The Netherlands, with its intricate history of battling water, faces a pivotal moment as rising sea levels challenge traditional water defenses. This research navigates the intricate landscape of water management, focusing on the vulnerable region of Hoedekenskerke in Zeeland. The central thesis proposes adopting the Living with Water strategy posed by Deltares, urging a paradigm shift towards a symbiotic relationship with nature. The study employs a funneling methodology, ranging from a regional risk analysis to a nuanced exploration of the spatial relationships between the hinterland and water infrastructure. Through a detailed examination of dike failure probabilities and consequences on an urban scale, Hoedekenskerke emerges as a key focal point for urgent adaptation. Beyond their structural function, dikes are revealed as multifaceted elements, representing landscape features, cultural heritage, and symbols of trust. The research concludes with a call to embrace a more adaptive and mindful coexistence with water. And to work towards a future where the Netherlands can chart a resilient course—one that relocates its vulnerable hinterland to the higher ground that the waterworks provide while honoring the intricate legacy of hydraulic engineering that defines its identity.

The research recognizes the environmental and cultural implications of architectural tourism projects in naturally appealing locations like the Mediterranean, where the impact on local residents and resources are frequently overlooked. The study, which focuses on the energy and resource consumption of tourism projects, examines the possibility of passive design strategies as a sustainable approach for reducing energy usage in hotels. Recognizing the absence of standards and guidelines facilitating passive design, the study develops a design manual adapted specifically to hotel developments in the Mediterranean climate. The methodology involves understanding suitable passive design solutions, establishing analysis criteria for common hotel morphologies and typologies, modeling energy demand, and evaluating architectural design freedom. The study's findings show the effectiveness of passive design solutions with an emphasis on solar passive design and natural ventilation. The produced design manual provides guidelines for integrating passive design principles in hotel projects and achieving architectural design opportunities, with recommendations for optimum morphologies and typologies. The findings indicate that terraced morphology and single-loaded slab typology are extremely successful solutions in terms of both energy efficiency and architectural design flexibility. The study also recommends alternative morphologies and typologies for hotel design, as well as hybrid applications. The findings are generalizable across the Mediterranean climates, giving a foundation for future research into passive design methods in other common areas of hotels, as well as other characteristics for a more complete examination.

Vertical Greenery Systems (VGS) show numerous advantages in terms of sustainability and a healthy living environment. Unfortunately it is found that current knowledge on the fire safety of these systems is lacking and can pose as a barrier for implementing the systems or can cause situations in which they are implemented which are unsafe. The current research aims to put a step forward into filling this knowledge gap. By literature research, interviews with different parties and a risk analysis on case-studies relevant parameters influencing the fire safety of VGS have been identified. A tool was developed which can analyse a façade design with VGS on its fire safety risks. The tool was tested on case-studies and evaluated by interviewees. The tool is to guide designers and raise awareness and understanding of what parameters in a design influence the risk. By raising the understanding on the topic of fire safety of designers, better informed and safer decisions can be made. During the research numerous mitigating measures have been found which can be used in a design to minimize the risk of using VGS. It was found that the type and amount of materials used in the system are of great influence of its fire safety performance, more so than the vegetation used. Furthermore the location of where on the façade the system is applied is of great impact on the risk the VGS causes. Concerns about fire safety of VGS are valid but there are plenty solutions and design considerations identified which help minimize the risks. A risk analysis tool can be helpful for designers to determine the fire risks of a design, increasing the understanding and awareness on the topic which empowers designers to make safe designs with VGS, thus enabling the safely greening of the building envelope.

The construction industry is a major contributor to climate change. To create sustainable and resilient architecture longevity should play a major role, as the initial embodied carbon can be used for longer. Furthermore, the lifespan of Dutch dwellings needs to be extended to counteract the low annual net addition of new buildings and the housing shortage.
To address these problems this multi functional design (housing + education) on TU Delft campus rethinks the typical timescales of architecture and aims to provide a sustainable alternative to construction methods with a low initial carbon footprint such as timber construction.
The combination of an „ever-lasting“ concrete structure that merges with the site, and can be seen as new land, with temporal building elements guarantees that the building is able to adapt to new functions and requirements over its long service life. The site, which is currently used as a parking lot, can be actively used as part of the campus where living, teaching, nature and leisure meet.

Building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) façade systems introduce high-voltage ignition sources, carrying DC currents up to 1000 V, directly into façade structures, a hazard unprecedented in conventional façades. Despite this, the regulatory framework in the Netherlands falls short in adequately addressing the fire safety risks posed by BIPV façade systems, with no short-term tendency for improval. Currently, the applicable fire safety regulations do not address the unique electrical characteristics of BIPV systems, considering them equal to conventional construction materials. The testing methods fail to account for the distinct ignition scenarios these systems present, resulting in fire classifications for façades that are not adequately representative. Furthermore, there is no statutory quality system in place to guarantee an acceptable level of safety.

Through the execution of a fault tree analysis, several foundational findings were identified regarding the fire risks of BIPV façade systems. The most common failure modes are electric arcs and hot-spots. In addition to the inherent risks of façades and the chimney effect, BIPV façade systems introduce further risks. They expose combustible materials to new ignition sources, contain components within cavities that may not be designed to operate at high temperatures, present inspection and maintenance challenges, cable penetrations which can facilitate fire spread and heavyweight BIPV modules can pose a risk of injury or blocking pathways if they fall.

A wide variety of measures have been identified to tackle the fire risks of BIPV system. To narrow it down, it is most effective to first focus on preventing the ignition of fire. This can primarily be achieved by proper design and installation of electrical systems, validating them through quality schemes, and performing periodic maintenance with infrared (IR) inspections. While quality installation by accredited installers (InstallQ) minimizes errors, it doesn't eliminate them entirely. Therefore, independent quality inspections (SCOPE12) are crucial for added safety and reliability.

Subsequently, to limit the development of fire, it is essential to always employ a glass/glass or glass/copper BIPV module (fire class B: NEN-EN 13501-1), and use a protective fire barrier (fire class A2/A1: NEN-EN 13501-1) in the cavity. Additionally, segmenting BIPV façades and cavities that span multiple fire compartments through physical barriers or well-performing cavity barriers is necessary. Utilizing smart detailing around façade openings and BIPV cavities, ensuring modules are easily removable from the façade, and implementing well-performing cable penetrations through the façade are also critical steps.

As these measures require an integrated approach, it is emphasized that the architect, façade designer, BIPV manufacturer and electrical installer should closely collaborate to design the electrical configuration of the BIPV system and adequately implement the effects of the system on the detailing, particularly in the façade (e.g. component placement in façade, cable penetrations, etc.).

To improve the spread of knowledge, a design support tool has been developed. This tool provides a framework that highlights critical fire safety considerations through 23 risk parameters on building, façade and product level, enabling users to conduct risk assessments and offering specific measures based on design input. User feedback confirmed the tool's potential in raising awareness among designers about BIPV challenges, facilitating informed decision-making, and integrating fire safety from the outset.

The design support tool does not provide a guaranteed 'fire safe' solution; fire safety should always be assessed in its unique context, especially due to the electro-technical characteristics of BIPV systems. The tool is a preliminary setup that lays a solid framework but requires further refinement through empirical research and end-use testing. It is particularly relevant in the current pre-normative state, guiding designers through fire safety complexities and potentially supporting future regulatory developments.

This paper aims to present and assess the prospective environmental feasibility and efficacy associated with the integration of Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology into diverse design methodologies within contemporary architecture. The primary focus of adjusting the flow of the chemical process through various design parameters will be elucidated for the hypothetical application into buildings. This chemical process involves the scientific method of utilizing the hollow-tube fibers with potassium hydroxide (KOH) as the primary carbon absorbent, where the CO2 contained ambient air is absorbed in fibers and converts into liquid state of K2CO3 + H2O. This carbon dioxide will be captured and transported through building services, for the future utilization and storage. This research highlights that the chemical flow of the DAC process can be effectively implemented through three distinct architectural design factors: façade modules, and an add-on mechanism for existing buildings and infrastructure. Despite the early introduction of DAC in 1999, its current status remains at the research level and cost demanding, yet to progress beyond industrial applications. However, the paper argues that when broadly applied in buildings powered by renewable energy sources, DAC integration has the potential to mitigate the escalating CO2 contamination, through ensuring buildings to capture more carbon than they emit, mimicking the principles of photosynthesis from the nature. Thus, the research prioritizes in opening a vision for new concept of sustainable architecture, directly responding towards the global climate issues, and acts as a first stepping stone beyond carbon reduction, towards carbon-capturing architecture.

There is a growing need for alternatives regarding aviation; the Hyperloop might offer a partial solution. However, there is a gap in knowledge, case studies and design concepts to investigate how the new system could be connected to aviation at airports. Such a space does not exist yet, and is therefore relatively undiscovered territory.

This brings up the following question: What kind of space do we need in order to make passenger exchange between Hyperloop and aviation possible, and what does that look like in architectural terms?

Would you feel relaxed in hospital? Would you choose to meet a friend there? Would you like to spend your free time there? The answer for most people is no. Hospitals have always been synonymous with fear and sadness. Although it relates to the fact that life and death is a heavy topic, the hospital’s factory-like model and oppressive space exacerbate the negative emotions.
This situation is even worse for elderly people. According to a CNN Health survey, the older you are, the worse the hospital is for you. But on the other hand, Germany is even entering a super-ageing society. According to the United Nations Health Organi-sation, 27.6% of the population in Germany is over 60 years old, the second highest population in the world after Japan.1 And in the German healthcare system, more than 60.5% of patients are older than 60. Geriatric medicine department’s average length of stay of 15.2 days is twice the average, ranking first among all departments.
All the facts prove that hospitals, which have remained unchanged for decades, need a revolution. The best future hospital is NOT hospital, at least not the way it is now. This article studies the body perspective to provide an excellent healthcare experi-ence for elderly patients. Filling the gap between society, hospital and home, ena-bling the revolution from hospital to house.

Train stations are becoming an increasingly important part of urban life. They are the connection between different transport hubs, a social interaction platform, and part of a culture or daily routine. However, many train stations are designed to meet only the first demand, “transporting people and making the city accessible”. Many stations in Berlin are designed with these thoughts and are therefore unattractive to many passengers travelling to and from the city, leaving other modes of transportation dominant.

The design for a new train station in Berlin will primarily respond to creating a unique traveller experience to enhance the user experience. Digital media and automation technologies play an essential role in this, allowing the station user to configure their own experience at the station according to their needs. The station within which these technologies can serve the user will also have to change its character.

Adding features related to service and experience should ensure that a new platform is created that encourages travellers to use the public transport network. Moreover, adding these themes in a station reduces travel time and enhances the user experience.

The design extends the standard train station by integrating automation technologies that allow travellers to perform daily actions at the station faster. For instance, car and bicycle parking in the station is automated, eliminating parking operations. Moreover, the station will also feature service cores. Integrated into these cores are automated food and package services and digital media that can provide users with necessary travel information, daily news and weather, exhibition display and events.

Besides the addition of automation technologies, the building will also have various functions related to the traveller’s daily routine, facilitating social activities and providing work and study places. Through interactive screens in the station or the telephone, travellers can pre-select the desired functions they will use at the station. The station configures its layout using this data to make the required space available.

Finally, in addition to classifying their travel experience at the station, users can configure their space in terms of spaciousness and climate. By applying these new functions and techniques, the station will no longer be a monotonous building for the user but will be able to react to needs and adapt to current and future use.

The Dutch government was mandated by the national court in May 2019 to address high nitrogen-oxide levels, threatening construction permits to be canceled if target values are not met. As the agrarian sector contributed significantly to nitrogen-oxide emissions, reductions in this sector were necessary. Ongoing protests by farmers indicate the unresolved crisis. A government report suggests that around 500-600 high-emission agricultural businesses must cease operations for a substantial impact. Consequently, large cattle farms, known as "mega barns," will become vacant. Traditionally demolished or recycled, their materials may have the potential for repurposing, especially given the projected availability of similar buildings in the next 10-20 years.

Both the European Union and the Dutch Government have set themselves targets to convert their economies from linear to circular before the year 2050. A circular economy means a system in which products and materials are kept within the loop as long as possible, reducing the need for new raw materials and production – reducing energy needs and CO2-emissions in the process. Recycling is currently coming up as a mainline strategy, however, it is considered to be less circular than other strategies, especially compared to reuse. The steel sector is seen as an exemplary industry that recycles a lot but would pose major environmental benefits when shifting the chain towards reuse. Yet, making this shift happen is withheld by certain barriers, especially on the designer’s side. The fact that information on availability, quality and quantity of reusable components is scarce in the critical early phases of the design process, is one of these main barriers.

This thesis attempts to introduce a tool that employs reverse-engineering techniques to analyze and predict the availability of structural steel components in industrial buildings, providing designers with knowledge about potentially available materials as early in the process as possible. By utilizing publicly available data, the tool enables an accurate estimation of the length, type, quantity and quality of the elements. This is done by the use of parametric design software such as Rhino3D, Grasshopper and Karamba3D. The research explores ways of making use of existing structures’ geometry and design requirements in order to predict the structural properties of the load-bearing components. The tool has been tested and evaluated on a series of cases, all of which are industrial farm halls situated in the Netherlands. This case testing has been used to improve and finetune the output results of the tool. In the end, the developed tool is able to predict steel profiles within a +/- 1 profile class range. Additional analyses are incorporated to assess cost savings, environmental benefits, and element quality.

As a solution to declining availability of famland and as an alternative to unsustainable vertical farming, this thesis proposes a new farming practice: hybrid urban vertical farming. It has a high footprint utilization and combines vertical farming with daylight utilization. This is a summary of the research and results.

This research begins with the problem statement: food securtiy is in jeopardy by 2050. By then, there will be 10 billion people on earth while the area of farmland is shrinking. Conventional farming practices use too much space per crop, and thus cannot be scaled up to produce more crops. The alternative that uses farmland more efficiently, vertical farming, is not sustainable enough to be a globally commercially interesting alternative. Therefore, a more sustainable alternative is needed to sustainably grow a lot of food on a small footprint in the years up to and beyond 2050. The proposal is hybrid urban vertical farming: a new farming practice that reuses greenhouse components to build a modular construction in which layered growing systems can be built that can also utilize daylight through the glass greenhouse deck. This way, its sustainability over vertical farming is increased through material reuse and artificial light reduction.

The research continues with an examination of the components that compose greenhouses, and an analysis of how those can be refurbished reused. This was done in close collaboration with companies in the sector. With that knowledge, a case study greenhouse, MightyVine phase 3 from Chicaco, the United States of America, is then analyzed. Using the resulting components, nine modules are designed that together can create any possible module configurations to withstand wind loads. A sliding and rotating growing system is designed for in those modules. Those features contribute, respectively, to an even exposure to daylight for crops in different containers, and to reducing the footprint occupied by workspace. Building modules with reused components results in as much as 45-76% of the carbon footprint being saved. For the growing systems, which reuse midfield columns for their structure, it is 16-18%.

With the design of growing systems completed, it was optimized how far they need to be spaced apart to maximize the use of daylight on a given footprint. This revealed that growing systems must be side-by-side to naturally provide 34% of the light requirements of crops annually. Knowing that, it was also possible to determine the module configuration that reuses the most midfield columns (which is the most reused greenhouse component). That optimal module configuration is eight modules long and four modules deep. This leads to a 95% reuse rate for midfield columns. That module configuration can grow 3.3 times more crops per square meter than the case study greenhouse, and at only 4.5% of the greenhouse’s footprint.

Carbon footprint calculations that consider only the emissions emitted in the production of materials for module construction and growing systems show that hybrid urban vertical farming is less sustainable than greenhouse agriculture: by a factor of 1.63 times. Published research indicates that vertical farming is 2.4 times less sustainable than greenhouse agriculture. So the conclusion of this thesis: a hybrid urban vertical farm truly is a hybrid farming practice. It has a better footprint utilization than greenhouse agriculture has, but it is less sustainable. However, it is more sustainable than vertical farming. So, today, hybrid urban vertical farming is not yet the most sustainable farming practice out there, but when farmland runs out in the years to 2050, then hybrid urban vertical farming will be the more sustainable option over vertical farming. Until then, the concept can be further developed and made more sustainable to be competitive with conventional farming practices sooner if possible.

The Berlin Open Depot complements the cultural heart of Kulturforum, the cultural center of Berlin, located on Potsdamer Straße in the Berlin-Tiergarten district, situated on one of the busiest transportation nodes of Berlin. It is a center for a wide range of exhibition types and stands among the global frontrunners in the field of innovative exhibition experience. The Berlin Open Depot transcends the typical structure of museum buildings, adopting a new approach in its design and layout. The design pushes the boundaries of exhibition and storage spaces, consequently forming a solid, yet flexible space that can facilitate unlimited forms of exhibition. Due to its multidimensional design, the Berlin Open Depot extends beyond the confines of display, exhibition or showcase. It can also serve as a space for events, lectures, or workshops and can be curated by artists as an ever changing canvas.

Climate is changing. The average temperature on earth is rising due to excessive emissions of greenhouse gasses such as CO2. In the meantime the economy is a linear economy where a produced from exhaustive materials are consumed and turned into waste. In order to fight climate change and exhaust the earth less the greenhouse gas emissions need to decrease and less waste needs to be produced. The government has set goals to have a circular economy by 2050. A circular economy means the elimination of waste, instead all materials are reused and recycled to its final potential and new materials come from renewable sources.
One commonly used renewable material in the built in environment is wood. Besides, wood sequesters CO2, has a low environmental impact and can be reused and recycled. When more wood is used and forests keep growing, more CO2 is sequestered, especially when it is substituted for product that emit a lot of CO2. Wood can so contribute to the overall decrease in CO2 emissions.
But at the moment there is also a huge waste production of wood, with a annually production of 1,8 Mton waste wood, of which 435 kton is scrap wood (waste wood from the construction and demolition industry) (Sloopcheck, 2021). Most is incinerated or otherwise recycled. Only a small portion is reused. In order to contribute to the circular economy goals scrap wood should therefore be reused and recycled. This thesis aims to research why the portion of reusing scrap wood is so small and tries to find a suitable building product to show that scrap wood can and should be reused. The suitable building product is CLT, due to the used lamellae consisting of varying dimensions, mechanical properties and possibly wood species. This research shows that scrap wood can be implemented into scrap wood, although the portion of scrap wood into a panel depends on the availability of certain required properties. The substitution of scrap wood in CLT panels always results in extra CO2 savings, and therefore the reuse of scrap wood into CLT panels can contribute to reducing CO2 emissions.

Glass has been around for four thousand years and its demand to be used in facades has been increasing ever since. The appeal of a glazed facade is the transparency factor which can connect inside and outside environments without losing the protection a facade provides against the elements. Nowadays the glazed facades that have high transparency tend to be inefficient due to it being time-consuming to design, as it needs a lot of customization, and to produce and assemble on site. Other glazed options deal with the same issues, however, they do not provide the same amount of transparency. To address this gap in the market, this research will look into possibilities to achieve higher transparency in a unitized facade system. The first thing to establish in this research is the requirements with which the facade panel must comply. These can be arranged into five categories, transparency, unitized system, maintenance, sustainability, and design for practice, which includes structure, movement, tolerances, safety, thermal, and water- and air-tightness. Next, a provisional detail was created by using two projects as inspiration for its structural concept as they were examples of a two-sided support system and of how to use composite action to achieve a slimmer profile. With this detail, a reliable structural finite element model could be built to facilitate further analyses. The last steps of this research focused on investigative design. This uses variations of the provisional detail design to get an understanding of what aspects influence each other and how each performance compares against the set requirements. From these analyses, it was concluded that to achieve a highly transparent, unitized facade system the composite action between the glass panels and the mullion is crucial. Furthermore, having the mullion sandwiched between the glass not only provides a better composite action but is also the visually most pleasing option as it has little variety of materials shown on the surface. Even though the final design settled on, is considered the best option in this study, it nevertheless has some challenges. One of these challenges is the use of adhesives, as it can have a negative effect on the sustainability aspect regarding the endof- life. Another complication can appear when looking at the proportions between the glass panels and the mullion. The mullion is quite small compared to the glass and thus making it an intricate process when assembling.

With the country’s expanding population comes the need for more homes to accommodate its residents. In the Netherlands, there is a growing housing shortage. Fast construction techniques of prefabricated dwellings erected on existing flat roof tops may be a solution for saving land and resources in and around urban areas. Flexible solutions with sustainable design techniques that cater to the masses are essential for the Circular economy.
The research topic is presented, and the research questions are framed in terms of technique and relevance to the construction sector. Flexibility issues with contemporary house designs are highlighted in the literature review, and circular building concepts are discussed in order to develop design requirements for building components. The many types of prefabrication are identified, and a system is chosen for the design concept. Building physics strategies relating to steel’s thermal and acoustic qualities are examined, and these strategies are noted for prospective integration into the design.
A design suggestion for modular housing top-up units is presented. Different options for internal partition walls and façade architectural components are presented, all of which are modular and designed to extend the life of the components through reuse. The modular components are used in a top-up situation to validate the architectural quality of the design.
The design criteria given out in the research are used to evaluate the building components. Finally, conclusions are drawn and research questions are addressed.

Amsterdam city is currently facing problems of old quay walls and bridges renovation, followed by insufficient greening in the city. This study aims to propose a method to increase Amsterdam's greenery that will add social and environmental value through the renovation work of quay walls. The main objective is investigating how the quay walls can be redesigned to gain improved moss colonization as the primary greening method. The research question is: “How can quay wall elements be designed with improved bio receptivity to stimulate high moss growth coverage that will add social and environmental values to Amsterdam citizens’ wellbeing?”. It is further divided into six sub-questions to gain knowledge of bio receptive definitions and concepts first, followed by the study of bio receptive construction materials properties in the second part. The third part aims to gain fundamental moss knowledge. Afterward, a moss field survey is conducted on construction materials in The Netherlands as the fourth part. The fifth part consists of the moss cultivation technique and experiment to gain more practical knowledge of the construction materials. Finally, with the acquired results, a bio receptive quay wall design with other practical considerations is proposed in the last part. Initiated with fundamental literature research on existing bio colonization works, followed by more specific building materials properties and moss knowledge studies on the first three parts. Afterward, a simple field survey on twelve sites has been conducted to determine moss growth conditions on building materials related to quay walls. Later on, an indoor moss cultivation method through the use of terrarium has been done to gain insights into material properties, ideal growing condition for mosses and moss cultivation technique. Based on the acquired knowledge, a simple quay walls element is redesigned to promote moss growth, keeping the site orientation in mind and moss cultivation practicalities. The first three parts' results will not be described since these are basic definitions and knowledge needed for the following three parts. During the field survey, the importance of moisture for moss growth on building materials is crucial. Therefore, not one specific material property value margin is needed, but a set of material properties and environmental conditions should be satisfied to gain successful moss growth. The duration of direct sunlight exposure will influence the site's moisture condition, which will further affect moss growth. Only twelve moss species were found and identified that are able to grow on construction materials, which is used for the moss cultivation method on the construction materials during the experiments. The use of a terrarium to test moss growth on construction materials followed by a moss cultivation idea gained interesting moss growth results. It turns out that the mosses' growing temperature should be below 25 degrees Celsius at all times, especially during the germination phase, followed by a humidity level above 80 percent. For this reason, significant moss growth results on the terrarium test samples are only gained during the end of the fall season and the winter season when the temperature is below 25 degrees Celsius. Sadly, this method is still uncommon, therefore, not fully understood and controllable; improvement on the temperature and lighting control of the terrarium test method is needed to further develop the terrarium test method into a moss receptivity testing method. Finally, the redesign of the quay wall element focus is to increase moisture gain through capillary action on the masonry finish of the quay walls. This can be achieved by using bricks with an Initial rate of absorption value above 3.0 kg/m2*minute and pointing made of either trass lime or lime 4 | P a g e mortar to promote capillary absorption of the masonry finish. Site consideration regarding quay wall orientation should be taken into account since this will influence the moisture condition and the moss cultivation technique time of application during winter and protection against external factor that prevents moss germination. It is concluded that moss growth on quay walls can be stimulated by particularly improving the moisture condition on the quay walls exterior finish, as moisture was found to be the key parameter that determines the presence or absence of mosses on concrete structures such as quay walls. Resulting in an increase in greenery in Amsterdam city, which can be further translated into social and environmental values such as better air quality by filtering airborne dust, stimulating the ecosystem by producing food for the primary consumer and followed by an increase in the benefits of access to nature to human health. How citizens will perceive the green moss quay walls is unknown, especially since the moss growth comes with other organisms' growth and is not evergreen throughout the whole year and how will the moss growth influence the durability of the material over a long period. Therefore, more studies and experiments regarding moss greening should be conducted to understand this greening method better.

As of 2020, the Netherlands experiences a housing shortage of around 300,000. To respond to the projected demand, around 80,000 houses should be built every year towards 2030. At the same time, the Dutch government has had ambitions and plans towards a circular economy by 2050. Their plans were released in 2016, after which concise reports were made on how to transition certain sectors of the economy towards circularity. These reports are called ‘Transition Agendas’, of which five have been written: Biomass & food, Plastics, Manufacturing industry, Built environment and Consumer goods. This project attempts to merge the housing challenge with the circular ambitions of the Dutch government for the Built Environment, with input from all five Transition Agendas to start.  The Built Environment is one of the largest consumers of resources and energy of any industry. As it stands, this industry relies heavily on primary materials, as conventional materials and ways of construction and demolition are not tailored to reuse or recycling of resources. The other sectors covered by the Transition Agendas also highlight a general reliance on primary materials and a lack of application of reused- or recycled materials by product manufacturers. This may be because the product is not designed to facilitate these processes or since some manufacturers are reluctant to use non-primary resources due to pricing or quality concerns. Pollution and contamination of used products is also a common issue for recycling. Finally, interests and ambitions may vary between parties when it comes to circularity.  This project has three main goals. The first is to connect ambitions and material streams from different resource sectors, the second is to increase the circularity of conventional housing elements and the third is to apply resources from linear material streams in a circular way. The focus of the goals is on the housing envelope. This leads to the main research question: How can the circularity of conventional Dutch housing envelope elements be increased, through the application of residual resources from linear material streams?   First, it is researched how circularity can be defined and measured towards the project goals. Then, contemporary Dutch houses are analysed to distinguish all common envelope elements and their conventional materials. It is then speculated what circular improvements can be made on these elements, either by using the original material in a different way or by using alternative (linear) materials. From these ideas, a handful of promising examples is picked as the basis for creating three product case studies, to compare to conventional products. Based on the entire research process, an advisory framework is created, intended for use by those seeking to apply residual materials into new building elements or to simply develop building elements based on circular principles.  

The building industry is responsible for 36% of global final energy use (Global Alliance for Building and Construction, 2018), 39% of CO2 Emissions (Global Alliance for Building and Construction, 2017) and 50% of global waste in just cities (Ellen Macarthur Foundation, 2017). This is mainly due to the linear economy model which is still the dominant model nowadays. This model has been proven to be unsustainable, and it has put an enormous stress in the environment. For this reason, different approaches need to be integrated into the building industry. Designing with the aid of an environmental impact assessment framework is one approach to consider the degradation to the environment, product of a building design. By quantifying the amount of embodied energy and carbon footprint related to a desired acoustic and thermal insulation in a building, designers and engineers can take eco-informed decisions, which not only bring ecological benefits, but also material savings.

The focus of this thesis is on the facade level, which belongs to the ‘‘skin’’ of the building according to Brand (1994). According to Brand’s model this layer has an average lifespan of 20 years, meaning that a different approach on the facade level is required in order to reduce the environmental impact during its technical life-span, which is the end goal of the thesis. In order to reach the aforementioned objective, this thesis explores the relevant literature around facades, materials and the environment. Additionally, the relationship between the environment and the built environment is explored, as well as the building industry in the Netherlands with the aim of identifying the most used facade systems. Further study is conveyed for the development of a comparison and selection tool to identify the potentials and weaknesses of the different systems in order to design an environmentally friendly facade.