bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Urban community planning and spatial model construction supporting sustainable consumption and production
Authors: Zhang Y K , Yang Y C , Zheng J , Huang S
Published: November 2020

Introduction: Three main contradictions that accompany the urbanization process: population explosion and food demand, urban expansion and production space, production mode and energy consumption. The pressure of urbanization has caused a huge mismatch between production and consumption in space and mode. Analysing the status and trends of urban food system planning show that sustainable consumption and production are closely related to their spatial layout. Method: Take a simulated urban community sustainable food system as an example. Based on local production and consumption, distributed layout and resource recycling system. The model formulates a reasonable spatial planning strategy based on urban agriculture of different scales, technologies and efficiencies, quantifies the indicators of the productive community to suit different scales, and uses a python algorithm to simulate a spatial model with adjustable parameters. Results: Through the comparison and optimization of multi-plan spatial patterns, a sustainable consumption and production-oriented planning decision was formed, which was finally used to guide the productive community spatial planning project. Discussion: This model is only a preliminary attempt at food system planning, but ‘theory-simulation-design’ has proved the feasibility of productive community spatial planning and explored the path of sustainable urban communities that support sustainable consumption and production.
An attempt to create the holistic flow chart of forest resources
Authors: Wang Hongjun , Takano Atsushi , Tamura Ken Taro
Published: November 2020

The environmental development of a building has an important role to play in terms of the sustainable development of our society. Against this background, wood and wood-based products have lately attracted notable attention as promising construction materials due to then-unique environmental properties, such as renewability and carbon storage capacity. For the sustainable use of wood, a relevant balance between supply and demand of forest resources is significant. However, little work has been conducted on a comprehensive understanding of forest resources flow. The objective of this study was. therefore, to draw an integrated chart of forest resources flow including forest conditions, round wood production, wood product manufacturing, wood stock in buildings and waste management at the end of product life, mainly focusing on building material flow. The flow charts were drawn for five countries (Japan. Finland. Germany, Sweden and Canada) based on statistical data. Instead of directly showing numerical information, the chart is presented as an infographic in order to promote intuitive understanding of the contents. The chart is intended as a basis for the development of sustainable forest resource circulation. This paper focuses on introducing the chart as such ad briefly discusses how the chart can be utilized for further study in relation with SDGs.
Urban metabolism: measuring the Kaunas city sustainable development
Authors: Feiferytė – Skirienė A , Čepeliauskaitė G , Stasiškienė Ž
Published: November 2020

Urban metabolism seeks to assess the amount of resources produced, consumer and disposed of in the city. Material and energy flow analysis becomes an important tool to understand the city’s environment and propose the more sustainable urban design and planning to improve residents’ health, ensure sustainable production and consumption. The purpose of this study is to measure the changes in Kaunas city material and energy use in period from 2010 to 2018. Kaunas city urban metabolism analysis is based on energy production and outflows data analysis with the city’s waste management analysis from an urban metabolism perspective. To understand the city social and economic transformation, it is also including social and economic aspects analysis. Research results have revealed better living conditions and a growing economy increase energy production and demand, construction materials, and waste flows along with rising environmental issues. Air pollution analysis has shown that SO2, CO2, NO2 and O3 emissions in the city remain stable. The paper helps to understand the importance of assessing city’s environmental impact and highlights the necessity of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) implementation.
Lessons from co-designing a resource-recovery game for collaborative urban sanitation planning
Authors: Billger M. , Kain J.-H. , Niwagaba C.B. , McConville J.R.
Published: November 2020

The aim of this study is to describe the development of an innovative planning tool to promote the knowledge and collaboration needed to overcome challenges in the sanitation sector. A serious game was designed to share knowledge about resource recovery and support attitude-change and collaboration between stakeholders. This study documents the co-design process of game development from conception based on a set of specifications the game should achieve, through iterative testing with relevant stakeholders as players. The resulting prototype of the game showed that it was not possible to include all the original desired specifications in the final game. Stakeholders found that the game was engaging, stimulated creativity and achieved its goal.
Cards for circularity: Towards circular design in practice
Authors: Dokter G , Stijn A Van , Thuvander L , Rahe U
Published: November 2020

The transition towards a Circular Economy (CE) in the built environment is crucial to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Theoretical frameworks and methods for circular design have been developed. Yet, there is a lack of knowledge on circular design in practice and how circular design thinking can be supported. This study aims to provide insights on circular design in practice and how this can be supported through circular design methods. First, we reviewed existing circular design methods and developed a card-based circular design tool. Next, an interactive survey and design workshop using the tool was carried out with 12 design experts to gather knowledge on circular design in practice. Finally, we derive key learnings that can support the development of circular design methods and advancement of CE in practice. Overall, circular design remains highly conceptual and is challenging due to the interconnectedness of parameters and temporal aspects such as product life cycle. Designers need ways of educating and convincing stakeholders on the value and feasibility of circular design. Advancing the CE in practice requires circular design methods that help to contextualize the design process and reduce complexity, and examples are needed of how CE can be implemented in practice.
The level of knowledge, use and acceptance of LCA among designers in Germany: A contribution to IEA EBC Annex 72
Authors: Lützkendorf T , Balouktsi M
Published: November 2020

Architects and engineers have become more concerned about the environmental consequences of their design solutions. Knowledge about Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is crucial for the necessary building sector decarbonisation, as well as for mitigating other negative environmental impacts. In Germany, designers’ attitudes towards LCA have not been analysed since 2005. However, since then, certain developments – such as the establishment of the sustainability assessment systems BNB and DGNB – have taken place. In 2019, as part of the project IEA EBC Annex 72, a survey was conducted amongst designers in Germany. The paper presents the current status to identify the progress being made since 2005 and provides recommendations to overcome barriers to LCA dissemination. The results show that although German designers are currently doing a lot with regard to environmental performance assessment, the most critical aspects are considered in a more qualitative way, except for the mandatory operational energy performance calculations. LCA-know-how and application still lags behind expectation. To support an increased use of LCA during building design, not only the provision of related data and design/assessment tools is necessary, but also the establishment of standards and regulations. The latter will drive the also necessary client demand.
City Environmental Footprint: insights and application of an innovative LCA-based method to evaluate urban environmental impacts
Authors: Mirabella Nadia , Allacker Karen
Published: November 2020

In 2015, the United Nations chose cities as target of the 11th Sustainable Development Goals, which aims to ‘make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable’. However, few quantitative methodologies can tackle the sustainability challenge and support cities in this transition. In order to comply with UN SDGs, the City Environmental Footprint (City EF) has been developed. Being systemic and systematic, its aim is the holistic assessment of urban environmental impacts (up to 18), as result of activities performed in key urban sectors (built environment, waste and water management, mobility, production and consumption sectors) by its main stakeholders (e.g. residents, but also important local entities etc.). This facilitates the identification of major hotspots and drivers of impacts in the city, and, based on these, areas of priority interventions and proposals for alternative scenarios. The City EF follows an enhanced LCA-based approach where specific methodological improvements are proposed, both system-related (city as object of investigation), than methodology-related (LCA as effective methodology). Furthermore, a first application of City EF was performed on the city of Leuven (Belgium) to test the method, and its feasibility. The aims of the present contribution are threefold: i) an overview of the City EF, its methodological proposals for urban footprinting, and how it accomplishes to the tasks; ii) provide insights about its first application to the city of Leuven; iii) and critical reflections for future applications, including identified working points and potential research outlooks.
Footprints of failure: Quantifying carbon impacts of roof leakages in a single-family residential building
Authors: Andenæs Erlend , Kvande Tore , Bohne Rolf André
Published: November 2020

To meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals of climate change mitigation and sustainable cities, low-carbon or carbon-negative buildings are becoming increasingly common. The buildings are planned to compensate for the embodied energy in their materials by using low-emission materials and generating emission-free energy. Embodied energy is minimized while energy generation is maximized. However, embodied energy calculations seldom consider the risk of building defects that require repairs or early replacement of building elements. As such, a building’s sustainability is often calculated under the assumption that significant defects do not happen, which is known to rarely be the case. In this article, the material and monetary costs of repairing building defects are analysed. Findings suggest that certain building defects, like major roof leaks, have a significant carbon footprint. A large portion of this footprint can be attributed to the drying of the building after a leak is discovered. Building defects are common enough that the risk should not be neglected in life cycle analyses. Likewise, measures taken to reduce the risk of building defects, such as avoiding design solutions known to pose difficulties, may be considered as means to improve the sustainability of a building as well as reducing economic costs.
Dynamic life cycle assessment of straw-based renovation: A case study from a Portuguese neighbourhood
Authors: Göswein V , Pittau F , Silvestre J D , Freire F , Habert G
Published: November 2020

Action is needed to mitigate climate change. As the building sector is one of the main contributors to energy consumption, renovation of existing buildings is a key strategy. However, for a drastic greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction, sensible material solutions are required. Bio-based products seem to be a promising alternative thanks to carbon sequestration in the new biomass, which needs to be regrown for substitution. The conventional life cycle assessment (LCA) framework seems unsuited to model temporal emissions and carbon uptake of such solutions. Dynamic LCA (DLCA), which models temporal aspects, is more appropriate to evaluate the environmental performance of bio-based products. Moreover, the different dynamic drivers of urban building stocks should be included to allow for informed material choices. A new methodology is proposed, integrating DLCA with material flow analysis (MFA) considering a dynamic renovation rate. The global warming potential over time of the thermal retrofit of a Lisbon neighbourhood with a straw-based technology is assessed. The results highlight the importance of the end of life scenario, greatly influencing the results in the mid- to long term. Increased renovation rates can yield higher carbon storage benefits. However, if accompanied by technological solutions that rely on carbon intensive materials, e.g. finishing, this can lead to increased embodied carbon emissions in the transition period.
A reverse engineering approach for low environmental impact earth stabilization technique
Authors: Cicek B , Martins N P , Brumaud C , Habert G , Plötze M
Published: November 2020

The major drawbacks of earth such as low water stability and moderate strength have led mankind to stabilize the earth. It has been developed as a vernacular technique in different civilizations. Since then, the focus was mainly on gypsum, lime, or pozzolan stabilization. Recently, cement has become one of the commonly used additives in earth stabilization, which consequently reduce the environmental advantage of earth.

This paper deals with a reverse engineering approach for low environmental impact earth stabilization technique, aiming the replacement of cement in earth stabilization.

Various earth-mixtures were done to investigate the performance of this technique. Water contact behaviour and compressive strength of the stabilized earth specimens was determined. Moreover, the characterization of the stabilization effect has been performed through X-ray powder diffraction patterns (XRD) and clearly identify the production of ettringite using very low CO2 intensive raw materials. Furthermore, the carbon footprint of the stabilized earth-mix has been determined with the help of LCA (life cycle assessment) calculation. The laboratory analyses on this mix-design have proven a high water-resistance and the results show a remarkable increase in compressive strength. Finally, these results open a new avenue for earth stabilization and secure the implementation of this material in the conventional construction industry.
Activation of municipal solid waste incineration ashes for green concrete
Authors: Zhang Emma Qingnan , Glikson Arnaud , Menéndez Sara López , Tang Luping
Published: November 2020

Due to the variable characteristics of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) ashes and the lack of coherent standards and regulations, a majority of MSWI ashes is landfilled currently. It is an urgent issue that the significant amount of residue MSWI ashes need to be better handled and reused as a renewable source. MSWI ashes have great potential to be utilized as a cementitious replacement material in concrete mixing, which is beneficial for both promoting MSWI ash reuse and reducing cement consumption. However, there are major challenges associated with MSWI ash reuse, including the presence of lack of efficient approach to restore the reactivity of MSWI ashes as a binding agent, because such ashes are usually low in reactivity or even inert. This study aims to develop an effective and reliable activation method to enable the pozzolanic and hydraulic properties of MSWI ashes. A novel activation methodology by means of physiochemical treatments, including particle size reduction and high pH activator was proposed to increase the reactivity of such bottom ashes. A rapid test method, namely solution test, was developed to test the potential reactivity after the activation. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and ion chromatography (IC) were employed to evaluate the degree of reactivity. The results showed that the physicochemical treatment can indeed increase the reactivity of MSWI ashes. Compared to the existing test protocols using normal activator the new solution test can more effectively examine the latent pozzolanic activities of MSWI ashes. The successful application of the proposed activation methodology together with the developed solution test could turn those “inert or low reactivity” to-be-landfilled ashes into an active binding agent as a cement replacement material, which would contribute greatly to recycle and reuse of waste materials and reduce CO2 emission.
Cross-laminated timber constructions in a sustainable future – transition to fossil free and carbon capture technologies
Authors: Tellnes Lars G. F. , Saxegård Simon A. , Johnsen Fredrik Moltu
Published: November 2020

Cross laminated timber (CLT) has recently increased in use as a building material for low carbon design and is often applied in small and multi-story buildings. Several studies have shown lower fossil related greenhouse gas emission than alternatives, but the life cycle emissions vary substantially between different CLT producers. These emissions are mainly indirect and thus climate change mitigation could reduce these emissions. Previous research shows that that biofuels and carbon capture and storage (CCS) are technologies that have the potential to reduce the climate impacts of the CLT life cycle. This study assesses the impacts on climate change from CLT with these technologies within the framework of environmental product declarations (EPD). In the short run, switching to fossil free fuels provides a reduction in the carbon footprint of CLT. In the long run, CCS at the end-of-life of CLT buildings can provide a net negative carbon footprint over the life cycle. This assessment on the use of CLT is mainly related to the Sustainable Development Goal SDG9 Industries, innovation and infrastructure and the indicator for CO2 emissions per value added, so the assessment in this paper is mainly focused on this goal. SDG7 on affordable and clean energy and SDG15 Life on land are also relevant.
Supply-chain collective action towards zero CO2 emissions in infrastructure construction: mapping barriers and opportunities
Authors: Rootzén Johan , Karlsson Ida , Johnsson Filip , Kadefors Anna , Uppenberg Stefan
Published: November 2020

Successful decarbonisation of the supply chains for buildings and infrastructure, including the production of basic materials, will involve the pursuit - in parallel – of measures to ensure circularity of material flows, measures to improve material efficiency, and to radically reduce CO2 emissions from basic materials production. Emphasis in this work has been on how “intangible” factors such as implicit or explicit constraints within organisations, inadequate communication between actors in the supply chain, overly conservative norms or lack of information, hinder the realisation of the current carbon mitigation potential. Although this work draw primarily from experiences in Sweden and other developed economies we believe the focus on innovations in the policy arena and efforts to develop new ways of co-operating, coordinating and sharing information between actors (SDG17) and on practices and processes that could enable more sustainable resource use in infrastructure construction may be of relevance also elsewhere. Not the least, since there are still many regions of the world where much of the infrastructure to provide basic services remains to be built (SDG6-7, SDG9, SDG11) a challenge that must be handled in parallel with efforts to reduce/erase the climate impact from infrastructure construction (in line with the Paris Agreement and SDG13).
Hoppet - the first fossil-free preschool
Authors: Fahlén E , Högberg A , Ingelhag G , Ljungstedt H , Lundström H , Perzon M
Published: November 2020

The building sector give rise to one fifth of the Swedish greenhouse gas emissions. This sector needs a climate shift to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Local municipalities play an important role in this shift and the City of Gothenburg has therefore initiated an innovation project, Hoppet - the first fossil-free preschool. The purpose is to highlight the climate issue and inspire the industry to develop new fossil-free products and processes as well as promoting existing ones. Hoppet is an initiative leading the way towards a fossil-free society in Gothenburg City, Sweden and the world.

Hoppet will be built with minimal climate impact and no fossil resources, as far as possible. This includes everything from production and transport of materials to energy used in the building.

The fossil content and climate impact of traditionally built preschools have been calculated as a benchmark for Hoppet. More than 70 % of the 250 building products in a traditionally built preschool has a petroleum-based content, eg plastics. The climate impact of the building products in a traditionally built preschool was calculated to about 390 kg CO2-eq./m2 gross area.

The design phase of first Hoppet preschool started in the autumn 2019 and, before materials are chosen, calculations of the actual climate impact are made. Examples of climate calculations and strategies for material selection for Hoppet are presented as well as ongoing and future work for fossil-free construction.

For more than two years, the project has scouted for new innovative materials and old techniques in order to build fossil-free. Finding fossil-free and climate neutral products has been challenging. Product development and innovation are key issues for fossil-free construction, as well as communication and collaboration within the construction industry. Five important strategies for the transition into a fossil-free society have been identified; biobased building products, reused and recycled building products, minimized material usage, fossil-free construction site and a product life cycle perspective.
Holistic sustainable material process – potential in local resources
Authors: Röstlund I , Björling N
Published: November 2020

The construction and transformation of the built environment is a key factor in the transition to a sustainable future. The interest in material’s role in this transition increased in the last few years, especially in regard to embodied energy in the construction phase. This is however only a small part of the societal and environmental impact caused by the material chain. Because the material practice in todays globalised world is increasingly complex and materials should be considered cultural artefacts that are part of ecological, social and economic systems. In this article the concept of a holistic sustainable material practice is discussed from the perspective of a relocalised material process. The concept of landscapes and social-ecological systems is used to frame this process and allows discussion of opportunities and challenges within such a process. This has been achieved through literature studies and by using Regenerative Sustainability and Circular Economy as theoretical framework. The article has explored the relocalisation of the material process from the perspective of Sweden, though many of the aspects discussed can be applied in other contexts.
Urban Living with Nature: Design for Human-nature Interactions in Communal Green Spaces at Residential High-rises
Authors: Tony Ip
Published: November 2020

The higher we live from ground level, the more disconnected we feel from the natural environment and community. Compared with people residing away from the metropolitan area, urban dwellers lack personal and open space and may seek room to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. A new typology of sky gardens has been driving designs of residential high-rises to offer communal green spaces at high levels. Its potential benefits consist of improving human thermal comfort and urban microclimate; promoting social cohesion by serving as a community green space. It would provide a place for individuals escaping from the busy city life, improve the community integration for all age groups and improve the health and well-being of residents. In addition, it may enable and raise awareness of intimate contact with nature.
Sustainable Workplace in Kyoto – ‘Kyo-sei’ in Society 5.0
Authors: Kojio R
Published: November 2020

At Takenaka Studio in Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), as a design workshop of the faculty of Architecture and Sustainable Design, I selected the area in the middle of Kyoto, Japan for the projects to design today’s ‘sustainable workplaces’. While examining the current situation of the city as well as the urban structure and context from old age, the students gave forms to a space to work/live together in Kyoto of today and proposed several new ways of co-working/living in Society 5.0, where the co-existence of diversified population is essential and we’ve tried to achieve not only SDGs 11: Sustainable cities, but also 3: Well-being for all ages as well as 9: Resilient infrastructure for fostering innovation.
Modularized cyber-physical system as an enabler of interoperable and collective approach for responsive cities
Authors: Yashiro Tomonari
Published: November 2020

This paper discusses the relevance between the sustainable built environment and cyber-physical system (CPS) that are now surrounding us. Previous research suggests that CPS has the potential to enhance the performance to achieve SDGs. However, from the aspect of open building theory, there exist the problems to be solved, such as 1) restricted accessibility, 2) invisible intervention, and 3) difficulty in local customization. The paper discusses the approaches that could solve or at least mitigate the problems. Those are; 1) modularity of cyberspace that clarify accessibility by the specific social entity, 2) transparent inter-connection, and 3) context description & adaptability enhancement by interoperable modules. The paper indicates the principles of responsive cities; those are 1) fair access to the benefits generated by digital brain 2) strictly protected privacy of citizens 3) diversity by an adaptive combination to the context 4) easiness and incentive for new entrants and entrepreneurs. The principles can be satisfied by a dis-centralized system that is supported by the approaches above.
RESTRUCTURING ARCHITECTURAL TECHNOLOGY CURRICULUM: The Pathway to achieving sustainable built environment in Southeast, Nigeria
Authors: Marcel-Okafor U O , Okafor M U
Published: November 2020

Architectural technology programmes in Nigeria have steadily evolved with focus on enhancing local identity and environmental responsiveness to contextual issues peculiar to the Nigerian fabric. However, there remains continuous controversy as to the suitability and application of the curriculum to the emerging socio-economic and cultural needs of Nigerians. This study examined the academic curriculum contents of professional courses offered in architectural technology programmes in Nigerian polytechnics to ascertain inherent factors that enable implementation of design principles for sustainable built environment. This is imperative since the products of this programme constitute key players in the execution of sustainable, safe and inclusive human settlements and cities. This study is based on survey type of research design; three institutions were selected following a stratified random process and two sets of structured interviews administered to two groups of respondents comprising the Higher National Diploma (HND) graduating class and the teaching staff. The data collected were analysed using percentile, mean scores and regression analysis. The findings revealed a significant awareness and implementation of principles of sustainable design especially at inception stage by the HND students. However, the students’ proficiency with varied CADD software packages was limited as a result of shortfalls in the curriculum and paucity of adequately trained staff. Further findings revealed measures adopted for inclusive and lifelong learning in the programme include the introduction of outdoor learning environment, short entrepreneurial courses in related areas and enhanced digital literacy. The paper concludes that addressing the shortfalls of the academic curriculum will promote high quality learning in the programme required to ensure the creation of sustainable built environments.
New perspectives for design in the urbanized delta: Living with water in Newcastle’s threshold between land and water
Authors: Perez Lopez I
Published: November 2020

Delta and estuary cities are facing the immense challenges of adaptation and mitigation to climate change. The very creation and evolution of human civilizations depended on living along shorelines, serving as the source of food, water, and security. However, fear of water is just as deeply grained and cross-cultural as love of water. The unpredictable river and ocean landscapes have been domesticated along history with a special impact on ecosystems since the industrial era. Newcastle’s waterfront, including the Hunter river estuary and the ocean shoreline are unique landscapes, which have been strongly modified due to land reclamation leading to the destruction of such a vulnerable ecosystem. As a consequence, city resilience is under threat due to the effects of unpredictable events, dynamics, forces of climate change, amplified without the natural protection of these water ecosystems.

The methodology to present this research includes two primary steps. The first step was the creation of a data and map database to study the historic and current conditions, combined with future predictions, on urban, environmental, and flooding conditions in the Newcastle waterfront areas. All predictions are to identify and catalogue the worst scenarios in the event of a dramatic climate change evolution. The second step, which is still under development and contingent on funding, is the compilation of urban and architectonic adaptative strategies and evidence-based design guidelines that can be implemented and integrated with other environmental, urban and social sustainable strategies.

The ultimate result will be a data and map catalogue linked with a set of design principles, strategies, and guidelines aligned with sustainable and achievable goals, to ensure coastal and riverbank adaptation and mitigation. The strategies will not only improve resilience, reduce vulnerability and risk, but enhance liveability in urbanised delta throughout an interdisciplinary approach, and also to ensure a more sustainable future.

The problem of dynamic forces acting in estuary cities and its conflict with human habitation needs to be faced in an interdisciplinary manner, integrating different perspectives and approaches that consider current capacities, past events, and future predictions. The results of this project aim to meet those goals and is one step to help achieve a sustainable future.
Managing overheating in buildings induced by climate change
Authors: Badura André , Martinac Ivo , Mueller Birgit
Published: November 2020

Extended periods of drought, heavy rainfall and rapid changes between high and low outdoor temperature extremes have all been associated with global climate change. It is highly likely that a significant portion of climate change is anthropogenic. Large and rapid climatic changes have the potential to generate significant discomfort and even hazard to occupants. Well designed, constructed and managed buildings protect people from adverse climatic conditions and provide indoor spaces that foster well-being, health and productivity. Changing climatic conditions require innovative approaches to the design, building, management and use of comfortable and safe indoor environments. This study explores innovative approaches to reducing/avoiding climate-change-induced overheating in residential buildings in Northern Europe (Sweden and Germany), with a focus on managing heat loads during the summer season. Different approaches and measures are discussed, with relevance to building retrofitting and new construction. It is shown that the need for active cooling can be significantly reduced through good building design and smart climate control. Innovative insolation management devices are further shown to have the potential to reduce both winter heating and summer cooling loads. The study also explores the extent to which the intensity of urban heat islands can be reduced by addressing heat storage in the building structure. Innovative approaches to solar shading and heat protection are discussed as alternatives to heat load and indoor climate management.
Interior insulation using super insulation materials: saving energy and space
Authors: Johansson Pär , Wahlgren Paula
Published: November 2020

Interior insulation can be used in buildings where the exterior characteristics may not be altered due to cultural heritage protection. This is common for many buildings in Sweden from the period before 1941. Energy efficiency, thermal comfort and building performance are all affected by an interior insulation. Super insulation materials present novel opportunities to save both energy and space. The aim of this study is to investigate the benefits and drawbacks of using super insulation materials as interior insulation. A field study building was investigated for feasibility, which, together with interviews with professionals in the field of architecture, cultural heritage and building consultants, give a general overview. In conclusion, there are both benefits and drawbacks with interior insulation. Super insulation provides increased flexibility in terms of interior detailing and possibility to preserve characteristic elements. On building level interior super insulation could reduce the energy use by up to 20%. This gives energy savings of 0.5 TWh on national level and a reduction of 0.7% of the total CO2 emissions for heating the Swedish building stock. A drawback is that there are few examples and little experience from building with super insulation materials among both architects and other decision makers.
A data-driven parametric tool for under-specified LCA in the design phase
Authors: Hollberg Alexander , Kaushal Deepshi , Basic Saso , Galimshina Alina , Habert Guillaume
Published: November 2020

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is increasingly applied to evaluate the environmental performance of buildings. However, current tools for building LCA require detailed information not available in the decisive early design stages. As a result, LCA is usually applied as post-design evaluation and not used to improve the building design. The goal of this paper is to adapt the method of structured under-specified LCA to the Swiss context and implement it in a design-integrated tool. The users of the tool should be able to get a complete estimation of the life cycle impact based on very few inputs, such as building type, intended use and structural system. In addition, the tool should allow to replace these assumptions with more detailed information step by step throughout the design process. The paper describes the development of a structured database and a parametric tool. Furthermore, it exemplifies the intended workflow during the design process on a building design. The presented approach can be scaled up and adapted to the needs of other national contexts in the future. It facilitates environmental performance optimisation of buildings and supports making use of the big potential the building sector has regarding contributing towards climate action (UN SDG 13).
EnviBIM: Environmental data module for BIM library of construction elements
Authors: Nehasilová Marie , Lupíšková Petra Coufalová , Železná Julie , Veselka Jakub , Kupsa Tomáš , Lupíšek Antonín
Published: November 2020

BIM has become widely used and preferred in building design. The benefits of this model can also be used to calculate the environmental impact of buildings. This paper presents the acquisition and implementation of environmental data to the existing and growing BIM library of building materials. The library contains specific (non-generic) elements, and its content is focused on conventional solutions used in Czech Republic. Environmental impacts associated with the production of building materials and elements (cradle-gate) were added to the BIM library and were expressed by 14 indicators. Generic environmental data were used. Linking them with specifics products demand high expertise and a lot of time. By designing methodology and specific guidelines, this process is speeded up, simplified, and future update and extend of resulting tool is enabled. Resulting tool (EnviBIM) will provide quantification of embodied environmental impacts of each single building part directly in the BIM model.
Carbon and Cost Optimisation and Visualisation
Authors: Jirout David , Larsson Simon
Published: November 2020

We have developed a Grasshopper script that designs carbon-cost optimised foundation slabs to demonstrate the potency of parametric design in AEC, particularly the fact that environmentally friendlier solutions can be designed without having to cost more. The script produces 3D models of foundation slabs with minimal carbon footprint and material costs and validates each design iteration from the structural point of view with respect to project specific inputs, such as materials, cost, forces and bearing capacity of the ground. The script has been tested in a multitude of input settings and in all cases returned design solutions for foundations slabs where it was possible to identify the least climate intensive design to also be one of the cheapest solutions, if not the cheapest solution. We have developed a new service called BIM Vision to apply value driven visualisations based on carbon footprint and costs in BIM models. The result of this service is a further developed BIM model which integrates emission and cost factors with individual 3D objects. On demand, a user of the BIM model can also produce climate and cost calculations and visualise the BIM model based on the chosen sustainability aspect. Using a colour palette generator, objects are coloured with respect to carbon and cost intensity. Thus, a 3D heat map of the BIM model is created to communicate intuitively what components have the most severe impact on the project budget and carbon footprint. This kind of communication of environmental aspects simplifies consumption of sustainability related data and make it actionable.
Urban Mining for Sustainable Cities: Environmental Assessment of Recycled Concrete
Authors: Mostert C , Sameer H , Glanz D , Bringezu S
Published: November 2020

In the global economy, the efficient use of resources in the building sector has become a central issue for sustainable development. Urban mining is an increasingly important area in constructing and demolishing of buildings. This article applies urban mining as a key approach for circular economy. In terms of material efficiency, the highest potential is seen in the use of concrete manufactured from recycled aggregates. The town hall building of the city of Korbach (Germany) has been dismantled and will be rebuilt with use of recycled materials from the old building. A recycling concrete (RC-scenario) is assessed from end of life (EoL) to gate within the life cycle assessment (LCA) boundaries, in comparison with conventional concrete i.e. a business as usual (BAU) scenario. The environmental assessment is done based on the product material, energy and water as well as the climate footprint. The product material footprint is determined in terms of Raw Material Input (RMI) and Total Material Requirement (TMR) and the product energy footprint in terms of Cumulated Energy Demand (CED) for non-renewable resources. The product water footprint is assessed by the Available Water Remaining (AWARE) method and the product climate footprint by values from the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The footprints are calculated using the software openLCA with the LCA database GaBi construction materials. The RC-scenario shows no significant savings in terms of product energy, water and climate footprint, whereas advantages could be clearly seen in terms of the product material footprint. The method and selected footprints have proven to be suitable for the environmental assessment of urban mining as an approach for circular economy with regard to SDG11 and SDG12.
A harmonized method for automatable life cycle sustainability performance assessment and comparison of civil engineering works design concepts
Authors: Ek K , Mathern A , Rempling R , Karlsson M , Brinkhoff P , Norin M , Lindberg J , Rosén L
Published: November 2020

The life cycle sustainability performance of civil engineering works is increasingly important. The possibility to influence the sustainability of a project design is larger in the conceptual stage than in later stages. Better-informed decisions regarding design choices’ impact on sustainability can be made by comparing conceptual project designs based on an assessment of their life cycle sustainability performance. It is essential that concepts are assessed in a harmonized way and compared impartially. Current standards provide the general framework for the assessment of sustainability performance, but do not give detailed guidance on calculation of sustainability indicators and their aggregation. Since design in automated systems is becoming increasingly common, there is a growing need for machine-readable data and automatable assessment methods. Assessment methods which can be applied using open-access data is important to achieve fair competition. This paper aims to provide a method for life cycle sustainability performance assessment and comparison of civil engineering works design concepts, possible to apply using open-access Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and life cycle assessment (LCA) data. The purpose is to enable fair and automatable sustainability assessments of design concepts, to facilitate impartial comparisons of such assessments as a basis for choosing sustainable designs. A literature review of relevant standards and scientific papers on sustainability assessment of construction and civil engineering works was performed. A harmonized, fair and automatable method for life cycle sustainability assessment and comparison of civil engineering works design concepts, well-suited for optimization purposes, is presented. However, the aim currently limits categories and indicators possible to include. The proposed method includes guidance on the calculation of environmental, social and economic indicators, based on LCA, life cycle costing (LCC) and external costs, and aggregation using normalisation and weighting factors of the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF). The proposed method allows for an impartial comparison of the sustainability of design concepts, resulting in better-informed decisions.
Designing of the module envelope of a hybrid modular building to meet the passive house standards in Luxembourg
Authors: Rakotonjanahary M , Silva M Ferreira , Scholzen F , Diederich-Waldmann D
Published: November 2020

To face the challenges of climate change, new buildings need to be further greener while being able to ensure a minimum comfort to the tenants. Nonetheless, extensibility and flexibility could be added to buildings. In this context, the architect jointly with the team of this research project have designed a hybrid modular construction called “slab building” which is composed of a permanent concrete structure and several removable wooden modules. A module offers 27 m2 of living space but larger housings can be realized by combining two up to four modules. The aim of this paper is to design the walls of the modules to meet the criteria of nZEB. The thicknesses of the studied thermal insulations, namely rock wool, wood wool, polyurethane and aerogel, have been determined in accordance with the passive house requirements in Luxembourg. The embodied energy of the building materials has also been considered in the designing of the modules. Steady state calculations revealed that a wall thickness of 40 cm, comprising 31 cm of insulation is sufficient but according to the LCA outcomes, there is no environmental benefit in having the modules comply with the AAA energy class requirements at reasonable wall thicknesses.
A Roadmap towards Circularity - Modular Construction as a Tool for Circular Economy in the Built Environment
Authors: Mackenbach S , Zeller J C , Osebold R
Published: November 2020

The concept of Circular Economy (CE) is a novel economic model aiming to foster sustainable economic growth, increase a company’s economic value added, boost global competitiveness, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The modular construction has a high potential to embody a starting point for this transition because of its industrial construction and predestined characteristics for disassembly and reuse. In this paper, a circular economy framework is applied to the modular construction industry to develop a roadmap within the scope of Circular Business Models (CBM). In the first part, a literature review is conducted to identify the current CBMs in terms of applicability, usability and adaptability to the sector. The four business models maintenance and repair, reuse and refurbishment, upcycling, and product-as-a-service emerged. In a second step, a qualitative approach with international experts in modular construction, circular economy in the built environment and consultancy is used to explore the opportunities, challenges and barriers in the industry to accelerate the transformation to circularity within the holistic building life cycle. To overcome the barriers, 15 guidelines are distilled and through additional expert interviews verified. Subsequently, this roadmap supports responsible consumption and production through the building life cycle and enables benefits concerning the triple bottom line paradigm. While some of the guidelines refer to specific CBMs, the majority represents a comprehensive approach. Applying the roadmap is a first step to activate the identified potential of the CE in the modular construction industry in order to enhance an innovative and sustainable industrialization within the built environment and to contribute to a cleaner, more resilient economy.