The building industry is a significant waste contributor. Especially at the end-of-life of the building it causes an enormous impact on the environment. Construction solid waste has caused serious environmental problems. Reuse, recycling and reduction of construction materials have been advocated for many years, and various methods have been investigated. However, the effectiveness of its applications seems limited. Waste will be reduced by extending the lifetime of the materials giving the second life.This research aims to the design of a construction component made of reused train windows of the old VIRM trains of NS. The continuous flow of the train windows due to the renovation of the trains demands a multiadaptable solution that offers different design scenarios. ... Read more

In this paper, the study focuses on the potential material exchanges between indoor farms and existing buildings which is or will be developed for residential use. Based on the material flow, an architectural model, Farmhal1, is proposed as an example of possible interventions. Further on, a workflow is constructed for the assessment of existing buildings which could be suitable for the proposed intervention. The assessment includes the renovation requirements, future energy reduction, investment and earnings based on computer simulations, business plan and local factors. ... Read more

With the nowadays technological changes, a new building typology
should be developed, where all the phases of the “Food Supply Chain” should be elaborated as one: production, process and retail.
The objective is to develop a building typology that could host a space entirely dedicated to food, where all the unnecessary phases are removed, saving on time, resources and costs, and avoiding all the possible wastes related to transportation and processes. In addition to the evident economic benefits, within this new space the consumer could achieve a stronger awareness on how massive quantities of edible products are produced. The project aims indeed
to create a space build up from innovations and technology, where fresh local food, respect and knowledge about health are cultivated and taught. ... Read more

‘Pray For Rain’ is a housing project that integrates economical, social and environmental aspects in a peri-urban area in West Java, called Cigondewah. This project is not only addressing the need of the dwelling in Cigondewah, but also the water issues in this region. The composition of the housing facilitates a water system, which creates a new water source for the residents. The water is getting harvested, processed and stored by the structure of the roof, the façade which is facing the patio, the staircases and the spaces in the patio itself. This housing cluster is designed based on a system, which is flexible and which can be built in different locations in this area. The project is embracing the outdoor spaces, which are already rooted in the way of living in this Kampung as been expressed with local available materials like bamboo for the constructions and enceng gondok (water hyacinth), which also plays a role in filtering the water. ... Read more

This paper examines a new approach to regenerate the neighbourhood Overvecht in Utrecht by tackling some of its problems using a bottom-up strategy. The neighbourhood is approached as a metabolism using a Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and an Urban Political Ecology (UPE) approach. The UPE unveils relational problems while the MFA gives more insight in the different flows in the neighbourhood. The research is limited to the neighbourhood Overvecht and focusses on the money flows. The goal is to find a strategy which empowers the inhabitants by creating businesses and housing which are using the existing money flows in a more efficient way. The strategy found is one of creating hubs throughout the neighbourhood enhancing the local economy. The steps in the strategy are tested by applying them to an example hub. ... Read more

Recreation from the forest is a project from the graduation studio Architectural Engineering at the Delft University of Technology. This research and design project explores local energy potentials from the forest. The project is set in the context of IBA Parkstad, which is an area that was part of the former mine region in the province of Limburg. IBA stands for Internationale Bau Ausstellung and architects were invited to come up with innovative thoughts and projects to give this region an economic impulse. The project specifically focused on the Brunssummerheide. A nature area with a characteristic mining and extraction history.
After the mines closed in the seventies different recreation places in the area disappeared and the forests lost their production function. This project demonstrates how local materials and the landscape could be used in a smart way to reintroduce a recreation place using a lowtech approach.
The project proposes several spa pavilions made of local wood and powered by local biomass from the forest. Wood and biomass can be harvested locally to fill up the base for the pavilions. These bases function as wood compost heat exchangers, a principal from the French inventor and gardener Jean Pain. These can be used to heat the floor, baths and showers of the spa pavilions. That means a unique experience for visitors. Enjoy the forest spa with energy from the forest!
The core of the pavilions is made of stacked pine wood, that was formerly used for the support of the mines. The core facilitates the program of the pavilions and refers to the old mining history of the area.
... Read more

The Harvested Home is a housing concept that completely eliminates non-renewable materials form its structure and envelope. It was developed specifically for the touristic island of Texel in Noord-Holland to be used in the re-development of one specific camping area near De Koog. More specifically, the site chosen is located within the Dunes of Texel National Park, a highly sensitive ecosystem protected by UNESCO. Thus, the Harvested Home was conceived with preserving the integrity of the ground cover in mind. To minimize the work done on site and reduce the damage done during the construction process, the building approach combines, along with its biobased structure, a lightweight pile foundation, plug-and-play connections, and a fully prefabricated structure. These design choices produce a home that can accommodate the uneven and chaotic terrain of Texel without necessitating excavation, and versatile enough to produce buildings customizable to every specificity of the site or the wishes of their occupants. The structure itself completely eliminates oil-based materials and metal. No nails, screws, or other fasteners were used; instead, the structure relies on friction joints. The load-bearing structure consists of a triangular timber frame resting on piles, while the cladding and wall infill is composed of CNC-milled plywood supports geometrically locked in place within the timber frame. The envelope’s water resistance comes form its rainscreen and pine-pitch caulking of its friction joints. A final layer of sprayed cork protects and seals the exposed joints under a waterproof and elastic coating. Relying solely on renewable and biobased materials allows the Harvested Home to have a negative carbon footprint; a Life Cycle Analysis of a 1 meter square sample of the structure reveals an approximately -27 kg of CO2 carbon footprint. The Harvested Home contributes to the field of biobased buildings by demonstration the latter’s potential for flexibility, adaptability, and capacity for rapid assembly. ... Read more

Cigondewah, as a growing industrial area in Bandung, is facing with serious ecological and societal dilemma because of rapid growth of violating textile industry. Polluted water and soil makes traditional food crop farming difficult to maintain, while industry land is biting up farmland, the last precious green space left in this area. To solve this dilemma, I design a bamboo plantation and factory facillitating a self-sustained bamboo agriculture-industry system that can be run by villigers producing textile fiber as well as bio-based purification materials. This buiding is completely made of bio-based materials requiring only local low-technical building skills while still providing functional and pleasant working and visiting spaces. ... Read more

To reduce the environmental impact of built environment, a circular approach needs to be implemented on all levels. Resources often travel great distances to their consumers, which leads to an inefficient and wasteful supply chain. Thus, by moving to localized production of all resources needed to sustain a small
village can be greatly reduced. This research intends to explore the possibilities of a self-sufficient village applying known technologies to all energy and material flows. Achieving full autarky is therefore a key aspect of the plan. The demands of water, food and energy will be researched and from this a quantified
plan will emerge that can serve as design guidelines. The village will be placed in the Dutch sub-urban context of Parkstad, which is known for population decline and changing demographics. This region will be presented by IBA as a regional incubator of sustainable innovations by the year 2020. It is therefore essential to attract people of all age groups to seize this opportunity and collaborate for a sustainable and diverse living environment. ... Read more

Waste pollution is becoming an ever increased challenge and this is even more so the case in Indonesia. Landfills are notoriously overfilled which, together with little spatial opportunity for appropriate waste storage and separation on a local scale, as well as a lack of knowledge leads to a majority of waste being disposed of on road sides, rivers or burned openly.

The project ‘crafting the disused’ focuses on waste flows and a proposal to support recycling by means of spatial facilities, encouraging the recycling of waste into new materials for the built environment on a decentralised scale. Using only local materials such as bamboo and the locally produced waste as construction material, the design is organised around the community with a self-built approach and as a means to facilitate future densification and enabling the local community to organise their own waste management. Split into a waste storage and recycling facility and a reprocessing facility, local inhabitants are encouraged to consider their approach to waste and furthermore to use this in a creative way, while also generating income for the neighbourhood by means of an integrated waste bank.

Key of the project is to clear the current waste pollution and diminish the stigma of waste as something ‘unwanted’ but instead as a new material that can be shaped to desire. ... Read more

The project explored ways how the local impoverished people within Indonesian kampungs can build co housing dwellings by themselves. The technical focus was on the transformation of stone wast material locally to a dry stacking system of concrete and brick elements. ... Read more