One million homes will be needed in the Netherlands by 2030. Prefabrication in the construction industry can contribute to construct affordable houses, but that results often in standardized and not customized designs. These repetitive designs can be overcome through the introduction of mass-customization in architecture. Computational Architectural Design offers the possibility to tackle mass-customization through developing tools to let the user easily customize a design while providing guidelines and feedback towards a successful building design. This can be done by discretising a building into building blocks that can be controlled through a computational workflow. This thesis elaborates on the potential of developing a design tool that allows the customization of houses through discrete building information modelling. Since the housing design process is a complex and multi-layered problem, the process is broken down into the sub-problems of topological design, building product development, configuration, and data export. For these steps, algorithms from the gaming industry are tested to improve the participation of the end user trough a simplification of the design process. Through design grammars, a relational data structure is created that is compatible to the BIM environment of the industry. The evolved methods are applied to the test case of a rowhouse design in Delft to predict the possible impact of the design tool. The results of this are set in the context of the AEC industry.

The present research investigates the potential of timber-glass composites in unitized curtain wall façade applications. Hybrid aluminum-timber curtain walls and timber-glass composites are explored, while specific design criteria, timber and adhesive limitations and unique material properties are defined. A geometry study is conducted though the evaluation of a case study, an under-development hybrid unitized profile by RAICO. Design for disassembly methods are applied and a unitized profile is designed, that incorporates a primary and a secondary timber frame, a structural silicone bond and a double-glazing unit from laminated heat-toughened glass panes. The boundary conditions of the profile consider a theoretical office building case in the Netherlands and all calculations follow the guidelines of the Eurocode 5. Afterwards, the profile goes through a theoretical evaluation of hand calculations and Finite Element Analysis methods. The profile is compared structurally, thermally, and environmentally with the case study and the effect of the composite action, the potential of timber condensation and the amount of embodied carbon emissions produced by the system are identified. In conclusion, structurally, the fully composite action and the less material implementation can only be achieved if a stiffest silicone will be developed in the future or if a high-performed timber is selected. Thermally, the system developed a risk in residential building application, however in office building cases the required thermal performance was obtained. Environmentally, the developed façade minimized the embodied carbon emissions in half compared to the dry gasket aluminum-timber variation.

The world is moving toward environmental sustainability and a circular economy. The construction industry generates more than one-third of waste in landfills around the world is considered a critical sector. Material leakage is becoming one of the most concerning issues in the construction industry globally.

Due to globalization, many corporations are growing in size, as a result, there are numerous corporate real estate (CRE) changes. These changes in the corporate real estate sector lead to a significant amount of material leakage generation which could cause negative effects on company stakeholders as well as the environment. Many researchers claim that office refurbishment is the main material leakage contributor, hence the company should apply a circular strategy to minimize the material leakage effects.

A product-service system (PSS) is a procurement strategy that provides a combination of products and services to meet consumers' demands. Most of the PSS product ownership remains with the PSS providers while consumers can access or possess products in other ways such as leasing or subscribing instead of traditional purchasing. By doing so, the PSS providers take more responsibility for the products, and the products are treated more effectively and properly by the PSS providers because they have specialized facilities and knowledge to support product treatment. This will also lead to a reduction in material leakage. In sum, the PSS strategy could directly contribute to the circular economy and it seems to be a proactive solution to minimize material leakage in office refurbishment.

According to a built-up story, the main research question is formulated, which is “To what extent does the Product-Service system (PSS) help corporate real estate (CRE) in minimizing material leakage?”

To assert that implementing PSS could minimize material leakage in CRE, theoretical research, empirical research, and the analysis of both theoretical and empirical research findings have to be conducted. The theoretical research is to identify all research-related concepts and the relationship between each concept, namely PSS, material leakage, and CRE. Also, the potential of PSS in minimizing material leakage is studied while the theoretical research is conducted by literature review.

The empirical research investigates how and to what extent can PSS contributes to material leakage minimization in real-life practice. This is will be conducted by a case study.

Thereafter, an analysis of the theoretical and empirical research findings is conducted to find whether both of them are aligned before using the result to answer the research questions.

The result of the research shows that material leakage minimization seems to be a consequence of PSS implementation. The circularity of the PSS product is greater compared to a similar product that is provided by a linear economy strategy (take-make-dispose). However, material leakage minimization is not yet a primary factor for consumers (CRE) to use PSS.

Building energy consumption is one of the highest of any sector. Building integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) have the potential to eventually contribute to 50%-70% of the total energy demand. However, one of the main barriers that hinder the acceptance of solar energy systems as an integrated part in the buildings’ envelope is the limited aesthetics. The common black and blue panels with visible cells usually cause incompatibility with the outer appearance of architectural structures. Consequently, the combination of BIPV technology with colored PV modules will provide solutions to architects and stakeholders who are often skeptical on embed PV systems in buildings attributable to their appearance. To overcome this barrier, different techniques have been developed to provide color to photovoltaic modules. One of the most promising technologies are optical filters. These devices selectively reflect light via interference effects, thus providing the possibility of changing the color appearance of a module. Light reflection, however, reduces the current generated by the solar cells, but also, reduces thermalization losses that negatively impact the cell performance by increasing its operational temperature. In this thesis, a spectrally resolved thermal model in MATLAB has been developed to fully assess what is the real impact of different optic filters under real operational conditions in terms of temperature, efficiency and energy yield. The model considers the angular dependence of optic filter’s on PV modules on both appearance and performance for installations on a façade, roof and free mounted PV (BAPV). In addition, the optimum optic filter thicknesses for ten main colors has been determined based on maximum energy yield.
The model has been validated for three consecutive days and the simulated results for colored modules and module without optic filter were proved to be very close to the corresponding measured values; deviation of 1.5 degrees of simulation models have been obtained during the temperature peak of the modules. The simulation results show that the performance of the optic filters changes depending on the location, installation layout and the incident irradiance. More specifically, temperature drop of 9 degrees has been observed on roof installations from colored modules compared to the corresponding standard module. In addition, the implementation of air gap between the module and the roof has been verified to decrease up to 20 degrees the working temperature and significantly increase the overall energy yield for both colored and standard modules. Nevertheless, in terms of yearly energy yield (kWh/m2), from the tested colors the relative decrease with respect to the standard module was found approximately 16% observed from the most lossy colors.

The world population will continue to grow, resulting in an overpopulated planet and increased urbanization. This creates several problems, such as heat stress in cities, reduced biodiversity and the disappearance of greenery in cities. The World Health Organization has made a list of indicators based on which the sustainability of cities can be assessed. One of these indicators is a minimum amount of 9 m2 green space per capita. Currently, few cities meet this requirement, which threatens the quality of life for city dwellers. A possible solution to obtain more green area in urban regions can be to have more green surfaces on buildings and structures. To realize this in an efficient, low maintenance, and cheap way, concrete could be designed to stimulate the growth of mosses. Spontaneous abundant moss growth on young concrete structures can actually already be observed in the build environment, however this is often unintentional and unwanted, and is seen as degradation of the concrete. A better understanding of why spontaneous moss growth occurs on some constructions while it does not on others can help to intentionally design green concrete structures, and eliminate unwanted spontaneous moss growth on concrete. It has been found in this research that the curing conditions and the cement type being used are two major influencing factors that can contribute to the presence or absence of abundant moss growth on current relative young concrete constructions. A hospitable concrete surface is needed to support the growth of a biofilm, that can subsequently develop in moss. This hospitable concrete surface is provided by the concrete microstructure, a lowered pH, and a sufficient surface roughness. To obtain concrete that is bioreceptive and will enable mosses to grow on its surface, a low-clinker content concrete must be used that is insufficiently cured. This will cause a porous and permeable outer layer of the concrete, that has been related to moss growth on concrete. Due to the low buffering capacity towards alkalinity, the pH at the cover zone of the concrete will be lower, thereby making the surface more attractive for micro-organisms to settle on. Another effect of insufficient curing is an increase in carbonation, which also leads to a more porous and permeable cover zone for low-clinker concrete. To prevent moss growth on concrete, a dense microstructure and a high pH at the outer layer of the concrete must be created. This can be obtained by using a high-clinker content concrete. From this research it can be concluded that a high-clinker mix is relatively not very vulnerable for the curing conditions. A high-clinker content concrete will provide a dense microstructure and high buffer capacity towards alkalinity, even though it has been cured insufficiently.

The following graduation thesis "A change of state: A thermodynamic and cost-effective optimized Trombe wall based on latent heat storage (LHS) for year round application” aims to investigate and optimize the thermal energy performance of a Phase change material (PCM) Trombe wall to create an economically feasible product. This passive system reduces the total cost of ownership of the energy system, inside an office building located in The Netherlands, by reducing the energy demand and the maximum peak-loads from the mechanical system. In the European Union (EU) buildings are responsible for almost 40% of the total energy consumption, the energy efficiency of these buildings needs to increase by at least 32,5% by 2030 according to the Sustainable development goals (SDGs) from the EU. Research has shown that the information on the economic feasibility and optimization of PCM within the built environment is somewhat limited, this research will give an in-depth insight in the actual performance on thermodynamics and the cost-effectiveness. The PCM Trombe wall will be optimized by means of the Research through design - method, using different design strategies based on the knowledge of the thermodynamic principles of the PCM. An initial simulation model is used for the energy performance calculations, this model is extended and developed according to the parameters defined for the optimization. A combination of MATLAB and Simulink, a simulation environment based on textual and graphical programming, together with modeFRONTIER is employed. The results from these simulations are first validated with DesignBuilder Software Ltd to verify the legitimacy of the results from the added components and the changed location input data. The actual performance of the PCM on the reduction of the heating and cooling energy demand, the maximum power-load and the investment cost for the product are determined according to dynamic set-point calculations. A detailed study together with an yearly performance analysis is used, the results from all the different simulations and optimizations are summarized in a design guideline. This guideline gives a clear indication on the differences between the input parameters and the results from the performance of the system. In the end, these results are all brought together in an adaptive and integrated design solution for the application in an office building in the Netherlands.

Currently, tons of high-quality borosilicate glass are discarded to landfills each year, taking up space on valuable land. Within the existing soda-lime glass recycling industry it is not possible to use recycled borosilicate glass due to its higher melting temperatures and a difference in chemical composition. In fact, borosilicate glass disturbs the recycling process of soda-lime glass, resulting in more unused waste. Borosilicate glass is a type of glass that has favourable properties for application in the built environment, such as high optical qualities and a low thermal expansion coefficient. However, due to its high melting temperature and high energy consumption it is much more expensive to produce compared to the more common soda-lime glass. Nevertheless, in general it is possible to recycle glass waste almost 1:1, therefore, it is a waste to dump such high-quality glass on landfills. Cost and energy consumption issues related to the fabrication of borosilicate glass can be decreased by using recycled crushed glass (cullet) to the melt. Cullet reduces the required melting temperature, resulting in a lower energy consumption and a cheaper production process. However, a fully closed borosilicate glass recycling loop is not possible. The current borosilicate glass product industry has very strict quality control. Recycling glass introduces contaminations in the glass melt, which could generate flaws and cracks in the end product. This means it is not feasible to use recycled glass in these industries. This research proposes a promising approach to tackle the borosilicate glass waste problem and the recycling issues related to contamination: using the collected borosilicate glass waste to produce cast glass components. The bulkiness of such a component allows for a higher amount of impurities without risk of failure and a decrease in quality. In addition, cast glass allows for self-supporting facade systems in many configurations due to their increased cross-section and high-compressive strength capability. To allow disassembly of such a cast glass facade system a dry-interlocking system is proposed. Such a system can ‘close’ the recycling loop of borosilicate glass by feeding in waste glass from traditional borosilicate products into a new cast glass recycling loop. The challenges and opportunities regarding recycling borosilicate glass were researched by conducting experiments. Several mixtures of borosilicate glass with different chemical compositions were cast into small specimens to assess the mixability and corresponding mechanical properties of recycled borosilicate glass. In terms of mixability, good results were observed when the cullet is ground to powder, although there is a risk of contamination during grinding and thus degrading quality. Using fine cullet is also promising, but there is an increased risk of internal stresses. Specimens with a homogeneous chemical composition showed that it is possible to create borosilicate glass components with a lower firing temperature. In addition, these homogeneous specimens illustrated through a three-point bending test that recycled borosilicate glass has comparable mechanical properties to non-recycled borosilicate glass. This indicates that recycled borosilicate glass is suitable for application in cast glass components for use in the built environment. Due to time constraints and the preliminary nature of this research the number of specimens was relatively small. This thesis presents a dry-interlocking cast glass component system applied in a case study. The case study concerning the existing Casa da Música is meant to illustrate the possibilities of applying high-quality glass in an aesthetically pleasing facade system and to showcase the possibilities of recycling borosilicate glass. At the end-of-life of this design the facade can be disassembled. The components can either be directly reused in another building or recycled again. The proposed solution can reduce the growing amount of glass waste.

Hydrogen is known for a variety of applications and is often associated with The Energy Transition. This thesis aims to explore the possibilities of applying hydrogen as a seasonal buffer of renewable energy. The research is applied to the case study Floriade, which is a neighborhood currently under development and set to be completed in 2022. The research consists of four parts, each of which contributes the integral design of an energy system that incorporates hydrogen as a seasonal buffer. The first part focusses on the design of the energy system and the elements that are part of an energy system. Multiple energy system designs, including systems without hydrogen incorporated are evaluated. A multiple criteria analysis is undertaken in order to come to a design with an optimal configuration of elements. The system layout and components are dependent on the energy demand and the production potential of the neighborhood. The energy demand and the production capacity is calculated with an energy model, which is described in the second part of the research. Multiple software packages are used to calculate and validate data necessary for the research. The consumption and production data are used to make up the balance of energy consumption and production. The energy balance is used to calculate the efficiency of the energy system. The efficiency determines the feasibility in terms of energy losses and gains. This is described in the third part of the thesis. The overall system efficiency are calculated and the added value of storing renewable energy as hydrogen is evaluated. To minimize energy losses by means of transport all system components for making and storing hydrogen are located in one building in a central location. The final part of the thesis describes the design of this energy hub. The design of the building is based on safety measures that should be taken into account when introducing hydrogen in the built environment. The research results in the design of an energy system in which hydrogen is applied as a season buffer for renewable energy. The aspects of both energy system design as well as the application of hydrogen in de built environment are evaluated to draw conclusions on the opportunities and challenges of applying hydrogen as a seasonal buffer.