The building sector in the Netherlands contributes significantly to carbon emissions, with a substantial portion arising from embodied carbon in materials. Despite government efforts, the industry struggles to meet emission reduction targets. This thesis, examines the material selection process during the design phases of building projects to reduce carbon emissions. A qualitative approach, including a narrative literature review and semi-structured interviews, identified key barriers in decision-making, such as delayed decision-making, lack of data, and stakeholder misalignment. The study highlights the preliminary design phase as a critical “sweet spot” for impactful decisions and recommends early goal-setting, stakeholder collaboration, and continuous budget checks to enhance the sustainability of building projects.

Offshore wind farms, critical for sustainable energy production, face the challenge of optimization among many parameters influencing the objectives in conflicting ways. In response, this research introduces the novel Integrative Maximized Aggregated Preference Wind Farm Optimization (IMAP-WFO) framework—a comprehensive tool designed to enhance the flexibility, accuracy, and uncertainty quantification of offshore wind farm design and operation.

Existing methods often fall short due to limitations in adaptability and precision, especially when modeling complex multi-physical behaviors under uncertain conditions. IMAP-WFO represents a fundamental change by combining advanced statistical techniques and simulation methods.

At its core are parametric design performance functions, capturing critical aspects of wind farm behavior, including energy production, material usage, and structural fatigue. These functions rely on Kriging meta-models, known for their accurate predictions of unknown values. To address inherent uncertainty, Monte Carlo simulations provide a probabilistic assessment of outcomes. IMAP-WFO’s true innovation lies in translating technical functions into socio-economic objectives. These include sustainability metrics, Annual Energy Production (AEP), Capital Expenditure (CAPEX), Operational Expenditure (OPEX), model uncertainty, and lifetime fatigue. Stakeholders can dynamically weigh these objectives based on their preferences, showcasing IMAP-WFO’s versatility.

A validation process described in this research ensures the accuracy of design performance functions, comparing simulated results with real-world data from operational wind farms. IMAP-WFO’s application is demonstrated through case studies: optimizing the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) and exploring wind farm control strategies. Overall, IMAP-WFO bridges the gap between technical challenges and socio-economic goals, helping offshore wind farm design to increase in efficiency

Empirical studies indicate an increasing inclination towards the adoption of integrated software systems that contribute to project management. To this moment, studies on the implementation of these integrated software systems tended to emphasise the benefit of such software. However, the analytical evidence to support such assumptions is relatively small. Therefore, the aim of this research is to investigate and analyse what is required to get the benefits when transitioning to an integrated software system to support project management in a construction consultancy company. As a result, the following research question has been formulated: ”What is required when making the transition to an integrated digital project management system in a construction consultancy company?”.

For the design of this research the framework developed by Purup and Petersen (2020) was used. The construction of this framework was based on the methodology of action research. The research was divided into three loops. Loop 1 identified the current knowledge regarding a fragmented or integrated system. Loop 2 investigated the use of the integrated system. Finally, in loop 3, all knowledge obtained from loop 1 and 2 was synthesised and developed into an answer to the research question. To answer the research question, a literature review and a case study for which semi-structured interviews were conducted among project managers, project leaders and experts on the implemented system.

A limitation of this study is that the interviews were conducted among users of the system with an age between 24 and 35 years. As a result, no statement can be made on the relationship between age and acceptance or motivation towards transitioning to a new integrated project management system. Therefore, the recommendation is to conduct the interviews in a follow-up study among users of the integrated system whose age distribution is more distributed.

The research revealed that transitioning to an integrated project management system affects the people, organisation, and process within a company. The users of the new system need to embrace the new system and learn to work with it. The transition phase requires a time investment before the benefits will be felt. In addition, an integrated system requires a standardised structure. With this standardisation, certain activities can be automated. This results in saving time. It can therefore be concluded that transitioning to an integrated project management system, after time has been invested for the transition phase, improves work efficiency and can save time.

This research can contribute to the organisations considering implementing an integrated digital project management system. Since more understanding has been generated on what to expect and what actions should be carried out to obtain the benefits of an integrated project management system.

This research has aimed to investigate the possibility of applying a neural network algorithm into the structural design process of bascule bridge leaves, by creating a workflow in Grasshopper. The demand for this tool, originates from the fact that the current design process is experienced as linear and slow, and does not fit the dynamic design environment within Amsterdam.

The foundation for the generative design workflow, is a parametric model for an orthotropic bridge deck made out of steel. The model is made out of main beams, which are modeled as tubular profiles, cross beams and rib elements, which are modeled as line elements, and a bridge deck plate on top, to which all elements are welded. The parametric model is controlled by a total of 24 parameters which describe its dimensions, profiles and spacing of elements. Based on the user input for three parameters, namely the bridge deck length, bridge deck width and distance to the rotational axis, the neural network algorithm does a suggestion for the remaining parameters, based on information in the bridge database. The bridge database consists of 35 bascule bridges. A design for a steel bridge leaf is then generated. In the next step, the generated structure is forwarded into SCIA Engineer via a.xml file, for structural analysis. Within SCIA Engineer, the structural performance is assessed based on occurring Von Mises stresses under defined load combinations.

In the validation stage of the research, three steps were undertaken. In the first validation step, the predicting behavior of the neural network was optimized based on the mean squared error. The predicting behavior of the workflow was assessed using 5-fold cross validation. It appeared that the neural network had a prediction accuracy of 25.91%. Therefore, in the second validation step, the neural network’s complexity was reduced. In the improved model, the neural network predicts fourteen parameters. The total predicting accuracy of the improved model is equal to 61.07%.In the last validation step, five random cases were generated, of which their SCIA model output was compared to simplified models and the predicting behavior of the neural network was assessed. In two out of five cases, the neural network immediately suggests a good structure, while in two others, only one parameter had to be altered to create a viable structure. From validation of the SCIA models, it appeared that the moment, shear force and stress distribution for both the main beam and crossbeam showed consistent behavior through all five models. For the main beams, a simple MatrixFrame model was constructed for comparison. There were significant differences in the magnitude of occurring moments and shear forces between the MatrixFrame model and SCIA model. The magnitudes of moments, shear forces and stresses in the cross beams were compared to a hand calculation of a clamped beam. It was concluded that the SCIA models generated in the validation stage of the research, behaved correctly.

In the results section, the output of the workflow was compared to two reference cases, the Berlagebrug and Elizabeth Admiraalbrug. For the Berlagebrug, the SCIA model had such a significant error that no useful results could be extracted from this case study. For the Elizabeth Admiraalbrug, the workflow generated a structure which was approximately twice as large in steel mass. This has resulted in lower unity checks compared to the original design. A qualitative comparison between the current design process and when the created workflow would be implemented, was also done.

Based on the quantitative results obtained in the research, it was concluded that the neural network algorithm in the application developed in its current form, will not significantly improve the structural design process, due to a lack of consistency in generated results.

The inspection of extensive and hard-to-access sewer systems is a challenging and expensive task. As these networks age and need to comply with stricter health and environmental regulations, the demand for effective inspection solutions has increased. The introduction of technologies like CCTV (closed-circuit television) and SSET (sewer scanner and evaluation technology) marked the initial automation steps in sewer inspections. Initially, images from these technologies were manually analyzed for defects, but over time, computer vision techniques have emerged as a highly promising method for automating image processing. However, these advanced computer vision methods are computationally intensive and typically rely on cloud-based architectures, which can be costly and sometimes impractical due to energy or communication limitations. A proposed solution is to shift the computational processes from the cloud to edge computing, which can address issues related to latency and scalability.

The Sewer-ML dataset, sourced from sewer inspection videos by Danish water utilities, comprises 1.3 million images annotated across 18 defect categories. This extensive multi-label dataset serves as a foundation for training and evaluating machine learning models within sewer system management. Model performance is evaluated using the $F2_{CIW}$ (class importance weight) score, which emphasizes recall and defect severity to ensure the accurate detection of critical defects, and the $F1_{Normal}$ score, which measures the model’s accuracy in identifying instances without defects, essential for efficient resource management.

The ResNet-101 and TResNet-L models, trained on the Sewer-ML dataset, underwent various compression methods including quantization, layer fusion, and pruning. Quantization was applied only to the ResNet-101, reducing its $F2_{CIW}$ and $F1_{Normal}$ scores by 2.52\% and 0.72\% respectively, while significantly boosting inference speed by up to 95\% on standard platforms and 174.50\% on L4 GPUs. Layer fusion was also implemented, further enhancing inference efficiency. Additionally, iterative pruning was performed, showing that while the TResNet-L could maintain performance up to an 80\% pruning rate, there was a noticeable initial drop in performance for both models.

The quantized ResNet-101, both the one with and without layer fusion,
even improve compared to the standard model in regards to correctly identifying
the highest CIW defect class present in pipes deemed defective in the validation
dataset. This model behaviour is positive because the priority of a sewer asset manager is the discovery of the defect that carry the highest risk with them if not treated
in time. This improved efficiency in defect recognition helps in optimizing repair
schedules and resource allocation, thus reducing operational costs as well.

This thesis aims to design an interactive tool that facilitates collaboration between Microsoft’s teams in the datacenter development design process. Current datacenter development strategies of Microsoft do not sufficiently take into account socio-technical aspects which is causing project delays. Such socio-technical aspects are internally represented by different teams at Microsoft, such as the Community Affairs team and the Environmental team. Incorporating the preferences of all the relevant teams during the design, results in enhanced collaboration through increased mutual insights, which can be used to develop new design solutions. Such new design solutions inherently incorporate more socio-technical aspects...

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has emerged as a transformative technology in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, offering significant potential for improving project efficiency, collaboration, and transparency. However, its adoption in post-Soviet countries, particularly within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), remains limited due to a range of socio-technical, organizational, and regulatory challenges. This research investigates the primary barriers faced by Building Client Organizations (BCO) in the CIS region when adopting and implementing BIM. The study also examines the role of Design-Engineering Organizations (DEO) in supporting BCO during this digital transition.
The research follows a qualitative methodology, combining semi-structured interviews with professionals from a design-engineering company and document analysis of BIM Execution Plans (BEP) and Employer's Information Requirements (EIR). Four interviews were conducted with industry experts who were involved in BIM projects in the CIS region. This data was analyzed using selective coding to identify key challenges and strategies for overcoming these barriers. Additionally, the research employed document analysis to validate the insights from interviews and to provide context for the identified challenges.
The study proposes a comprehensive change framework to address the identified challenges in BIM adoption. The framework emphasizes the need for enhanced collaboration between BCO and DEO, with a focus on standardizing processes, improving client education, and aligning expectations. It integrates change management models, such as Kotter's 8-Step Change Model and the ADKAR model, to guide organizations through the digital transformation process. This framework aims to address technical barriers, such as interoperability and data standardization, while also fostering cultural and organizational shifts needed to overcome resistance to change and low client engagement.
Despite the limitation of a small sample size and validation from one organization, the research contributes valuable insights due to the expertise of the participants and the lack of existing studies focused on BIM adoption in the CIS region. The findings provide practical recommendations for advancing BIM implementation in this context, contributing to the broader body of knowledge on BIM adoption in transitioning economies.

Productivity in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry is lacking. Projects in the industry have become larger and complex, leading to increasing amounts of information involved in the life cycle of a project. The low productivity of the construction industry over the previous decades has been linked to a ‘lack of communication and collaboration through information sharing’ (Boktor et al., 2014). In response, the industry has been searching for ways to systematize information sharing in a project. Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been widely embraced by the AEC industry as the answer to the difficulties in the industry. However, the implementation of BIM has not gone as smoothly as hoped. Extensive research has been done towards the barriers to BIM implementation and has resulted in the identification of three main categories of barriers: people, process, and technology. However, these results fail to acknowledge BIM is not the only method for communication in a project. The AEC industry is a knowledge-based industry that heavily relies on the experience of the people and their ability to collaborate with one another. This research considers a communication processes adept to the exchange of tacit knowledge, messy talk. In this research, the relationship between BIM and messy talk will be studied using activity theory. The main question reads: How can an organization enable effective project team context communication practices in BIM-enabled construction projects?

The research is made up of three phases and was conducted using qualitative methods. The first phase consisted of creating a comprehensive understanding of the two concepts of this research, the use of BIM in BIM-enabled construction projects and messy talk.

The second phase of the research was focused on testing this research proposition based on empirical data, collected through interviews and a case study. The empirical analysis was done using activity theory. Activity theory is a descriptive theory, well-suited to mapping so-called activity systems. The results from the activity systems analysis show that there are two scenarios in which messy talk occurs, characterized by the difference in the relationship of BIM and messy talk. The two scenarios, labelled as “problem identification” and “solution ideation”, can be linked to different aspects of the problem-solving cycle. Problem-solving requires both tacit and explicit knowledge. In comparing the two scenarios, the prompt of the messy talk as well as the intended outcome of the activity system differs. BIM plays a different role in either scenario, either as a prompt or a resolution. BIM can either be instrumental or the outcome of an interaction depending on the purpose of the messy talk. The output from either scenario of messy talk can act as an input to the other messy talk scenario but this is not bound to timeframe.

Finally, the research is concluded in the third phase, where a strategy for enabling effective communication in a BIM-enabled construction is designed using the results from the empirical research. Based on the tensions and coping mechanisms identified in the activity systems, management interventions have been designed with the purpose of enabling messy talk, BIM, or both of these processes. 11 management interventions in the areas of team, instruments, external organizations, and leadership were identified to enable the communicative practices combining BIM and messy talk. The two scenarios can be placed in the larger design phase, thereby offering insights as to which management intervention should be employed when. These management interventions and as such the strategy can be tailored to an organization’s needs, abilities, and facilities.

Further research is needed to create a more complete understanding of the relationship between BIM and messy talk. From this research, several areas of interest came up. These include further elements with an influence on the occurrence of messy talk, such as culture, division of labour or experience. Furthermore, similar research could be done to create an understanding of the role of messy talk in other phases of a construction project. Moreover, empirical data collection was limited, as such it could be worthwhile to do similar research with data collected from a broader array of project team interaction moments or from another party involved in the design phase or later stage of the project life cycle.

Problem definition: In the car park industry, a new trend has emerged, shifting the demand for parking from permanent one-of-a-kind parking structures towards temporary modular structures (Drenth, 2020). Meanwhile, the building industry faces a transition into a more sustainable industry. This requires rethinking of the design process, taking into account possible reuse of a building or its elements as well as potential use of different materials. Timber is a renewable material and as a result of developments in timber engineering, now allows the construction of taller and larger structures. Given these trends and challenges, the objective of this thesis is to provide a structural system proof of concept for a temporary multi-storey car park, using timber as primary structural material.
Approach: A broad literature study provides background information on the various relevant topics and is followed by a refinement of the objective, substantiated by two sub-studies. This has resulted in two sub-goals: the minimization of total deck height (< 700 mm) and minimization of the structural systems weight (column load < 1,000 kN). A proof of concept is developed through a parametric study with structural validation into four main design variants (consisting of a deck and framing system), for which the effect of altering four geometric parameters (parking deck span, use of struts, distance between columns in transverse direction and minimum distance between joists) on these sub-goals is studied. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is performed on the effect of altering the requirements concerning fire-safety, vibrations and deflections on the deck height and weight. Finally, the proof of concept’s performance is compared to five alternative modular and/or timber car park concepts in a case study.
Evaluation: It is concluded, that design variants using long-span deck systems result in a relatively small deck height, but high self-weight. A CLT rib deck should be applied under “standard” assessment criteria, but significant reductions in deck height (31%) and weight (49%) can be achieved by using LVL rib decks when vibrations are not considered and deformation limits are increased. The total deck height of design variants with short-span decks, which use solid LVL panels, highly depends on the supporting framing system, but its self-weight is roughly halve of the long-span design variants. The effect of alternative assessment criteria on design variants with short-span decks is rather limited. It is concluded that the use of struts significantly reduces the total deck height (17-30%) and structures weight (5-11%) and a transverse column distance of a single parking bay width is preferred. The distance between joists is of less relevance, but a bigger parking deck span increases both deck height and total weight.
The resulting proof of concept consists out of a short-span solid LVL deck system, which spans two times 2.5 m (single parking bay width). It is supported by glulam main girders, spanning the entire parking deck, which are simply supported by a set of columns at a transverse distance of 2.5 m and are additionally supported by slanted struts between the columns and main girders.

The results from the case study show, that the total deck height of the proof of concept (666 mm) is smaller that the sub-goal of 700 mm and comparable to alternatives with decks made of steel, concrete and GFRP. Furthermore it is 40% thinner than the alternative in timber as a result of the use of LVL and struts. In terms of weight, the use of timber is much lighter than using concrete decks (<25%) and only 17% heavier than the extremely lightweight GFRP decks. Furthermore, it results in the smallest loads on the foundation (678 kN which is smaller than the sub-goal of 1,000 kN). A first extremely simplified durability analysis on amounts of embodied carbon in the main structural elements indicates timber has significantly lower amounts of embodied carbon in comparison to the alternative concepts.
Implications: Based on the results presented, it is concluded that timber is applicable for almost all main structural elements of a temporary and modular multi-storey car park. The case study has shown that the proof of concept can compete with alternative modular car park concepts in terms of deck height and outperforms most alternatives in terms of the structures weight. It is also indicated, that timber has the potential to significantly improve the performance of a structure in terms of sustainability.
For future research, it is advised to further develop the proof of concept, focussing on the connections and durability risks and study the incorporation of circular design strategies into the design and construction process of the proof of concept. Furthermore, alternative assessment criteria should be validated. Finally, it is advised to study the potential use of other innovative sustainable building materials like BauBuche and make a detailed LCA study assessing the performance on sustainability.

Construction resource management in the Netherlands is causing environmental concerns due to a high demand for infrastructure maintenance and carbon/nitrogen emissions. Insufficient optimization of resource management between projects results in more traffic and higher energy demand, but measures such as linking projects, program management, and reducing transportation can save money, improve air quality, and decrease emissions. Efficient resource management is crucial in the construction industry to achieve project goals despite challenges such as complex projects, tight budgets, and supply chain issues.
The aim of this study is to develop a proof-of-concept for managing resources between construction projects using digital connections between resource data. The goal is to optimize information sharing between different companies to reduce urban city traffic, energy consumption, and emissions, while also being practical and easy to implement. This study uses a cross-sectional research design, which involved the collection of transport data from three civil work projects in the centre of Amsterdam. The study uses a combination of research methods including interviews, data analysis and a discrete event simulation.
The main mechanisms influencing inefficient resource management in construction are: (1) the lack of digitalisation at smaller sized construction companies, (2) the imbalance between ingoing and outgoing construction logistics, and (3) the inefficient transports of non-bulk materials.
The study focuses on optimizing logistics in the construction industry in the Netherlands to reduce emissions. The study emphasized the benefits of collaboration among different construction projects and proposed a hypothesis that a centralised resource management system can optimize resource usage and reduce environmental impact. By analysing the construction logistics of three projects in Amsterdam, the study demonstrated that a centralised system for logistic resource management can be employed to reduce traffic required for construction projects, optimize resource usage, and potentially improve the balance between ingoing and outgoing transports. The study also highlighted the challenges in data capturing and the need for a unified digital system for logistic data. The study concludes that a centralized system for logistic resource management can provide insight into transport data and could reduce traffic caused by construction projects through facilitating smart interventions.

The world is heating up quickly. Since 1901, the temperature in the Netherlands has risen about twice as fast as the global average and the effects of climate change seem clearly noticeable. With sea levels rising and peak river discharges increasing an enormous pressure is mounting on the current Flood Protection Programme in the Netherlands and measures to prepare for an uncertain future are being developed. Although expensive, the most commonly used strategy as in the current Flood Protection Programme is to increase the retaining heights of the existing dikes. A new method to improve the flood defence system in the South West Delta of the Netherlands is the Delta21 concept. With discharging instead of raising the dikes in mind, Delta21 poses an alternative strategy to reinforcing dike sections for the downstream area of the Rhine and Meuse. The idea of Delta21 is a future-proof solution for the Southwestern Delta of the Netherlands. A solution for not only flood risk management, but energy transition and nature restoration as well.

Between the coastline of the Tweede Maasvlakte and that of the island of Goeree-Overflakkee, the Delta21 project aims to construct a flood defence in the form of a row of dunes, multiple pumping stations and a closable storm surge barrier. Considering protection against flooding, Delta21 strives to limit the water level at Dordrecht to a maximum of NAP + 2.5 m. The flood defence ensures that a lake of about 20 km2 is created in the sea, as it were. By closing off the newly created Tidal Lake by means of a storm surge barrier and opening up a spillway to the Energy Storage Lake, pumping stations are able to pump excess river water from the Energy Storage Lake into the sea. The dunes and the closable storm surge barrier together provide sufficient protection against high seawater levels.

This thesis aims to come up with a preliminary, integral design for the Delta21 storm surge barrier taking into account the new Delta21 landscape design as such that the required functionality of Delta21 is met. This design must fulfil the functional and structural requirements and must fit within the ideology of Delta21. To achieve this, the hydraulic engineering design method is used. The first step in this cycle is to analyse the system with the purpose to better understand the situation in order to formulate the requirements and boundary conditions more accurately. The first design phase is concluded with the basis of design where the processes and functions of the Delta21 system explored
in the system analysis are translated into the requirements and boundary conditions used for the design. The Basis of Design provides mostly "SMART" formulated functional- and structural requirements and boundary conditions. Boundary conditions at sea have been determined using Hydra-NL software.
Climate change plays a vital role in this, as mostly sea level rise influences the boundary conditions significantly. Wishes from stakeholders, which are also explored in the system analysis, are translated either in requirements or evaluation criteria.

In the second step a gate type variant study is conducted. From an inventory of multiple concepts, the vertical lift gate and the segment gate remained after verification. After evaluation of the two remaining concepts using the functional requirements and criteria from stakeholders, the vertical lift gate came out as most suitable for the Delta Barrier. Subsequently, in the second step, a spatial and functional design is presented which satisfies all functional requirements. A new Delta21 flood protection process is proposed in order to more effectively
protect the hinterland from flooding. The reliability of the closure operation has been researched after which is concluded that the closure procedure can be considered reliable until a sea level rise of ca. 1 m. It is verified with a hydrodynamic model that an effective flow area of 6000 m2, defined below NAP,
is to be preferred where mostly the impact on the ecosystem was governing. In order to enable passage of shipping, a location of a separate lock complex is proposed and bridge girders are incorporated into the design in order to enable the passage of road-traffic over the barrier. Furthermore, it is concluded that using tidal turbines to generate electricity with tidal flow behind the Delta Barrier is unfeasible due to the shallow water depth behind the barrier and the relatively low tidal flow velocities through the barrier. Hydraulic cylinders are chosen as driving mechanisms for the gates as it is expected that hydraulic cylinders are less expensive and have a lower failure probability than e.g. a rack and pinion system. Lastly, using a climate adaptive pathway approach, three general strategies are presented to the closure reliability problem of the Delta Barrier after ca. 1 m of sea level rise. Firstly, the barrier could be closed permanently as part of the "protected closed" strategy. Secondly, the dikes in the hinterland
could be strengthened, the bottom protection could be strengthened, the probability that the closure of gates fail could be decreased and the Tidal Lake water level could be increased during a non-closure event. Additionally, the Water Act allows for redistribution of failure probabilities over dike segments
and failure mechanisms. Changes in the closure regime could also prove beneficial. These solutions are part of the "protected open" strategy. Thirdly, inhabitants of the lower lying areas of the Netherlands could be stimulated to move to higher ground in the Netherlands as part of the "move along" strategy.
It should be noted that a combination of either three strategies is very much possible and perhaps to be preferred. The Delta21 project enables the adaptation of any climate adaptive pathway where especially the "protected closed" and "protected open" strategies seem in line with the ideology of Delta21. Whereas the solutions above are presented within the context of the Delta21 flood protection system and the Delta Barrier, the problem is not specific to the Delta Barrier alone and a solution placed within an integral flood protection strategy for the entire (South West) Netherlands might be preferred.

As the third step, a structural design is presented which satisfies all structural requirements. Firstly, it is determined that a prefab construction method suits the construction of the Delta Barrier best, where the piers are to be sunk on to a prepared bed and most of the assembly of the barrier is to take place from the water using specialised vessels and equipment. Secondly, the 40 m long and
10.4 m high steel gates (25 in total) are designed. Thirdly, all main elements of the concrete civil superstructure are designed consisting of the 25 top beams, 25 sill beams and the 26 piers. In general, all concrete elements are restrained from cracking and post-tensioned. Finally, the global stability of the Delta Barrier is verified, taking into account horizontal, vertical and rotational stability, uplift,
scour and internal erosion. A geometrically closed granular bottom protection is designed to tackle the latter two failure mechanisms. In a structural sense, the Delta Barrier is able to withstand a sea level rise of 3.81 m corresponding to the median projection of climate scenario SSP5-8.5 and has a design life of 200 years. The construction of the Delta Barrier will take ca. 5 years, is assumed to be
completed in 2050 and will cost between ca. 2.67 and 3.50 billion euro (price level 2022).

It is recommended to further investigate the ecological impact of the Delta Barrier. Furthermore, a detailed driving mechanisms design and as such a more profound estimate for the probability that the closure of the gates fail is to be recommended.

The construction industry has undergone a profound transformation in recent years, driven mainly by integrating advanced digital tools. One such tool is configurators, advanced digital platforms that enable the integration of diverse knowledge domains, allowing architects, designers, fabricators, contractors, and engineers to explore many design variations and assess them against various parameters such as sustainability, cost, and manufacturability. However, Building Information Modelling (BIM) stands out as a game-changer, revolutionising how stakeholders collaborate and execute projects. Generally, a building configurator is made for product-specific criteria involving only one stakeholder. As to developing a multi-party configurator, this research delves into the transformative role of configurators in streamlining design workflows and enhancing collaboration among stakeholders in the construction sector.

The Design-Bid-Build (DBB) system, a predominant project delivery method in construction, operates under a linear workflow where the design and construction phases are distinct and sequential. During the bidding phase of this system, once the design is finalized and approved, it is put out to bid, inviting contractors to submit their proposals. To formulate their bid, contractors review the design documents and calculate the overall cost, considering labour, materials, overhead, and profit. This phase is characterized by competitive bidding, where multiple contractors vie to offer the most cost-effective solution to secure the project. This method allows owners to select a contractor that best aligns with the project’s budgetary and quality requirements.

In a conventional design workflow, the conceptual design undergoes numerous iterations of design and detailing before advancing to the fabrication phase. This iterative cycle, albeit integral to building planning, is notably time-intensive. Given this context, integrating manufacturing insights early in the design phases has been contemplated to expedite the overall design workflow.

Given the considerations above, the project’s proposal was focused on creating a prototype tool capable of executing the competitive bidding process involving contractors and subcontractors. It also translates the manufacturer’s expertise into a digital model. The example of the curtain wall system as a prototype was chosen and modelled as a solution to the proposed workflow. As an assumption, Two curtain wall systems, stick and unitised, are built by two fabricators. This proof of concept would enable the design of a curtain wall façade to be ready for the schematic phase after the bidding.

The foundational knowledge and information for developing this tool were sourced from the literature survey. The tool entered the modelling phase after the initial study of design workflow and façade elements. The configurator aimed to highlight the tool's user and developer and their impact during the modelling. The initial step involved setting the input parameters, using the knowledge from the manufacturer needed for the bidding, enabling the designer to create a model that aligns with the manufacturer’s capabilities. Two bidding fabrication-aware configurators were formulated based on the tool's back end.

Following the development of the two configurators, the project advances to the validation phase, structured into two distinct processes. Initially, the process was tested for its feasibility and workability of the configurator by various iterations of the input parameters. The outcomes of this process ensure the critical support requirements for the proof of concept.

Subsequently, the emphasis shifts to the professional validation of the configurator, a crucial step in the practicality of the solution. Four key validations were analysed in this step with professional feedback from the demonstration. The derived results offer insights into various aspects of the design’s effectiveness, productivity, functionality and market viability, providing pivotal information that can significantly influence the refinement and finalization of the project. The validation results are instrumental in making informed adjustments and optimizations, ensuring the proposed design workflow meets the intended objectives and specifications.

Adopting configurators in the construction industry is instrumental in addressing the challenges of increasing design complexities and the demand for sustainable, high-performance buildings. By providing a platform for real-time feedback and multidisciplinary collaboration, configurators allow for informed decision-making, optimizing designs for human comfort, environmental impact, and structural integrity. The exploration of configurators in this paper underscores their significance in advancing digital design workflows and highlights their potential in shaping the future of construction, marked by innovation, sustainability, and enhanced interoperability.

Various tasks in the construction industry are tedious due to the high amount of repetition or time-consuming nature. In recent years Deep Learning within computer vision has made it possible to automate various tasks using images. The Hoofdvaarweg Lemmer-Delfzijl has been assessed using images and a pointcloud. The images were being worked with two employees over a month. This is time-consuming and there are a lot of images to go through.

Our project statement is thus: Develop a tool using computer vision techniques to reliably detect problematic corrosion on piling sheet within 4-5 months to understand what the state is of this topic for asset managers.

We first start with an analysis in which we looked at the existing the literature, the data, the existing methods and how Witteveen+Bos is assessing the images. We then set the requirements to which the algorithm should adhere to. Literature study has shown that most models, with data-sets of above 3000 images, achieve above 90% for both accuracy and mean average precision. Afterwards we start writing the algorithm and model testing various model structures as part of the synthesis procedure. The models are variating in structures, filters, depth, and augmentation.

We created a classifier, of four and six classes, and an object detection algorithm and conducted various evaluation techniques. The four-class classifier performed better than the six-class classifier. This could be due to the six-class classifier being made up of less data, classes that are vague, parts of the data showing imbalance problems.

An object detection algorithm was created to detect dimensional features to estimate the height above water and distance of the bumps. To convert the pixel distance to actual distance, we trained the model to detect a reference object. The object detector performed well, but did not meet the requirements we set. The dimension estimation provided can only provide a rough estimation. This may be the result of not every image, in the training set, contained a reference object. Creating the data-set was a tedious task and our data-set with two classes, took around eight hours to finish training.

We can conclude that for image classification, the structure of the model and the trainable parameters play a role. The object detector can count elements, but the predicted bounding box is sometimes larger than expected. Some recommendations are to increase data and classes. A robust feasibility for Witteveen+Bos regarding AI. Repurposing the algorithm for progress monitoring and exploring the interoperability between software relevant for the manager.

The current built environment is facing a transition from a linear economy towards a circular economy. In this new system, the building parts of today are used to construct the buildings of tomorrow. Reusing building parts requires knowing the qualities of those materials. However, the current AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) industry does not know what data is required to reuse building components and how this influences processes of modelling and decommissioning parties. Therefore, this research aims to answer the following question: “Which data is needed for circular component reuse and how does this data requirement influence the management of a BIM in new construction projects?” The goal of this report is to construct an ILS (Information Delivery System. Original Dutch name: Informatie Leverings Specificatie) that provides data requirements for reuse of building components.
To answer this question two organisation types are interviewed: linear building organisations and modular building organisations. The linear companies construct projects with a permeant aim whereby building parts are not redeployed in subsequent lifecycles. Modular organisations, on the other hand, construct high-quality modular assets whereby building components and elements are reused a lifecycle. By interviewing both typologies the data requirements and process could be described and compared to construct a new ILS and process.
The interviews expressed the data requirements and structures of both organisations. These inputs are processed and the “Circular Reuse ILS+” and “Circular Reuse ILS+” are constructed. These documents describe data requirements of digital models to ensure that building components could be reused. Implementation of these documents increases the length, complexity, and costs of the design phases since more properties and digital models should be created and stored during these phases. The disassembly phase, contrastingly, benefits from the data and documents prescribed by the ILS+ given that more information is available for the construction of redeployment plans and analysis of the qualities of the released components. During the use phase of an asset, data should be maintained to ensure that it could be reused in future lifecycles. However, the qualities, requirements, definition, and responsibilities of this data maintenance are still unknow. Future research could focus on data maintenance to ensure that all data could be used in a perfect circular world.

The goal of this research is to improve the fitness for use of the CMDB in the development phase of large infrastructure projects by identifying the information needs of the individuals. The construction industry is transiting from paper-based systems engineering to Model-Based Systems Engineering, especially in the development phase of large infrastructure projects. The configuration management database, which manages the systems engineering information, is considered to be a the central systems in the Model Based Systems Engineering development. In current practice not all individuals perceive the benefits of the implementation of systems engineering tools. The context study shows the fundamental differences in systems engineering processes consisting of requirements analysis, functional analysis, design synthesis, verification and validation, system analysis and control. Based on the Integral Project Model, the technical management department has the biggest stake in the development phase. The roles considered in the technical management department are the specialty engineer and the lead engineer. The literature study presents the information needs characteristics (individual demographics, context, frequency, predictability, importance and complexity) as well as the fitness for use assessment method. The practical study shows that the information needs of the particular users differ per process as the roles have different tasks and responsibilities. As a result, the fitness for use of the configuration management database is also considered differently. The specialty engineer mainly requires information for decision making whereas the lead engineer focusses on management activities. The specialty engineer, which is mainly involved in the design synthesis and the system analysis processes, experiences problems obtainability, completeness, timeliness and coherence of the information. As a result, the specialty engineer implements workarounds, which might cause a snowball effect. The lead engineer mainly experiences problems with the functionalities of the system in the requirements and functional analysis. As a result, the lead engineer implements workarounds such as Word or Excel. As the specialty engineer experiences the majority of the problems, the design of solutions focusses on the specialty engineer. The solutions proposed consists of establishing physical relations between objects, implementation of abstraction levels, information presentation in the shape of a one stop page and information presentation in the shape of custom queries. The physical relations between objects and the abstract levels enable the one stop page and custom queries. The one stop query meets the predictable and recurrent information needs of the specialty engineer, whereas the custom query meets the unpredictable, new, urgent and complex information needs. The practical relevance of the solutions has been explained by a use case example in the shape of a simplified tunnel project. The relevance of the one stop page and custom query solutions are illustrated by stating the information needs in the particular processes and how the solutions meet these needs.

The transition to a circular economy requires reducing waste and rework in construction projects. Thereby, the evaluation of building circularity in the early design phase is of great importance. However, due to the current design workflow, such practice is hindered because there is not enough information to evaluate building circularity in detail in the early design stages. An improved workflow to emphasize circularity more in the early design phase is thus needed. This research explores the current workflow and designs an improved work procedure with limited information available by incorporating an automated decision support tool to assess early design phase building circularity, aiming to improve the working efficiency and efficacy. This tool has been designed based on interviews and literature studies, and verified and validated with practitioners. This study serves as a starting point to rethink the workflow to improve circularity with current technological potentials.

Politicians, scientific researchers and companies all know; the transition to a Circular Economy [CE] should start now, or actually should have started yesterday. The CE is an economic system that replaces the current take-make-waste linear system and replaces this with the reduction, reuse and recovering of resources. The challenge is to build with limited emissions, depletion and pollution of the living environment. Looking more specifically to a building, the load-bearing structure is responsible for a significant part of the material related environmental impact. In order to reduce the environmental impact of a building, more guidance is needed as the implementation of the CE principles requires a new approach for designing. The principles of the CE are safeguarded in various circular design strategies. Which circular design strategy is most beneficial for the project depends on the requirements and ambition of the project. The resulting difference in environmental impact caused by the design choices should be illustrated. Unfortunately, the current determination methods for the environmental impact do not include the design principles of the circular design strategies. Besides, the environmental impact is assessed at the end of the design process. Once the design is final, adjustment to improve the environmental impact are too difficult or costly.
In this research a design tool is developed that makes the practitioners in the building sector aware of the environmental impact of the design choices. Three circular design strategies are presented in the tool that can be followed to stimulate the development of a circular building project. The design tool can be used in the preliminary design phase to create and explore varying structural design variants in line with the chosen circular design strategy. The structural design variants can be compared on their environmental impact expressed in five indicators: the MPG, the environmental performance value (in Dutch: Milieu Prestatie Gebouwen [MPG]), the produced amount of CO2 emission, material usage, expected service life and building costs.
The research shows that based on literature review, expert judgement and open databases a design tool can be built, which gives insight in the environmental impact and more design parameters to support the implementation of circular solutions in the preliminary design phase. To meet the unique project specifications different solutions are required. Therefore, the design tool supports the design process with a uniform approach. The outcome of this research highlights three main influential aspects for the determination of the environmental impact; (1) the expected lifespan of the design assumed in the calculation method, (2) the quality of the environmental database of materials and (3) the total applied materials in the load-bearing structure. For the practitioners of the design process it is extremely important to be aware of the effect of changing the expected lifespan and thus the determination method for the environmental impact and the quality of the environmental database used.

Façades within the building industry ore one the most important and expensive aspect of a project. They are the outer skin of a structure and are responsible for improving energy efficiency, while being both innovative and attractive. At the same time, façades need to accommodate requirements to withstand the outdoor environmental conditions.
To meet all of these requirements, there is need for designers to either have knowledge on the different subjects, such as human comfort, sustainability, stability, among others; or work together with different specialist to achieve an ideal design.

Following a traditional design process, once the conceptual design is defined it goes through an iteration process between designing and detailing before reaching the manufacturing stage. This process, even though is already considered within the planning of a building, is highly time consuming.

Considering this process, the idea of bringing the manufacturing knowledge into the early design stages to speed up the design process was taken into consideration. The idea of bringing the manufacturing knowledge upwards in the design process would help designers, focus only on designing, while the considerations for product availability and manufacturing possibilities are already taken into account.

On the other hand, the increasing use of parametric modeling to improve building solutions, has been a growing field. In regards to façade design, the inclusion of free form architecture in the building industry has pushed the need for innovative solutions. It has been proved in these projects that the use of parametric modeling highly increases the speed in which designs are developed. However, the need to adapt existing products and manufacturing techniques to these complex geometries, generates more iteration times and increases the costs of the final product.

Now, imagine that not only the available products are adapted to the conceptual designs proposed, but that these designs include from their conceptual stages knowledge acquired from previous experience. This would help avoid the iterations between designers and manufacturers, plus would improve the possibilities of generating a bigger amount of modularity in the design process.

With these considerations, the proposal for this project aimed to develop a proof of concept tool that would be capable of encoding a manufacturers knowledge in a digital model, and use it to design a façade that is almost ready to manufacture.
For this purpose, the knowledge and information from the façades manufacturer Vianen Kozijnen was used as base for the development of this tool.

Once this was established, the modelling phase for the façade design tool begun. Initially the input parameters were set, the knowledge is gathered from the company's input, allowing the designer to set up a model within the possibilities of the manufacturer. In the back end of the tool, the build-up of the main modular panel is generated. Four main variables were defined to generate the geometry of the panel and these are determined by the input parameters.

Next, with a finalized panel design, the testing phase is set in place. This phase was divided into two processes. First, the replication of the panel throughout an entire façade. This process begins with a conceptual shape that will be filled with the already designed panel. The results from this process determine the total amount of modular panels and the percentage and amount of customized panels needed.

Secondly, the panel is tested for Building Physics aspects relevant in early design stages, which for this case were daylight and sound proofing. The tool then with the geometrical parameters given, includes simulations for both daylight and sound proofing. The results obtained, give information on the performance of the design. For daylight simulations, the results given are for daylight autonomy and daylight factor; and for sound proofing the results obtained give information on the insulation value of the façade, sound proofing of the structure and typical sound proofing. Both results, are information that is useful during early design stages, and can help shape the final project.

To test the functionality of the tool, the Sluishuis building was taken as a case study and the tool was applied to design and test one of the façade surfaces of the building.

The results obtained through this case study led to conclude the feasibility of encoding manufacturing knowledge. It was determined that as a proof of concept approach the tool generates almost immediate results that include the knowledge needed for manufacturing. However, to be applied into a real project further improvements need to be made; with more focus on, first, being able to apply the tool to a completed building and secondly, include more manufacturers knowledge to generate a library of possibilities; making it useful in real life projects.

Stakeholder management is one of the elements of project management within the building industry. Stakeholder management consist of stakeholder analysis and stakeholder engagement. Current stakeholder analysis models, methods and tools are often very focused around one central issue: individual characteristics or relations between stakeholders. Stakeholder analysis theory often strands in theoretical models, where an operational approach is missing. Combining stakeholder analysis models, methods and tools is necessary to get better stakeholder insight. However this combined approach is missing from the building industry.

The work processes of structural engineers have been changing over the last decades. Digitalisation and automation play an important role in this change. One of the major developments in this context has been the introduction of Building Information Modelling (BIM). In a BIM model the geometry of the actual building is represented. To this geometry additional information regarding the design, construction, and maintenance of the building is attached. In current engineering practice, BIM software is only used for drawing purposes. This is unfortunate, as a lot of the information present in the model can be used for calculation purposes as well. At the same time, structural calculations still contain manual and time-consuming tasks. This also holds for the vertical load calculation (Dutch: Gewichtsberekening). An important calculation in the design of a building, as it is used to determine how the loads acting on the building are distributed to and carried by the foundation. The aim of this thesis is therefore to research and develop a method and tool that can be used to automate the manual processes in the vertical load calculation based upon a BIM model. The focus is specifically on multi-storey residential buildings. As a basis for the development of a method, the state-of-the-art in research and practice of the vertical load calculation and its automation has been investigated using interviews and a literature review. A framework is developed in which the different steps of the vertical load calculation are described using a number of flowcharts. Furthermore, responsibilities are assigned to the different persons involved. Adjustment scenarios are developed using which the structural engineer can correct the information that is retrieved from the BIM model. The practical applicability of the developed method is tested using Dynamo, a parametric engineering software connected to Revit. It is concluded that the vertical load calculation can be automated based on a BIM model. It is important to clearly specify the different steps of the process and to provide the structural engineer with the means to interfere with the outcomes of the calculation. The potential of BIM-based automation of structural calculations is demonstrated. Using the developed tool, schematisations could be quickly generated and directly calculated using the connected structural analysis software. By supporting the structural engineer in documenting design choices early, the introduction of errors and misunderstandings is prevented. In the end this results in time-saving, time that can be spend on the more detailed and complex parts of calculation processes.