providing a solution for times when there is a scarcity of water, which currently result in unwanted effects like restrictions for water use.

The Dakdokters is a company that works on a solution for these problems using an underused place, rooftops. Their core business is designing and installing green roofs in order to increase the benefits of greenery in cities. In 2013 they realized that their green roofs could maybe be combined with an open water storage system that could serve as a water buffer. This was the start of a project called “Polder Roof” (polderdak).
The Polder Roof makes use of a WRB (Water Retention Box) layer underneath a green roof. Large amounts of rainwater which would normally be discharged in the sewage system, are temporarily stored in these boxes on the roof. This not only reduces the pressure on the sewage system during periods of heavy rainfall, but the stored water can subsequently be used for e.g. irrigation of the green roof, or for applications like toilet flushing, leading to a decrease in the use of high quality tap water. Technically it is necessary to be able to precisely control the amounts of water stored. This is achieved by a semi-automatic system, called the Smart Flow Control (SFC), which uses various sensors and electric actuation for control. In addition, it can be controlled over the internet by external operators.

Assignment
Currently several prototypes of SFC controlled Polder roofs are installed on 7 different rooftops in Amsterdam. These prototypes function as a proof of concept. However, for the final market implementation some parts of the concept need improvement:
First of all there is the costs aspect. In order to be competitive with other water retention solutions, the Polder Roof should become less expensive per m3 of water storage. A decrease in investment costs as well as in the yearly costs of maintenance and data subscriptions are needed.
Secondly, the current products fail too often, leading to high maintenance costs.
Thirdly, although not important when it comes to functionality, the design of the system must be aesthetically pleasing, especially in cases where the green roof is going to be combined rooftop park-like settings on the rooftop, visited by e.g. personnel of companies.

The assignment of the Dakdokters for the project described here, focused foremost on the design of the regulatory valve and its housing. In the course of the project the rest of the system was also analysed to identify any other optimizations needed.

The outcome of the project can be divided in the following analyses and results:

Step 1: Exploring the context
The input of different stakeholders was obtained in interviews, especially with a view to critically assess the wanted functionalities of the Polder Roof, since a reduction in these could possibly result in a less complex product, reduced parts costs and increased reliability due to less parts that could fail. Not just the market context, but also the technological implications of the roof context was analysed.

Step 2: Analysis of the current product
All current parts were critically analysed with respect to their functionality, costs and reliability. The reliability analysis not only comprised to regular wear through usage, but also to sensitivity to external factors, such as water pollution. These analyses corroborated the idea that the biggest improvements could be made by redesigning the valve and housing of the SFC, concomitantly also improving the installation procedure. The latter is important since in many cases multiple SFC’s need to be placed , due to the fact that roofs are never totally flat but have a slight slope, requiring multiple basins , each with their own SFC for the optimal water storage. Therefore I first concentrated on redesigning the valve and its housing.

Step 3: Analysis of the current product
These analyses led to a personal design vision of the full system. Together with a function map that was checked by the company and its most important partner, Optigroen, this resulted in a complete overview of all desired functionalities of the new Polder Roof and a program of requirements.

Step 4: Product development of the valve and the housing.
Multiple brainstorm sessions resulted in several new ideas, which were evaluated in expert meetings, using prototypes and (CAD)-sketches. I designed a new way of operating the valve, using a rotational actuator. The expensive, non-functional and not very aesthetically pleasing windmill shape of the current housing was simplified into a droplet shape, making it cheaper to produce while still being iconic. This housing was optimized for easy manufacturing and installation and improved safety of the system. These concepts were bundled into a final new concept.

Step 5: Embodying the concept
In the final design phase the concept was further embodied. Several optimizations using tests with a full scale prototype and meetings with experts led to final concept of the SFC which is focused on an easy and cost-effective production and installation process. A concept for the parts needed for the connectivity of all SFC’s on the roof, using a new micro-controller, reducing the investment and yearly costs and a new scenario for the software using rain radar data was designed.

Step 6: Evaluation of the new product.
In the final phase an evaluation was done on the functionality, the reliability, the costs and the aesthetics of the new design. These evaluation proved that a the new design is less expensive, easier to install on different types of roofs, easy to maintain and more reliable. In addition, it proved aesthetically pleasing to the stakeholders.
Apart from these conclusions the results of these evaluations led to recommendations for further development of the SFC, of which the most important is the following: In order to accurately test the new design it is necessary to built a full size test set up with which roof conditions can be simulated. This set-up should including multiple variations in roof lay-out and amount of water storage. It can similarly act as a demonstration model ... Read more

This graduation report describes the motivation and processing that resulted in the Zesturn. The product is designed to make vegetable trimmings and leftovers, which are otherwise discarded, directly available for cooking in Dutch family households. The Zesturn facilitates this through converting vegetable scraps into powders that can be repurposed as natural flavourings. By analysing the context factors within family households, key aspects regarding habits, cooking knowledge, and attitudes towards food were identified. These insights were used to generate concepts and that ultimately resulted in the Zesturn. The final design is a device that enables vegetable scraps to be dried in a common household oven and can subsequently be ground into powdery flakes. Due to this transformation the vegetable trimmings and leftovers become more acceptable for future consumption, have extended shelf life, and can be efficiently fed back into the cooking process, reducing food waste as a welcoming consequence. ... Read more

Everyone can, to a certain extend, imagine what the future of transportation holds; delivery drones, high-speed trains and autonomous vehicles that will provide us with the experience of having a private chauffeur. One of the shared characteristics between these concepts of future mobility; is that they improve efficiency, e.g. when we can let go of the steering wheel, the time gained can be spend to send out one last e-mail or have a more social commuting experience. Developments in the light rail industry like the Hyperloop concept improve time efficiency, and therefore allow us to arrive at our destination much sooner than before. Yet, comfort, quality time and time efficiency are not the only concerns when it comes to mobility. New challenges manifest themselves, and my initial goal has been to understand the active role mobility could play to solve the challenges that we will meet in a future scenario. The context driven design methodology Vision in Product design has been used to create a future vision and mission statement, which acts as a response to the generated vision. The vision communicates three phenomena that will significantly influence urban environments, and the goal of this thesis has become to provide a solution for these challenges. ... Read more

Urbee is a smart BSSs (bicycle sharing system) which targets private companies as their customers. Unlike common city BSSs that are run by municipalities, Urbee stations can be installed on the diverse environment that cannot be as sufficient and perfect as the space of common city BSSs. This project is about proposing the solution for this specific context.

A nomadic docking station, semi-permanent, architecture which can fit to different given spaces with high adaptability is proposed in this report. To meet the diverse demands of private BSS in the future, the implementation of system should be flexible. The modularized docking station provides four main types of efficient parking configurations. The amount of bikes is changeable depending on the space dimension. The non-excavating installation allows the station can be relocated easily. All these parking configurations can be constructed with the same set of station components.

The image of the next-gen Urbee docking station can be determined after the project. A lower threshold for implement Urbee system for customers, which also helps Urbee to increase the business expandability. A higher mobility and adaptability that system could be quickly adjusted, according to diverse environments and needs. The higher smartised system which provide more intuitive and easier user experience.
... Read more

1.3 billion people in the world lack access to electricity (International Energy Agency (2013). The largest share of this group is poor and lives in the developing world, and has to deal with unmet basic needs. Having the possibility to use reliable and clean energy is seen as a driver for social development and environmental sustainability. Having access to energy is also often linked to economic growth and has a positive impact on health. (Gradl & Knobloch, 2011) Improving energy access is therefore a hot topic worldwide. With a Solar Home System (SHS), energy can be generated and used on a household level at places where the electric grid does not reach. The main components of a SHS are a solar panel for the generation of electricity, a battery for energy storage and balance of system (BoS) components, including power electronics, to coordinate the flows of energy. SHS are offered by multiple companies worldwide, and come in various configurations. The smallest SHS are capable of powering for example LED lights, phones and/or a radio, while larger SHS can power for example televisions and fans. Generally speaking, SHSs are increasing in size. This is due to dropping prices of system components. Where in 2003 a SHS of 20 Wp was economically competitive with kerosene lamps, in 2015 this was already 70-80 Wp. (Chattopadhyay, Bazilian and Peter Lilienthal, 2015) The conventional technologies are likely to dominate the SHS the upcoming years. Proven technologies are favourable as reliability is key for SHSs. This means that most of the SHSs in the future will rely on crystalline silicon panels and lead-acid batteries. In the future, li-ion battery technologies will become competitive as prices are dropping... ... Read more

Inner cities increasingly suffer from congestion and pollution. Besides being a nuisance, these traffic jams cost society an enormous sum of money annually (est. €3 billion in 2015). Still many businesses use unwieldy commercial vans in tiny, crowded city streets.

Urban Arrow (UA) offers slender alternatives in the form of high quality, modular, electric cargo bikes. Whereas their Family bike is a holistic product, the Cargo lacks refinement and character. Particularly in the rapidly growing market, a new level cargo case with a clear identity is imperative.

User research shows that mainly a combination of improvements in function and workflow is desired. Research on aesthetics presented implementing automotive styling is applicable, for taking its design to the next step.

Extensive sketching and CAD with an automotive styling mindset, led to a multifunctional, holistic case. A sound and secure container with 430L of room (versus the former 300L), that doubles as a flatbed carrier for unwieldy cargo. The panels allow to be flat packed when pre-assembled, the basalt composite material allows easy modifications and additions. Workflow is improved by employing a two-part lid and adding a more adaptable lock mechanism. The use of basalt fibre composite makes for a strong yet thin body, and that modifications be possible. ... Read more

A large number of new products and services, such as electric cars, solar panels, and electric boats are introduced and play an important role during sustainability transitions. However, when introduced, these new products do not fit with established aspects of society such as expectations, habits, and infrastructures, leading to low levels of legitimacy. Based on the definition of Suchman (1995) I define the legitimacy of products as: The generalized perception or assumption that the use of a product category is appropriate, proper, or desirable within a specific context of physical objects and elements and a socially constructed system of norms, values, rules, beliefs, and expectations. Legitimacy is seen as a prerequisite for large--‐ scale adoption of new products and services... ... Read more