Waste and robots
An opportunity for the future of carbon neutral buildings
F.J. Munoz (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
T Asselbergs – Mentor (TU Delft - Architectural Engineering)
J.A. van de Voort – Mentor (TU Delft - Architectural Engineering)
S. Așut – Mentor (TU Delft - Design Informatics)
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Abstract
Waste derived from constructions and demolitions creates an opportunity to lower the carbon footprint of buildings. As bricks and concrete make up two of the most common construction materials world-wide, once the buildings they are built into, reach their end life, a large portion of the waste becomes available for reuse, rich in properties such as compressive strength and mass. If this waste is placed back into buildings, their carbon footprint can be massively reduced, while saving up on having to extract new raw and natural resources.
In an effort to reduce the amount of construction and demolition waste (CDW) derived from the future generation of buildings, innovation and technologies are necessary. In the past several decades, robotic applications have made a great impact in many industries. Thanks to its efficiency, automated processes and flexibility of use, robotics has proven to be successful in manufacturing and assembly processes which can now be customized for architectural practices like the digital fabrication of new structures with the potential of implementation of new materials . If robotic manufacturing has the potential of upcycling CDW in the construction process, then buildings can have a smaller environmental footprint. Further research into experimenting with this waste material implemented into 3D printing with a 6DOF robot arm is necessary.
Key words:
Upcycling, Waste material, CDW, Low-Carbon Buildings, 3D Printing, AMoC, Robotic fabrication