This research addresses the challenge of climate change and air quality, focusing on the construction industry's impact in the Netherlands. The construction sector, a significant source of air pollution, necessitates sustainable practices for mitigating the effects of climate change and reducing pollutants. The study emphasises the need for stricter local regulations and innovative technologies to curb air emissions within the cities.

Examining air pollutants such as Ultrafine Particles (UFP), Black Carbon (BC), PM2.5, and PM10, the research clarifies their role in ambient concentrations. While acknowledging the global nature of air pollution, its impact on health, the economy, and various sectors in the built environment highlights the need for comprehensive measures. The Netherlands' commitment to reducing air pollutant emissions aligns with European agreements and initiatives, emphasising promoting emission-free technologies in construction machinery.

The shift from conventional high-rise construction to bio-based materials, particularly Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), emerges as a promising solution. Cross-laminated timber is praised for its environmental friendliness, speed of construction, seismic resistance, and ability to resist high temperatures. The study examines the ecological concentrations of UFP, BC, PM2.5, and PM10 in high-rise buildings constructed using CLT and conventional methods, offering insights into the potential benefits of sustainable construction practices.
Focusing on specific construction sites in Rotterdam and specific urban construction sites like Amsterdam, the research compares ambient concentrations during construction, highlighting the environmental impact of different building methods. The lack of regulations for UFP and BC in the Netherlands underscores the importance of investigating their concentrations to guide future research and regulatory efforts.

The research project aims to inform policymakers, architects, builders, and the community about the environmental and health implications of construction decisions. The study envisions a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable urban environment in Rotterdam and beyond by fostering awareness and providing a blueprint for future investigations.

Due to the stricter sustainability requirements and associated governmental regulations, the real estate development process in the Netherlands is becoming increasingly complex, narrowing the real estate developer’s opportunity space and increasing the uncertainty regarding the feasibility of the real estate development project. Recently developed AI powered generative design tooling could potentially be used to decrease this uncertainty during the concept design process. However, there is currently no scientific method that helps the (concept) developer evaluate the concept design with the use of this AI powered generative design tooling and make decisions based on more objective design criteria instead of estimated guesses. The goal of this research is to develop an evaluation framework for the concept design process that can be used by real estate development professionals in the Netherlands, during the concept design stage of inner-city apartment buildings, to make more informed choices (based on additional objective information) earlier on in the design process to decrease the uncertainty with regards to the feasibility of the real estate development project. The framework will be developed considering the current visualisation and simulation abilities of AI powered generative design tooling.

Using the concept design evaluation matrix, the real estate developer and other relevant stakeholders are encouraged to 1) carefully determine what they consider important for the specific real estate development project, taking into account the site-specific characteristics, prior to the evaluation and decision-making process. 2) By subsequently focusing on these priorities during the location/market investigation and concept design process (for example by focusing on identifying any uncertainties and/or risks related to environmental factors such as noise pollution), the expert panel expects that the developer 3) can better steer the process because the different interests are clear and the developer can better evaluate the results with stakeholders by using the analysis results and ranking scores of the different parameters in negotiations/discussions. The expectation is that the evaluation matrix combined with the use of AI powered generative design tooling will decrease the uncertainty regarding the feasibility of the real estate development project, and will provide the developer with a handle to ultimately achieve an even better real estate development result.

The research study focuses on implementing Lean SCM and Green SCM principles harmoniously to reduce costs and GHG emission across the logistics department of a supply chain, thereby making a supply chain eco-efficient and giving competitive advantage to an organization. The construction industry over the years has been grappling with costs overruns and low productivity; many paradigms have been implemented to tackle this issue but haven’t been successful. The lack of success is attributed to the highly fragmented and uncertain nature of the construction industry. In terms of GHG emissions the construction industry accounts for 50% of global CO2 emissions, a substantial chunk of this emerges from the operational phase and most research focusing on reducing CO2 emission in construction focus on the operational phase and very little research is dedicated to reducing CO2 emissions during the construction phase and in specific logistics. Hence this thesis aims to develop a framework using principles of Lean SCM and Green SCM to reduce costs and GHG across Construction Logistics.