In the Dutch government attempting to become fully circular 2050, VMRG, a Dutch Metal Façade Association, has initiated several pilot projects. Two of the most prominent ones are Cirlinq, an asset management platform for documenting building facades, and FaSA (Façade Service Applicate), a collective of stakeholders aiming to use drones and image recognition technology predict the maintenance requirement of facades. There are also attempts to extend the producers' responsibility by developing new business models in collaboration with TU Delft, resulting in developing a Façade Leasing Business model. However, despite these several initiatives and the emergence of new technology to facilitate them, there was still a lack of clarity on how they can be integrated to collect, organize and use façade information to enable decision-making at its End of service.

The first steps of the research involved conducting a literature review on the current state of the art in Circularity, the façade industry, and digital technology in the lifecycle of a façade. A preliminary framework was generated that conceptually maps out the information generated in the lifecycle of a façade, a data structure to store this information, and a conceptual framework for a façade product passport. Based on this preliminary framework, several hypotheses were tested and validated or refuted using surveys and interviews, which helped develop a more detailed framework. This contains detailed process maps of stakeholder roles in the supply chain of the façade, the digital methods used, and information exchanged in the process.

Several criteria are identified by referring to additional literature that can influence the End of Service (EoS) scenario of a façade and are categorized and arranged into decision trees, which eventually can form a framework for a computational tool. These are then grouped into modules which, when processed together, results in a decision. The criteria were then co-related to the information currently exchanged by the stakeholders to determine what is most crucial to making a decision. During this process, it was found that most information required to make a decision is un-processable by computational methods; firstly, they are in unstructured data formats such as documents, and secondly, the necessary criteria to make a decision are subjective and still need human interpretation. Therefore, the decision-making framework can either be used to evaluate existing facades scheduled for demolition or determine the crucial information to be entered in the passport for facades that are not yet constructed.

The entire framework from information capture, organization, and end-of-life decision-making is then demonstrated with information received of the CiTG Façade in the TU Delft campus as part of the Façade Leasing project TU Delft. During this evaluation, it was found that several essential information about the façade not available, and hence the façade was evaluated by assuming industry-standard processes and references to external databases such as the Granta Edu Pack. Information that is available and information generated is noted, which indicates the most crucial information required for EoS Decision making. During the EoS assessment process, while the façade can be disassembled and reused, it can be done early to design a new building, as it had fixed non-modular dimensions. Many conditions have to be considered, mainly regarding sizing, geometry, positioning, and structural system of the façade while designing the building for the CiTG façade to be reused. It was also found that recycling and energy recovery of the façade is only possible if the separation between the aluminum profiles and the thermal barrier is achieved. Although specific modules such as the condition assessment and the performance assessment could not be thoroughly carried out, a table with results of the assessments is generated and therefore acts as a starting point of how this framework can eventually be used and adapted to assess different facades. This framework can be eventually be developed in an iterative manner which can expand it to cater to multiple façade typologies and eventually forming a basis for an EoS assessment tool. All the research questions are answered at the end, acting as a summary of findings. As this research is just a starting point for further in-depth research, conclusions are made regarding recommendations to the Dutch Metal Façade industry and the following possible research stages.

If the Netherlands wants to achieve its goal of being completely circular by 2050 (Berkel, Delahaye, & Faasdreef, 2019), radical solutions must take place. Implementing a circular economy is a challenge, but it proves to be significant given the rate at which resources are being consumed. Designing is one of the most important tasks to achieve the circular agenda. Highlighted by Augusto, Ribeiro and Hotza “considering that design process determines 80% of the environmental impact generate by a product or service, it is important to develop production processes able to support companies in the development of environmentally friendly products or services in a fast, reliable and pragmatic manner” (Augusto, Ribeiro, & Hotza, 2019). The design process has a significant weight in the repercussions a project might have in the environment. Even though such design only refers to the architectonic or product design, the current research takes it a step further and also envisions strategic design. Reverse logistics is a vital component of the circular economy, as it would solve major loopholes and answer the questions that are currently being asked. Understanding the market and having a clearer picture of the behaviour of the materials is vital to assess the current situation and the solutions to be proposed. As mentioned by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, “thinking of systems” (Ellen MacArtur, 2017) is one of the pillars of circularity, which is what reverse logistics might address. The current research analyses the existing conditions, applied to a specific product, and then proposes a product and strategy redesign to facilitate a reverse logistics process. The general objective is to develop a framework that is useful to analyse current construction practices and that also helps identifying possible solutions, both at product and system level, facilitating the implementation of reverse logistics in the façade industry. At the end, a framework that organizes RL is proposed as well as a theoretical basis for DfRL, Design for Reverse Logistics, considering the steps needed to facilitate RL. An application of both formats is performed in a specific case, the CITG building facade panel, and an eventual design exercise is made. Universal panel solutions are proposed, a configuration that will allow interchangeability between products.

This project aims to design the integrated control of shading and operable windows for CEG east facade to improve the thermal comfort with respect to energy consumption. The design stage focused on the thermal advantages that the integrated control of shading and operable window brought to the CEG building. The controls are simulated in the EnergyPlus engine with DesignBuilder interface. The output data of temperature distribution and heating demand of the two proposals were used to compare for choosing the best control strategy during the operating stage. One proposal was using the old glazing materials and the other one was replacing the whole facade. After choosing the final solution (new construction), the effectiveness of shading and operable window control, the visual and ventilation performance of the integrated control, the possible energy deviation, the design refinement were conducted. The final control had a total discomfort occurrence of 39.5 hours, heating demand of 36.10kWh/m2 and lighting demand of 11.17kWh/m2. Compared with the simulation of the existing situation with new construction, it reduced 79% of discomfort hours and 38% of heating demand.