Case Study:
De Universiteit Hasselt onderzocht de impact van circulaire businesmodellen, inclusief circulair bouwen.
“De oplossing is dat er geen probleem is"”
Ons concept van circulair bouwen is getoetst door Universiteit Hasselt. Die hebben geconstateerd dat het hier om een doorbraak innovatie gaat.
Het concept van circulair design richt zich op een circulair bouwmodel dat is gericht op ecologische duurzaamheid, sociaal verantwoord en economische haalbaarheid. Circulair bouwen stimuleert het gebruik van hernieuwbare materialen, minimale afvalproductie en recyclebaar.
De voordelen van circulair design zijn voornamelijk te vinden in de laatste fase van het realiseren van de bouw. Door de toepassingen van circulair bouwen wordt stikstofuitstoot aan het einde van de productie gereduceerd met 55% en tijdens het bouwen gereduceerd tot 13%.
Door de toepassing van de LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) en LCC (Life Cycle Cost) voor het circulair bouwen wordt het design van circulaire gebouwen verbeterd.
We hebben multifunctionele future proof bebouwingsvormen ontwikkeld op basis van levensduurcyclus (TCO) die te gast zijn in de natuurlijke omgeving en die functioneren als een smart building binnen een smart infrastructuur. Een future proof vitale omgeving is voorzien van de laatste stand van proces en techniek en voorbereid op een nieuw energielandschap waar energiestromen interactief en optimaal in balans zijn.
Collaboration between InfraVitaal and UHasselt
PhD student: Haitham Abu-Ghaida
The collaboration between InfraVitaal and the LCA and LCC for Circular Buildings PhD project aims to improve the design of circular buildings by assessing the impact of circular design on life cycle assessment (LCA). InfraVitaal is a company that focuses on the design of circular and energy efficient buildings, while we have expertize in LCA for buildings.
The collaboration is a perfect match that can bring significant benefits to both parties. The concept of circular design aims to create buildings that are environmentally sustainable, socially responsible, and economically feasible. Circular design encourages the use of renewable materials, minimal waste generation, and recyclability. However, the impact of circular design on the overall LCA of a building is not yet well understood. During the PhD project we will assess the impact of circular design on the environmental performance of buildings. The collaboration will be a two-way learning experience. InfraVitaal will benefit from the LCA PhD student's expertise in analyzing the environmental performance of buildings.
While we will learn about circular design principles and how they can be applied to buildings. The collaboration will help both parties gain a deeper understanding of the interplay between circular design and LCA and provide valuable insights into designing more sustainable buildings. Life cycle assessment (LCA) for buildings is becoming increasingly important, particularly in the European Union where several countries have introduced legislation that mandates a carbon budget for buildings. Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and France are among the countries that have taken steps to limit the environmental impact of buildings. In addition, the European Union has been pushing for the inclusion of LCA as a mandatory criterion in public procurement for buildings. These developments highlight the importance of LCA in the design and construction of sustainable buildings.
The collaboration will involve several stages. First, we worked with InfraVitaal to identify the key circular design principles used in the design of buildings. Second, we performed a detailed analysis of the impact of circular design on the environmental performance of buildings using the LCA methodology.
The analysis will consider a range of environmental indicators, such as carbon footprint, water use, and waste generation. Third, we will work with InfraVitaal to identify opportunities for further improving the environmental performance of the building through circular design.
Finally, the results of the analysis will be disseminated to the broader research community through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. The first paper resulting from this collaboration is in its final rounds of revisions and will present a novel method for accounting for design-for-disassembly metrics in building-level LCA.
We have analyzed one case study of a single family house in the Netherlands (Figure 1) in order to optimize future designs. We first conduct a circularity assessment (Figure 2) were we analyze the building’s system as a whole, we investigated which connections can be disassembled and which ones cannot. We then conduct the LCA based on the results of the circularity assessment. In figure 3 we can see the impact different design alternatives have of the amount of kg CO2eq produced from the production of materials.
The benefit of circular design is at the end of life of the buildings. This circular design can results in up to 55% of reductions in kg COeq at end of life and 13% reduction during the use phase. Further research is needed to conclude which design alternative leads to the best results, Figure 4 shows the uncertainty in the LCA results. However, in the category of kg CO2eq we can say with a high degree of confidence that circular design practices lead to better overall results. Future studies will combine LCA with LCC to investigate the optimal design based on LCA and economic feasibility.
Furthermore, the PhD project is part of a Marie Curie-funded project called SAPIENS, which is supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 program. SAPIENS focuses on sustainable public procurement and aims to promote the integration of sustainability into public procurement practices. Involvement in this project provides an additional dimension to the collaboration with InfraVitaal, as it enables the project to leverage insights from both sustainable procurement and circular design perspectives, further enhancing the project's overall impact.
In conclusion, the collaboration between InfraVitaal will bring significant benefits to both parties. InfraVitaal will gain a deeper understanding of the impact of circular design on the environmental performance of buildings The collaboration will provide valuable insights into designing more sustainable buildings and will contribute to the broader research community's knowledge of circular design and LCA.