The built environment is responsible for nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting its critical role in addressing climate change. Retrofitting existing buildings has emerged as a key strategy for achieving net-zero carbon objectives, focusing on reducing both operational and embodied carbon emissions. However, retrofitting practices face challenges such as fragmented data systems, limited real-time monitoring, and inadequate stakeholder collaboration. Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents transformative potential to address these challenges by optimizing energy performance, streamlining decision-making processes, and improving retrofitting outcomes. This research investigates how AI can integrate decarbonization strategies into building
retrofitting to achieve net-zero objectives, addressing the main research question: How can AI methodologies integrate decarbonization strategies in building retrofitting to achieve net-zero building objectives in design and construction management? The hypothesis of this research posits that AI-driven technologies, such as machine learning, can effectively optimize retrofitting practices by addressing deficiencies in current methods, improving decision-making processes, and enabling energy performance optimization to achieve net-zero outcomes. A review of the literature reveals eight critical retrofit measures and highlights significant gaps in current practices, such as the lack of standardized methodologies and the late-stage assessment of carbon impacts. Furthermore, the review emphasizes the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its subsets—such as machine learning, neural networks, and deep learning—to optimize retrofitting by enabling predictive analytics, energy modeling, and improved decision-making processes. To test this hypothesis and address these gaps, a qualitative, deductive methodology is adopted, combining semi-structured interviews with industry experts and a case study analysis to uncover actionable insights. The findings reveal that AI subsets, such as machine learning and neural networks, can enhance predictive maintenance, unify fragmented data, and enable dynamic adjustments in retrofitting processes. Nonetheless, barriers such as data quality, algorithmic biases, and resistance to technological change persist, requiring phased implementation and enhanced stakeholder collaboration for successful adoption. The study synthesizes these findings by linking identified deficiencies in retrofitting with specific AI-driven solutions, demonstrating how tailored AI applications can address both embodied and operational carbon challenges. This research develops an AI methodology for integrating AI to improve decarbonization strategies to address real-world deficiencies in retrofitting practices, optimize energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and enhance stakeholder collaboration, ultimately contributing to achieving net-zero building objectives.

The construction industry is responsible for the emitting carbon, nitrogen, and particulate matter, which is harmful to the environment and contributes to global warming. Municipalities in the Netherlands plan to reduce emissions in inner-city developments to zero before 2030, for which a transformation of the already complicated construction supply chain would be necessary. The unique characteristics of the construction supply chain; temporary coalition of organizations working on one-of-a-kind projects, complicate reduction of supply chain emissions. In other sectors like manufacturing focal firms take in a central position between the demand and supply system and can align the supply chain. In construction the developer translates demands from society, the public and customers into projects that are executed by core supply chain stakeholders. The main question to be answered in this thesis is: How can real estate developers organize a low-emission supply chain for high-rise construction in Dutch cities? A literature review on green construction supply chain management and construction emissions have given insight into the drivers, barriers, and roles of different stakeholders in low-emission design, -procurement, -logistics and -construction & manufacturing. Inner-city high-rise case studies and semistructured interviews with relevant stakeholders within these projects were conducted to draw lessons from practice. Developers can have a big influence on construction emissions through setting ambitions and translating these low-emission ambitions in the criteria for the procurement of services and materials for all supply chain stakeholders. In design, close collaboration with the architect and early involvement of the contractor and relevant expertise can help implement low-emission practices. Logistics and construction & manufacturing emissions can be influenced through contractual agreements with contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers, but should not be a direct responsibility of the developer and ask for active involvement of the government.

Construction resource management in the Netherlands is causing environmental concerns due to a high demand for infrastructure maintenance and carbon/nitrogen emissions. Insufficient optimization of resource management between projects results in more traffic and higher energy demand, but measures such as linking projects, program management, and reducing transportation can save money, improve air quality, and decrease emissions. Efficient resource management is crucial in the construction industry to achieve project goals despite challenges such as complex projects, tight budgets, and supply chain issues.
The aim of this study is to develop a proof-of-concept for managing resources between construction projects using digital connections between resource data. The goal is to optimize information sharing between different companies to reduce urban city traffic, energy consumption, and emissions, while also being practical and easy to implement. This study uses a cross-sectional research design, which involved the collection of transport data from three civil work projects in the centre of Amsterdam. The study uses a combination of research methods including interviews, data analysis and a discrete event simulation.
The main mechanisms influencing inefficient resource management in construction are: (1) the lack of digitalisation at smaller sized construction companies, (2) the imbalance between ingoing and outgoing construction logistics, and (3) the inefficient transports of non-bulk materials.
The study focuses on optimizing logistics in the construction industry in the Netherlands to reduce emissions. The study emphasized the benefits of collaboration among different construction projects and proposed a hypothesis that a centralised resource management system can optimize resource usage and reduce environmental impact. By analysing the construction logistics of three projects in Amsterdam, the study demonstrated that a centralised system for logistic resource management can be employed to reduce traffic required for construction projects, optimize resource usage, and potentially improve the balance between ingoing and outgoing transports. The study also highlighted the challenges in data capturing and the need for a unified digital system for logistic data. The study concludes that a centralized system for logistic resource management can provide insight into transport data and could reduce traffic caused by construction projects through facilitating smart interventions.

The reuse of secondary materials will be important in achieving a circular built environment. But now, this is challenging since material streams are not synchronized in terms of space and time. Building material hubs, a location where materials are gathered, examined, and momentarily stored before being packed and sent to the building site which, are a way to better organize the flow of goods between parties, might be the answer as they have a positive effect on fewer transit movements, reduced traffic, and better air quality in the city or region.

By identifying building material hubs in relation to the realization of a circular build environment and by defining the factors that shape the emergence of the hubs, this study fills a gap in the literature. The primary research question is therefore: "What different building material hubs in relation to a circular built environment exist, and what factors explain their emergence?".

This study identified six primary factors that explain the establishment of construction material hubs, based on 26 sub-factors. These primary factors include (1) land-based, (2) economic, (3) logistical, (4) technology and knowledge, (5) social, and (6) governance factors. Every circular construction material hub begins with a circular business case that demonstrates how the materials may be used more effectively and with more efficiency. The hub's strategic location connects the supply and demand of building materials, ideally used ones. The building material hubs are shaped by a variety of knowledge and experience as well as logistical accessibility to the main road network. The initiator from the hub contributed equally by raising awareness and offering white label facilities. In relation to the circular built environment, there are four distinct typologies of circular building material hubs: (1) the circular craft centre, (2) the circular multimodal building material hub, (3) the circular building material hub and (4) the circular raw building material hub. This study emphasizes the development of typologies and their connections to relevant territorial factors that explain their emergence, something that, as far as is known, no other study has done. This study is consistent with the body of research from research organizations on the topic of (circular) building material hubs and its potential. The report's findings provide an intriguing parable for cities and regions that have set the challenging objective of attaining a circular built environment. A reasonable next step when enhancing the circular activities in a region may be to implement a CBMH.

Managing building supply chains is significantly challenging due to its temporary nature, design to order, fragmentation and overall complexity of processes. As the built environment strives to achieve a circular domain, there is an increasing need for solutions that close product and organisational systems together with the material and information flow running through them. These flows currently ‘leak’ and waste materials due to classic linear approaches they have been based on for decades. Furthermore, the context of a circular supply chain is still under research, and it mainly consists of fragmented information over various topics. Therefore, this thesis explores how circular economy principles could be implemented and enhanced within the whole construction supply chain
by investigating also its control environment. This thesis’s scope is the circular supply chains and the information/ material flows needed throughout the process and the respective actors involved in such flows.

The modelling of a supply chain was observed as an appropriate approach to the representation of a circular supply chain environment, as it visualises in a simplified way the complex nature of supply chains. The proposed model provided insights within three levels of analysis: process, organisations and product. The process level identified the additional process phases that are needed in the reverse loops of information and materials. The organisation level elaborated on the traditional stakeholders and new circular specific stakeholders that could be introduced into these processes. Within this level
traditional stakeholders were observed to adapt their operations by introducing some of the circular specific stakeholder activities internally. The third product level, investigated the control environment and the data residing within it, both provided and required data information. Identifying the data, processes and the involved actors facilitated into the design of a Modular Circular Supply Chain Model (MCSCM). In addition, the modular structure of the model enables the adaptability of any of the modules, whether this be adding or modifying modules and functionalities to suit a wide range of circular supply chain situations. The MCSCM is expected to introduce a general image of a circular supply chain environment by making this concept more tangible into nowadays society.

The project shows the potential of the transition space, by mediating between the individual “the body” and their surroundings. A thesis critical of architecture based on perception and behaviour. The project is a case study located in the city centre of Rotterdam "Kruisplein area" to show the potential of a place in the city which is currently formalized by different forms, systems and relations. For this, a tapestry is introduced; "the ground undulation” to undo the static-ness and undulate the user. The project has the intention to create a more porous and paused environment by penetrating in the tapestry with architectural compositions, all having different objectives. This punctuations arise curiosity and trigger the body to make new relations with other bodies, the surroundings and its elements. The relation of the different scales in this project will contribute to the relation, experimentation and perception of the visitor, passenger and passer-by. – An architectural project of consciousness, unconsciousness, contingencies and perception

Over the past years, construction activities in the Netherlands shifted from spacious greenfield developments to dense inner-city redevelopment projects. Approximately 50 per cent of the total turnover in construction is generated within the country’s large cities. It’s expected that this percentage will grow to 80 per cent in the near future(De Bes et al., 2018). Inner-city construction activities and the large logistical supply stream connected to it has a large impact on the liveability of the city. Almost 30 per cent of al business traffic is related to construction logistics (Vrijhoef, 2018). Consequences of these activities are a nuisance for neighbours due to noise, congestion, poor air quality due to the emission of greenhouse gasses and particulate matter, and a negative impact on road.

The development of Construction Consolidation Centres is an innovation in the logistical process that helps with lowering the impact construction has on the cities. The benefits for society and involved companies would suggest that the CCCs are a great success and are widely used in practice, the reality is different. Researchers debate the ability of CCCs to be financially self-sufficient (Browne et al., 2007) or state that the implementation of CCCs in the construction process is expected to increase when the financial benefits are transparent. De Bes et al. (2018) stress the need for the development of financial models that enable supply chain partners to consciously decide for the implementation of Construction Consolidation Centres based on predicted financial benefits. An important step in the development of these new logistics solutions is proving their value by measuring the impact on efficiency and costs (De Bes et al., 2018).
The implementation of Construction Consolidation Centres in the Dutch construction sector is limited due to a lack of tools to prove the financial benefits. A calculation model that predicts the impact of the logistical costs on the construction costs in the preparation stage of the project to prove the financial benefits of the Construction Consolidation Centres has not been developed yet.

The aim of this research is to develop an alternative model for cost accounting in the construction industry. This model includes the activities of the construction logistics process impacted by the implementation of a Construction Consolidation Centre. The developed model needs to enable the prediction of the impact of the implementation of a CCC on the costs of a construction project in the preparation stage of the process.

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.

Purpose: The implementation of Product-Service-Systems (PSSs) in real estate development project could support the shift of the real estate sector towards a more Circular Economy. With the implemen-tation of these system responsibilities of products remain with the suppliers of these products. This incentives suppliers to design products which fit in closed material loops. Much attention was paid by scientists and practitioners about the implementation of these PSSs in practice. However, a knowledge gap still exists about how Product-Service-Systems function on an operational level in real estate devel-opment projects. Therefore, actors in the real estate sector do not know how to implement PSSs in real estate development projects. The central role of the service provider (i.e. former real estate developer) is hereby seen as important since this actor that would manage the overall performance of a servitized building and steers the development of it. The objective of this research is therefore to (1) conceptual-ize the functioning of circular Product-Service-Systems on an operational level and (2) develop conceptu-al working models that could be used by real estate developers to perform the role of the circular ser-vice provider.
Research question: How could a circular service provider interact with service suppliers and customers in order to implement circular Product-Service-Systems in real estate development projects?
Methodology: The research process consisted of fours steps. The first step relates to the development of concepts. An explorative literature review and several explorative interviews were conducted within this step. The second step comprehended a systematic literature review in order to gain insight in exist-ing theories. The third steps related to practices, whereby three case studies were conducted and ana-lysed. The fourth step related to the synthesis, hereby theories were built around four business tactics, which in the end led to the generation of a proposition in the form of empirical lessons.
Findings: As Product-Service-Systems aim at meeting end-users needs, service value is created over time. This implies that a mindset change within the real estate sector is needed in order to servitise real estate development projects. Organizations in the real estate sector should hereby aim at long-term value creation for customers and collaborate with partners. Actors within the supply chain should opt for equal partnership and form networks of organizations around a specific goal.
Conclusion: The role of the service provider is hereby to find the right partnerships and ensure incen-tives will be directed towards thig long-term service delivery. The form and content of these partner-ships is essential in order to implement Product-Service-Systems successfully. The service provider could establish this by using the developed 'Interaction Model'.
Limitations: Three case studies from one real estate development company have been analysed as not many servitized project are available. The validity of findings is increased by using different sources of data and research techniques (triangulation).

Blockchain technology is able to guarantee an immutable data record which could avoid disputes and litigations. It could also significantly reduce time and costs through process automation. The technology presents a potential solution for the many legal barriers in BIM, regarding ownership of information. This thesis will continue research based on these hypotheses by experimenting within a project transcending partnership in the Dutch social housing sector. For these partnerships alignment of business objectives and commercial interests is still lacking. An overarching goal through benefit-sharing agreements could be implemented by blockchain-enabled contract management. This could potentially result in better financial control and a lucrative business case, which are instrumental for actual adoption of new innovations.

For almost five years, healthcare design and construction sector is in my focus.
I started my experience in this field from design proposal of health-improving and rehabilitation center in Moscow which was my master thesis in Moscow Architectural Institute (MArchI) in 2012. After graduation I also worked as an architect in large architectural bureau which is specialized in design and construction of healthcare and resort facilities. Healthcare architectural typology is one of the most complicated ones because it deals with great number of technical and technological issues, which dictate the final spatial and design solutions in many ways. Moreover, technical regulations and demands in this type of buildings are one of the strictest ones based on the core functions and nature of the process. To find a rational balance between technology and architectural aesthetics in healthcare is a great challenge for architect.

In 2013 I started my MSc Architecture program in Politecnico di Milano in order to extend my architectural vision and to get European experience and understanding of the profession of architect. Because of the fact that I already had experience in the healthcare sector at that time, I chose the topic of healthcare as my graduation subject in Milan. There is a special department in Politecnico di Milano dedicated to design problems of healthcare facilities. The head of the department, professor Stefano Capolongo, was my supervisor of the graduation project which was dedicated to modular and prefabricated solutions in healthcare design. The main focus of my thesis was to design spatial solutions for general hospital where all functions and departments can be arranged into modular and prefab scheme by using the same span of the structural grid. Questions of modularity, transportability of the modules to the construction site, universality of the layout which allows to put different functions within the same module were the main ones in my research. In order to test my hypothesis and findings I designed renovation project for the real general hospital in one of the Russian provincial cities. The idea behind this step was to test possibility to extend existing healthcare facilities in a modular and prefabricated way which allows to minimize interruptions in the daily activities of the hospital while being under renovation, reduces time schedule for the renovation project in construction phase and increases the quality of the complete work based on in-factory production and assembly process.

The focus of my Milan project was mainly on spatial and technological aspects of modular healthcare design. Since I am particularly interested in medical design and construction sector, as I already mentioned, I decided to continue my research in this field while working on my graduation project in TU Delft on Management In the Built Environment Master program in order to understand the entire process of modular construction not only from architectural, but also from managerial, technological, logistic and financial points of view. The main question of this research is whether modular solutions in hospital construction more economically feasible than traditional on-site construction methods, considering the entire life cycle process of the hospital building? By answering this question, I will understand and evaluate financial, managerial and logistical aspects of hospital construction, which will give me the complete picture of effectiveness of modular construction in hospitals.

I would like to say thank you to my mentors, Peter de Jong and Ruben Vrijhoef, who supported me along this year and organized a number of interviews with the set of experts who helped me to get the picture of processes in modular construction. Special appreciation to all experts and specialists, who kindly agreed to meet and answer to my questions. All their interviews can be found in appendixes of this report. Special thank you to my family who supports me in my career and helps me to get the things I am working on.

Currently the on-site logistics of construction projects are very inefficient. The construction industry is very fragmented and there are a lot of different information and material processes, therefore it is difficult for a main contractor to get control of these all. It is assumed that if the main contractor gets control of the logistics, the logistics will become more efficient. One of the ways to get control is with BIM. Building Information Modelling combines the data of all stakeholders in one model and can help to streamline the logistics. The goal of this research is to show contractors how they can get change their traditional processes into a supply chain that is managed with BIM and get control of their logistics.

The research design that was selected is that of a single-case study. The case that is selected is project Bètatoren, a medium-sized construction project that is built by Waal. This research focusses on Waal, but includes also other parties. Two subcontractors and two suppliers of project Bètatoren have been selected, in order to research the whole supply chain. Also, experts from other construction companies are involved for the validation of this research.

Case study research shows that currently the logistic information and BIM are disconnected. The logistic information is send from the subcontractors and suppliers to the main contractor and back, but this happens mainly in 2D. This is partly due to the fact that there is a mismatch between the information processes and the production processes. As a result, information is missing in the BIM-model. This information should be completed, but that does not happen. No one takes responsibility and therefore the current information processes are fragmented and uncoordinated. The main contractor controls the process but does not coordinate the information, neither does anyone else.

Based upon a literature study and case study research several steps have been defined which the main contractor must take in order to manage the logistics with BIM. First, the main contractor must take the responsibility and control the changes in the process. He must actively lead the supply chain and demand collaborative behavior from the subcontractors and suppliers. Secondly, the main contractor must make sure that the information processes and BIM are connected, and that the logistic information is incorporated in both. This includes, inter alia, linking the planning to the BIM-model. Thirdly, the main contractor must make sure that the BIM-model aligns with the logistics on the construction site.

The information flows and the BIM-structure should be connected to make supply chain management with BIM feasible. According to the research, the process of changing a traditional supply chain into a supply chain management with BIM is both financially, organizationally and socially feasible for the main contractor. Concluding, if the main contractor takes control, actively coordinates and structures the information flow and focusses on connecting the logistic information and BIM, he can get control of the logistics.

Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Building Information Modelling (BIM) are seen as innovations that can manage complexities in construction by focusing on integrating processes and products respectively. Whereas these two innovations have been considered compatible, their practical combination has been mainly anecdotal. The Netherlands was the locale of this study, where both SCM and BIM have been popular approaches. The research objective is to explore their real-world combination and propose strategies for the alignment of SCM and BIM, by viewing Supply Chain (SC) partnering as the inter-organisational proxy of SCM. The main question is: “How to align the SCM philosophy with BIM technologies to achieve integration in the construction industry? What aspects contribute to this alignment?”. The methodology was mixed and both qualitative and quantitative data were analysed. The overarching method was case study research and the unit of analysis was the firm, also referred to as ‘actor’.

After a semi-chronological review of the relevant literature, the two constructs of SCM and BIM were found interdependent in product-, process-, and actor-related (P/P/A) dimensions. The study consisted of four other consecutive studies. First, empirical insights into the practical implementation of SC partnering and BIM were obtained via the exploration of five cases. Second, a conceptual model for the quantitative analysis of the product-, process-, and actor-related dimensions was designed. Third, this model and mixed methods were applied to two polar (extreme) cases to analyse the contractual (typically SC-related), digital (typically BIM-related), and informal interactions among the involved actors. Fourth, an additional theoretical exploration of the BIM-enabled SC partnerships took place with focusing also on intra-organisational relations within the involved firms. After the four studies, the findings were systematically combined to create the theoretical synthesis, i.e. generate theory. Three consecutive steps of ‘construct’, ‘internal’, and ‘external’ validity took place after the synthesis, to define the transferability of findings. The systematic combination of findings deduced two routes to achieve SC integration in construction: (a) product-related (emphasis on BIM tools), and (b) actor-related (emphasis on SCM philosophy).

The two observed routes to SC integration emerged from the data of the polar cases. Two complementary sets of strategies for SC integration were derived afterwards. These strategies could ease the identification of which route is the ‘closest fit’ to SC integration, and then support the decision-making of how to pursue it. As the concept of BIM is currently a hot topic, it might be wise to undertake a ‘product-related’ route to integration and gradually introduce strategies from the ‘actor-related’ route. However, the ‘actor-related’ route could attain long-term integration and thus, long-lasting relations among the multi-actor networks. The key aspects of the alignment of partnering with construction IT for BIM-enabled SC partnerships are:
- The identification of whether the SC complexity is of process-, product- or actor-related nature;
- The deployed BIM collaboration patterns, i.e. ad-hoc, linear or distributed;
- The SC coordination mechanisms, e.g. centralised or decentralised;
- The relation between formal and informal aspects, e.g. symmetric or asymmetric;
- The emerging intra-organisational relations due to BIM and SCM implementation;
- The hierarchical level that BIM-enabled SC partnership decision-making pertains.

As the construction industry evolves into an information-driven sector, the alignment of construction IT with inter-organisational management is preeminent for managing the inherent complexities of the industry. In parallel, embracing inter-organisational approaches for information management such as BIM is a promisingway forward for SCM and construction management.