In urban areas, river courses have often been modified to a large extent to meet human needs. This modification has led to a decrease in ecological quality and biodiversity at both local and regional scales. Berlin is an example of a city with substantially modified rivers and decreased biodiversity. Rivers have been modified the most in dense neighborhoods near the city center. There is a need to improve urban river ecosystems in the context of a nationwide and worldwide decrease in biodiversity. The importance of urban green spaces increases for people in cities as well in the context of climate change. However, green spaces and their benefits are not equally distributed throughout the city, with socio-economically disadvantaged people generally having poorer access to green spaces and suffering more from environmental stress factors, such as noise pollution and heat stress. This environmental justice problem can be mitigated by making neighborhoods greener, but open space is often rather limited in the city. Therefore, this graduation project aimed to improve the ecological value of rivers and environmental justice simultaneously with ecological design for existing green spaces. The project focuses on the Panke River, a highly modified river that flows through neighborhoods with a substantial environmental justice problem. Design principles have been formulated based on scientific theory about ecological design and design for equitable green space access. These principles were combined in a design vision for a small area along the Panke River in the district Gesundbrunnen. The resulting design showed that it is possible to significantly improve both the ecological value of river ecosystems and environmental justice with ecological design for existing green spaces. The Panke River can be both an ecological corridor and a green structure that connects neighborhoods. The diverse riverbank landscape with an alternation of ecological and recreational focus areas is a high-quality public green space with improved ecological quality. ... Read more

Information systems are increasingly deployed by healthcare organizations to support decision makers and users of hospitals. As a result, digital twins have recently emerged as an information system with promising application prospects. However, the limited deployment of them leads to the research gap that is addressed by the present research, which aims to answer "how can a digital twin for space use support decision makers and users of hospital real estate" and identify specifications for its development by healthcare organizations.
The research approach is conducted by deploying a design science research framework. In this framework, a literature review is carried out first by analyzing academic publications in the topics of hospital real estate management, space use in hospital real estate, digital twins for space use and digital twins for hospital real estate. Then a case study is conducted in a healthcare organization, by analyzing the organizational characteristics, the real estate portfolio, the deployed information systems for space use and the building documentation databases. This is being done through a set of interviews with employees of the organization, together with a documentation analysis. Two lists of design and utilization principles are then extracted from the literature review and the case study analysis.
The two sets of principles are utilized for the development of a conceptual design of a display of a digital twin for space use in hospitals. This display is based on a time frame window, a building orientation window, a user profile window, a building visualization window and a performance palettes window. The display is then assessed through evaluation interviews and the comprehensiveness of its design is validated. The interviewees further suggest utilization scenarios that they can perform with a similar tool.
It is eventually concluded that a digital twin can be used by different stakeholder perspectives, by providing historical, real time or simulation information at a room, floor, building or campus scale resolution to support operational, tactical and strategic utilization processes. The outcomes of this research can eventually be used by healthcare decision makers in order to develop similar tools. ... Read more

The present research tries to promote circularity in steel structures by attempting to further incorporate technologies like BIM, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Blockchain in the AEC industry. BIM is already applied in construction projects but not yet focused on aspects that will enhance the reusability of steel structures. IoT and Blockchain, on the other hand, are implemented with success in other industries and according to researchers have the potential to add value to the AEC industry as well. The Design Science Research approach is used to develop a framework that will indicate what information should be registered in order to improve the decision making towards reuse when the structure has reached its end of life. During the different phases of a project and specifically the design, construction, operational, and maintenance phase various characteristics of the structure were indicated for registration. Moreover, a detailed roadmap on how they would be registered in each technology, what they would offer to the reuse process, and who is responsible for inserting them. To examine the soundness of the framework, it was validated through semi-structured interviews with experts from the AEC industry. ... Read more

Globally, one in four adults do not meet the recommended amount of physical activity. Because people spend a significant amount of time in the work environment and especially office employees spend a lot of time in sedentary behaviour and have low physical activity levels, this study focuses on the reduction of sedentary behaviour and increase of physical activity in both the office building and the home work environment by replacing sedentary behaviour with incidental physical activity in terms of walking and stair climbing.

This study specifically focuses on the relation between the arrangement of spaces within the office building and employees’ incidental physical activity, since there is limited existing knowledge on this relation. In addition, this study focuses on other spatial, social and personal factors that may influence incidental physical activity within offices where spaces are arranged differently and in the home work environment. Therefore, the main research question is as follows: “How can the arrangement of spaces within the office building and the home work environment stimulate office employees’ incidental physical activity in terms of walking and stair climbing?”

The study resulted in an enhanced method to answer this research question. In this study, this method is tested, refined and retested to advise for further use of the method. Next to that, some results about the relation between the work environment and office employees’ incidental physical activity are discussed. ... Read more

In recent years, the density on the Dutch university campus has increased substantially due to a continued growth of student populations. Campus managers face the challenge of accommodating the university’s students and employees mainly in the existing buildings, which are used ineffectively and inefficiently. In order to improve the space use on campus, campus managers need better information about space use. Therefore, this PhD dissertation proposes the use of Smart campus tools: a service or product with which information on space use is collected real-time to improve utilization of the current campus on the one hand, and to improve decision‑making about the future campus on the other hand. The main research question is: How can smart campus tools optimally contribute to the match between demand for and supply of space, both on the current campus and on the future campus? To answer the research question, this PhD dissertation explores the use of Smart campus tools in Dutch and international contexts, at universities and other organisations. Then, it researches how information from Smart campus tools can be properly connected to campus decision‑making processes. The results from this research are used to inform existing theories and draw lessons for practice. ... Read more

Maintenance plays a vital part in the Circular Economy (CE). Repairing, upgrading and restoring façades extends their lifecycle and reduces waste. The European Union and Dutch government have set goals to reach a circular future: in 2050 the built environment must be 100% circular. However, this demands a tremendous change in the current maintenance system. Façades are often maintained for the service life of only 50 years. Therefore, the quality at end-of-life is usually low. Additionally, due to issues in information capture and management, the condition at end-of-life is also challenging to determine. Therefore, façades are discarded as waste, sometimes way before they are at their actual end-of-life. Furthermore, to increase the circular potential of façades, the existing maintenance system requires change. In this research, an investigation is done into how the current maintenance system can be facilitated towards circular maintenance utilizing digital technologies. Inspections on façade defects are currently carried out manually. Afterwards, this information is stored and maintained manually in real estate software. Visual inspections and information systems are prone to human errors. Therefore, a study is done into the automation of the existing maintenance system to facilitate communication between parties. The Digital Twin (DT) is a real-time computer-generated BIM-model of the mother building, using sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) to capture data. Existing detection technologies are compared with detection sensors from literature, like infrared thermography and fibre sensors. The influence of the recommended sensors on the existing maintenance process is determined. The output of this is a new maintenance system using a DT to increase the circularity potential of façades. ... Read more

Recently, there is a growing need to address the investment gap in renewable energy by attracting non-institutional investors that have investment preferences better suited for the energy transition. Crowdfinancing is a promising alternative, as it allows for increased innovation, more sustainable development and reduced community risks and is driven by a crowd of small investors that are less profit-driven than professional investors. However, current crowdfinancing models are limited by lack of trust, adverse selection, exclusive corporate governance and lack of liquidity. While extant research has identified these limitations and the potential of blockchain technology to solve some of them, there is a need to design the blockchain-based crowdfinancing mechanisms required and provide a business case for their implementation. The research objective of this practice-oriented design research is to provide a practical plan for the implementation of blockchain-based crowdfinancing for renewable energy projects by means of a design and business case for engineering and consultancy firms as the facilitators of the process in the Netherlands, with the purpose to give a boost to the energy transition.
A foundation for the research was provided by making an analysis of the evolution and current state of the Dutch energy market organization based on three cornerstones: market roles, production and financing. This analysis showed a high degree of decentralization in terms of market roles and production from renewables that allowed the emergence of community driven energy cooperatives, while a dependence on centralized financial intermediaries is still present; risky and small projects do not have access to bank financing and existing crowdfinancing platforms charge high brokerage fees and provide no secondary markets. A pilot study based on the same cornerstones and consisting of interviews with relevant market parties was performed in order to supplement the analysis of the market for the formulation of design requirements for the crowdfinancing mechanisms. Qualitative desk research was done on existing smart contract applications that could be utilized to overcome the limitations of crowdfinancing and served as the building blocks for the conceptual designs. Qualitative desk research was also performed in order to quantify the costs and address the (legal) implications of implementing the mechanisms proposed.
The result was a practical plan consisting of blockchain-based crowdfinancing mechanisms that reduce brokerage fees and facilitate the organic establishment of secondary markets by making use of existing public blockchain infrastructure, and a positive business case for consultancy and 10 engineering firms to facilitate the process. Smart contracts govern the crowdfinancing process autonomously for low and high risk projects, where with the latter crowdinvestors are given financial control by locking project funds in trustless escrow contracts, thereby allowing them to cut losses in failing projects and thus addressing the issues of lack of trust and exclusive corporate governance, while mitigating the effects of adverse selection. This practical plan provides a tool to further empower the crowd as the fuel for the energy transition, thereby increasing investments in renewables. However, social exclusion might result at first from the intrinsic complexity of blockchain technology and the degree to which a boost can be given to the transition remains unclear due to a lack of consensus on the effectiveness of crowdfinancing to increase support for the bigger projects. There is further research needed into a risk management-based approach for the design of escrow contracts that release funds according to a project planning, while the delegation of control rights to more capable third parties also requires more research. Additionally, the application of decentralized governance beyond financial control requires further examination as well. ... Read more

In order to ensure the sustainable development of cities, the existing building stock has to be transformed to stay relevant to the changing needs of urban dwellers and to reduce the economic and environmental impacts of cities on the planet. Thus, innovating and developing a strategy that prepares the built environment for 2050 is of significant importance. On the other hand, a few researchers explored the problem of energy performance gap in retrofitted buildings due to a lack of knowledge in energy consumption and a proper way to access the data. Therefore, this study aims to deepen knowledge on the relationship and interaction between the end-user and building’s energy performance, thereby contributing to the academic discussion on the energy performance paradox of retrofitted buildings. With the help of various smart energy tools, it is possible to acquire better insight and to regulate the energy performance of the building with respect to thermal comfort and occupant well-being. This study presents the importance of energy sufficiency through passive design and BMS implementation as a path towards those goals by answering the following main research question ‘How to integrate the Building Management Systems (BMS) requirements to optimize the energy performance and user satisfaction in retrofitted residential buildings?’ Through a case study, the outcome of this master thesis is achieved: A strategic approach towards energy sufficient building design that focusses on adding value to the environment, economy and end-users. By promoting the right ecological solutions and having a conscious user behaviour, energy can be consumed efficiently whereas temperatures are kept at a very comfortable level. The MOR Team’s proposal for the Rotterdam Europoint Complex is an example of self-sufficient high-rise tower relying solely on renewable energy: High performance, Low energy. ... Read more

The present research is focused on the possibilities of implementing blockchain technology in the reclaiming asphalt process in the Netherlands, in collaboration with BAM Infraconsult. The feasibility of using blockchain technology in order to improve several parts of this process is investigated. More specifically, the Design Science Research approach is used, and the main purpose of the study is to design an artifact that will be used for two use cases in the reclaiming asphalt process, i) an information platform use case and ii) a supply chain management use case. At first, the process is analyzed in terms of i) business network, ii) the process itself and iii) the information that is exchanged during its execution. Then, the proposed model is designed in two ways, i) a Sequence Diagram and ii) by using the online playground of Hyperledger Composer. At the end, the proposed model is validated and five possible benefits that could be brought in the process are mentioned: i) transparency in transactions, ii) materials traceability, iii) long terms sharing of data in a predetermined way, iv) g give permission to predetermined actors to view specific data and v) reliability, immutability and trustiness in the stored data. ... Read more

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. ... Read more

We, humans, spend 80-90% of our lives indoors. Thereby the building has two main functions, namely: protect their occupants and provide the occupants a comfortable indoor environment. However, the last one seems a big challenge, since every individual is different from each other, based on the factors as age, gender, clothing, activity, positioning within the building or body mass. At the current situation, building service systems in most buildings are maintained at a steady level based on fixed schedules and average values. As a result, the thermal comfort of building occupants are hardly met. In the meantime, the same building service systems account for up to 50% of the energy consumption in the commercial sector. A response to this challenge is started with the introduction of personal comfort systems, which focuses on the individual occupants instead of average values of a large group of people. However, we are not there yet. This thesis is contributing to the response by focusing on efficient usage of personal comfort systems and tries to close the loop between the building service system and building occupants by finding a proper balance between providing thermal comfort and reducing energy consumption. ... Read more

Circular economy is gaining global momentum as a new economic system to achieve sustainable development. The built environment plays an important role during the transition to a circular economy. China and the Netherlands share a common basis on enhancing resource efficiency by circular economy, which provides opportunities for mutual learning. Therefore, it is necessary to understand how circular economy is introduced differently in China and the Netherlands, and how circular economy is implemented differently in the built environment. ... Read more

There is a clear mismatch between the national ambition to reach a natural gas-free housing stock and the current ability of owner-occupiers to meet this ambition. This research aims to help resolve this mismatch between the national ambition and the opportunities for households to act in the gas-free transition. To do so, missing information is provided and made understandable to homeowners. By including the servitization model, the effect of this new model is furthermore researched. The objectives are as follows: (1) conceptualize the natural gas-free transition process; (2) develop optimum homeowner focused transition packages showcasing if and how they can enter the transition process; and (3) generate a housing stock feasibility overview and assess the added value of the servitization model. The main method of this research is the development of a transition tool. The tool combines a Building Performance Simulation (BPS) with economic analysis. The main empirical findings indicate that feasible gas-free transition packages can be developed for 33%, or 1.2 million privately owned dwellings with the processes currently available. The remaining 2.4 million dwellings do not showcase feasible business cases to enter the gas-free transition process. The results show that the dwellings that illustrate feasible transition package have the potential to decrease their 49% share of primary energy demand to 8% when gas-free, decreasing the total energy consumption of the Netherlands by 7.7%. ... Read more

Many infrastructure projects cope with a cost overrun and time delay due to the lack of effective design change management in case of design changes. To implement these design changes, an effective change process is necessary. This process guides the project team in identifying, documenting, evaluating and managing design change. With this technical tools are needed for implementation of change, namely BIM(Building Information Modelling). By using BIM, assessment is made on whether design changes are feasible and what consequences it may have on planning, costs, re-work, and clashes. However, current knowledge is lacking on how to use BIM when implementing a design change in a project. This research aims to set up a procedure that can be used by the project team for implementing design changes during the execution phase of infrastructural projects. To achieve this objective, the main research question is answered by analysing case studies. Hereby, both qualitative and quantitative analyses are carried out in three cases in the infrastructural field. Both analyses are subdivided into the organisational dimension(for the change process) and technical dimension(use of BIM). For the qualitative part, semi-structured interviews are held with contract managers and BIM managers. For the quantitative part, samples are taken to analyse each project. These samples consisted of all contractual changes in the project that led to a change in the design and which have been implemented after the execution phase has commenced. The results of the literature study and the case studies are used to develop a procedure to be used by the project team in case of design changes during the execution phase of infrastructural projects. By using this procedure, the project team gains a full understanding of how the design change process should proceed and which steps they have to take for effective implementation of design change with using BIM. ... Read more

Humanity is facing large scale environmental challenges emerging from the anthropogenic climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are widely considered to be the main driver of the changing climate. With the built environment currently being accountable for about 40% for our total GHG emissions there is a great urgency to act and change our current consumtion patterns. Whereas new buildings are already mostly able to achieve a high energy efficiency the biggest potential for CO2 reductions lies in retrofitting the existing housing stock. Yet current interventions aimed at retrofitting our built environment often seem to remain below their expectations. Actual solid evidence on their performance is scarce and inaccurate. One reason for the lack of information is seemingly the rather simplified and therfore inadequate approach to generate feedback. In order to provide more accurate evidence and thereby facilitate more effective decision-making this research investigates an alternative approach based on a more holistic thinking and the use of data innovation. ... Read more

This report presents my graduation research toward a BOLD-driven method which uses the triangle relationship between the project developer, transportation and Big Open Linked Data in the process of monitoring and implementing ambitions for residential project developments. The research is conducted for my graduation at the Technical University of Delft, within the Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences of the Master Track Management in the Built Environment.
It is intriguing how massive the amount of available data and different data sources is nowadays. The amount and, more important, the quality of this data increases rapidly. While big data already seems to be a hot topic for businesses, this data is currently not (often) used or implemented correctly within the built environment. This research shows how (big) data-analytics can influence residential project developments and issues concerning transportation within the city.
The key points of the ambitions regarding transportation of the municipality of Amsterdam are ambiguous since it is not clearly stated what the city defines as a solution for the mobility issues. Project development could be useful for implementing the ambitions since project developments change (small) parts of the city. Nonetheless, transportation does not seem to be a very important topic in the development brief. It is furthermore not analysed what impact new developments have on transportation. Therefore a BOLD-driven method is needed to make the transportation issues more tangible. Within this research the main question is stated as follows:How can the triangle relation between project development, transportation and Big Open Linked Data be used in the process of monitoring and implementing ambitions for residential project developments? This research is conducted from the point of view of the project developer. The goal is to give a better understanding of how project developers could make use of the BOLD-driven method in a new residential project development. The answer could stimulate project developers to manage, classify and structure Big Open Linked Data in such a way BOLD can contribute to new projects. This research is an explorative research on the topics of BOLD, transportation and project development. ... Read more

Projects of re-use of underused infrastructures to design sustainable urban landscape architecture represent a great contribution to meet the need for sustainability cities are experiencing today. Urban administrators often strive for a successful realization of such projects, to give a social and economic power impulse to poorly performant neighbourhoods. In some cases, though, a balance between the three dimensions of sustainability (environmental, social and economic) is a hard matter to achieve. Indeed, in some occasions, the neighbourhood-boosting role takes over, leading to the establishment of mechanisms that might only partially work from a sustainable viewpoint. Big Open Linked Data (BOLD) methods are offering new opportunities to design decision-making models for urban planning and management. The combination of social media, census, sensors and traditional data gives a new perspective to solve modern urban challenges through a holistic and inclusive approach. Compared to the mere use of traditional sources, BOLD methods rely on a bigger-scale, more accurate, real-time, data set. In this research, BOLD potential is explored to estimate the extent to which it can help solving the described urban issue. Therefore, the research question can be addressed as follows: How can BOLD help city planners and managers determining the real-time and holistic impact on social, environmental and economic dynamics in projects of re-use of obsolete or underused infrastructures? How could these projects enhance sustainable benefits without neglecting the positive economic and social impact for the neighbourhood? An in-depth literature study on public parks and brownfield redevelopments can help setting criteria and variables related to sustainability. For each of these variables, it is established whether a BOLD approach could bring more satisfactory results on a selected case study, the High Line Park, in New York. The final product is a framework that serves as decision-making supportive tool, to assess through BOLD and traditional data combined the way these aspects of sustainability connect to each other in such projects. Finally, the framework is tested and adapted to a case study in Rotterdam, the Hofbogen viaduct redevelopment. This case study in the Netherlands is not only useful to test the validity of the framework built in a different context, but it serves the purpose of solving the main problem concerning this case study: social sustainability. Indeed, the framework is used to improve this aspect thorough the next phases of the redevelopment, defining a frame for both project and neighbourhood assessment and inclusive participatory model for all stakeholders involved. ... Read more

The building industry is characterized by the creation of organizational silos. These silos are causing frictions and inefficiencies on an operational, financial and managerial level. The following research is approaching these silos within the case of X-Decks, a temporary and circular parking project, and the means of blockchain technology.
The thesis is a contribution to the current theoretical and practical research gap on blockchain technology in the built environment and its potential in in an early adoption phase. By targeting traditional structures in the building and parking industry, it is necessary to innovate current means to develop, construct, manage, operate, maintain and reuse parking buildings. An in-depth evaluation of blockchain technology with potential stakeholders of the X-Decks case is used to derive an asset management framework and blockchain prototype that aim to change traditional hierarchical processes into more coequal and transparent ones.
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