Rumoer 62: Sustainability| BouT | TU Delft

periodical for the Building Technologist

PRAKTIJKVERENIGING

BOUT

student association for building technology

62. Sustainability

www.octatube.nl

STOELENDANS

Jan Brouwer, architect en Chris Karthaus, industrieel ontwerper hebben zich verenigd in BROUHAUS. Beiden hebben een speciale fascinatie voor stoelen. Door de eeuwen heen blijkt de stoel zelfs een representant te zijn van de ontwikkeling van de bouwkunst. De stoel is dan ook bruikbaar als sleutel van de geschiedenis van het ontwerpen. meer info: www.brouhaus.nl

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Jan Brouwer +31 6 51 31 62 50 Chris Karthaus +31 6 46 32 70 21 info@brouhaus.nl www.brouhaus.nl www.brouwerarchitect.nl

Cabinet 02.West.090 Faculty of Architecture Julianalaan 134 2628BL Delft The Netherlands PRAKTIJKVERENIGING

BOUT

student association for building technology

+31 (0)15 278 1292 www.praktijkverenigingbout.nl rumoer@praktijkverenigingbout.nl

Sustainability

RuMoer #62

COLOFON

RUMOER 62 -Sustainability2nd Quarter 2016 22nd year of publication Praktijkvereniging BouT Room 02.West.090 Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft Julianalaan 134 2628 BL Delft The Netherlands tel: +31 (0)15 278 1292 fax: +31 (0)15 278 4178 www.PraktijkverenigingBouT.nl rumoer@PraktijkverenigingBouT.nl Printing Sieca Repro, Delft ISSN number 1567-7699 Credits Edited by:

Article editing:

Popi Papangelopoulou Popi Papangelopoulou Olly Veugelers Souad Bokzini Layla A van Ellen Antigoni Lampadiari-Matsa

> Special recognition to Marc Nicolai, former editor of Rumoer for all of his help and advice.

Cover design: Cover image:

Popi Papangelopoulou WWF -UK Headquarters Living Planet Centre by Hopkins Architects, 2015 BREEAM & RIBA AWARD WINNER

RUMOER is a periodical of Praktijkvereniging BouT, student and practice association for Building Technology (AE+T), at the Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft (Delft University of Technology). This magazine is spread among members and relations.

Circulation The RUMOER appears 3 times a year, with 150 printed copies circulation and digital copies made available to members through online distribution.

Membership Amounts per academic year (subject to change): € 10,- Students € 20,- PhD Students and alumni € 30,- Academic Staff € 80,- Companies Single copies Available at Praktijkvereniging BouT for 5€.

Sponsors Praktijkvereniging BouT is looking for (main) sponsors. Sponsors make activities possible such as study trips, symposia, lectures and much more.

There is also the possibility of advertising in the RUMOER: Black & White, full page € 100,Black & White, full page, 3x (once in every edition througout one year) € 250,Full color, full page € 250,If you are interested in Bout’s sponsor packages sent mail to: secretary@praktijkverenigingbout.nl ‎ Copy Files for publication can be delivered to BouT in .docx or .indd, pictures are preferred in .png or .jpg format.

Disclaimer The editors do not take any responsibility for the photos and texts that are displayed in the magazine. Images may not be used in other media without permission of the original owner. The editors reserve the right to shorten or refuse publication without prior notification.

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CONTENT >Beyond Sustainability in the Built Environment (p.:26-45)<

_General 4

From The Board

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U-Base: Value of Design

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Building technology and our sustainable future

_Academic Articles

>> Archiprix 2016 nominee The refugee city (p.:52-56)<<

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Inovation and sustainability for the built environment -Peter Teeuw

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Smart Urban Isle-SUI-Sabine Jansen, Regina Bokel and Andy van den Dobbelsteen

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Refurbishment is sustainable -Thaleia K onstantinou

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Beyond Sustainability in the built environment -PG Luscuere, RJ Geldermans, MJ Tenpierik, SC Jansen

_Graduation Projects

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praktijkvereniging BOUT

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Towards a sustainable future-Mira Conci

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The refugee city- Twana Gul

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EDITORIAL The following articles that you are about to read have “Sustainability”,as general theme.

But,what is Sustainability?

Is it based on ethical, political, environmental or economical criteria? We think that “sustainability” is an idea so broad that includes all of that.

In this issue we tried to light up some aspects of the sustainable design and philosophy.

Through academic articles and graduation projects we tried to inform our readers about TU Delft’s research perspectives.

Since the theme of Sustainability is global and extends the limits of Building Technology, in the following issue we shall try to highlight more aspects of it.

For now, I hope you enjoy that short journey into Sustainability.

Popi Papangelopoulou RuMoer editor 2016-2017

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GREETINGS

-btseries from left to right: Kevin-Events Nick- Education Joris- Chairman Popi- Rumoer Nihat- Foreign Affairs Tess- Secretary & Finance

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praktijkvereniging BOUT

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FROM THE NEW BOARD

Dear reader,

Before you lies the 62nd edition of the RuMoer and the first one from the new board! It is always exciting when starting something new, with a new group of people full of new ideas. This year we are a group of all-BT-students, with a good mix of both international and Dutch students. We even have a brand new board position: Foreign Affairs.

With this position we are aiming to expand the practice associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s horizon and connect with Building Technologists around the world.

We have already had some activities in the past two months with the highlights being the excursions to Amsterdam based MX3D and Octatube from Delft. Both excursions were very popular with students and fully booked within days! This illustrates very well that students are really looking towards the future and are curious as to what is happening in practice. With interesting lectures, tours and information provided by the two companies these were two very successful events.

Looking towards the future ourselves, we have some new and exciting plans for the next few months. First of all we are busy organizing the first ever BT-Company Day, going by the name of Debut (Design & Building Technology) Event! On this day various companies active in the field of Building Technology will do cases and workshops with groups of students. Students and professionals will be working together intensively, giving both

the opportunity to learn from each other. Debut Event will take place on the 1st of june 2016, if you are interested in taking part or just want to receive some more information you can contact them at: info@debut-event.nl We are also breathing new life into the internship database. With BouT being the bridge between students and practice we can act as the perfect intermediary for students that are looking for experience in practice and companies that are looking for motivated interns. One last activity that is still in concept phase but where we are already getting very excited for is a summer school organized in collaboration with a university abroad. We cannot say too much about it yet but during a few summer weeks students from Delft will work together with students abroad to design and build a pavilion that integrates sustainability, technology and design. A perfect match for BouT! As you can read, even though we are just getting started we are already occupied with a wide range of projects. Do you have a project for which you think BouT could be of any help? Do not hesitate to contact us, we are always interested in hearing your ideas!

On behalf of the board, Joris Burger Chairman 2016-2017

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Symposium 2016 Designing Against Extreme Forces : Reestablishing the connection between architects and engineers Most of us can recognize an apple store in any city in the world, due to its signature use of glass in the structure and facade. Can you imagine the level of detail hidden behind the minimalistic design? Have you ever wondered how it is possible that something as brittle as glass can withstand loads such as earthquakes, wind or snow?

If so, you will be very interested in what Mr. James O´Callaghan has to share about his experience dealing with challenging glass structures all over the world.

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Did you know that a tremor occurs in Japan at least every 5 minutes? How can we build structures that are able to stand such kind of loads, while still being impressive and appealing?

Mr. Atsuo Konishi, structural engineer of the Tokyo Skytree, will give us a glimpse on how it is possible to conceive such kind of structures under extreme wind and earthquake conditions.

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May 10th 2016

Aula CongrescentrumTU Delft

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tickets at: www.valueofdesign.nl

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Twenty years ago, putting a wind turbine on the top of a skyscraper might have sounded like a crazy idea.

Ian Bogle is the architect of the Strata SE1 building in London, for whom simple and innovative design solutions such as this one can set a breakthrough in resolving the complexity of any project.

Kamran Moazami is the chief engineer behind over 30 million square foot of building projects across the globe, including the Strata SE1, but also Manchester Hilton and the 7 World Trade Centre in New York.

On the 10nth of May both will engage in a constructive dialogue on the challenges of multidisciplinarity and their collaboration on the Strata SE1 project!

Do not miss it!

Ian Bogl e

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Building technology and our sustainable future

By Andy van den Dobbelsteen

Everything future generations want to inherit, use and maintain. That is the definition of ‘sustainable’ by Jón Kristinsson, former professor in our department in the area of Environmental Design. At the time of his chair (1992-2001) Kristinsson and the staff members he coined his two right hands, Arjan van Timmeren and me, were often considered as activists, fanatics of a fashionable topic that would evaporate soon.

It was hard to convince others of the urgency of sustainable building and we barely managed to stay appointed at the faculty. We now have to be careful we don’t become part of its furniture, as we Dutch say. In the wake of the immense success in research, sustainability finally has become an integrated part of the faculty’s education, both in the bachelor’s stage and in the master’s, most notably in the track of Building Technology and the Architecture programme of Architectural Engineering.

This is a wise thing. Next to our traditional focus on innovation for the built environment, knowledge of and experience with sustainability is a quintessential feature of the new architect, designer or engineer.

The future market will hold no employment for people who do not know how to deal with the Three Great Issues of our generation: climate adaptivity, carbon neutrality and circularity. No wonder these issues form the binding themes of the Green Building Innovation research programme of the department of Architectural Engineering + Technology. Over

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the years AE+T has become very successful in research – including graduate projects – on energy and climate, façade design and new materials, manufacture and production methods, yielding an impressive amount of externally funded projects, scientific and popular output, and international recognition resulting from it.

Education on sustainability started in the 1990s with ecological and environmental design and more recently with the basic competence of smart & bioclimatic design, using the local circumstances optimally in the sustainable design of buildings and urban plans, taught to students initially as an elective in the MSc programme, later as a fixed course and now as one of the fundamentals in the BSc programme. Initially, sustainability seemed to be limited to the area of climate design, but today it is immersed in all technical areas and all of the staff is convinced of its significance. It truly is a different generation from that of the struggles twenty years ago.

Sustainability as a topic for research has in itself led to the delimitation of building technology to buildings, components or elements: with urbanists failing to include themes as energy and climate in their work, ten years ago it was our department that explored energy potential mapping on various scales, eventually setting the boundary conditions

academic article

Sustainability for building design and technology, but first studying the larger scale to fully grasp the context.

The climate designers of AE+T conduct and are still asked for various European and national technical research projects on the urban scale, while façade designers are even more involved in transitions of the built environment, such as energy renovation of housing projects. The new engineer knows how to move within the urban contract and what to do with heritage, cultural and non-aesthetic alike.

Regarding the latter, our Prêt-à-Loger entry for the Solar Decathlon 2014 (Versailles, France) may be considered well known. With a leading role by our department, the students and partners from the market set a brave example of how to make forgotten terraced houses more liveable, comfortable and zero-energy. The prototype house is still to be visited at the campus, on the former grounds of our previous faculty building. The technical challenges of the future are often wrapped in modest assignments, not always spectacular, yet so important. It is therefore that I am very happy that our department also accommodates the experts of Heritage & Architecture, which in the near future will lead to front-runner research combining heritage, sustainability and technical innovation. A truly exciting challenge lies ahead there.

Not many people understand the severe consequences of climate change to our built environment. In our country we logically tend to think first about the water problem but heat may well be the most disturbing factor. The Climate Proof Cities project demonstrated that inner cities in hot summer conditions already are 7-8 degrees warmer than the countryside, creating uncomfortable and straightdown lethal conditions for (temporarily weak) humans. Climate change will therefore demand for changes to the built environment, a technical challenge to make our homes better suited for warmer and wetter circumstances. Collaborations

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with universities abroad, in warmer climates and often with better knowledge of the expected changes, can help us learn to design for the different future. Next to the valuable collaboration, that’s also why we want our students to keep an international perspective and not just base themselves on the Dutch conditions of the past.

AMS is TU Delft’s collaboration with Wageningen and MIT in the technological institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, focusing primarily on sustainability of future cities. Being an institute that forms a platform for scientists and stakeholders from the city of Amsterdam, that supports research with co-funding and that offers international education, AMS will become an ever more important partner for research and education on sustainability. AE+T is well linked to the AMS Institute regarding creating circularity in the built environment. Getting material cycles closed and applying these circular flows in the design of elements, components and buildings is a challenge for our future designers and engineers.

So life has not become easier for the younger generation of students... They need to know and apply more than we, older generation, used to, making the design and engineering process evern more complex. But hey, isn’t life about becoming smarter than your parents and grandparents? The objective of the universities is to educate intelligent and resourceful students, and I have always seen it my goal to make each academic year of students smarter than the one before. The aim of sustainability therein poses a great personal challenge for our staff and students and each one of us needs to partake – there is no escape: we cannot shift it forward one more generation. Put positively, just like we are used to be at AE+T: the coming years and decades will be a great playing field for our technical innovation and sustainability driven endeavours. The future needs us, and we are ready for it.

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I nnovation and S ustainability for the Built Environment - about Building Technology education Imagining and inventing the future built environment, that is what Building Technology is all about.

Therefore two years ago the track of Building Technology of the master Architecture, Urbanism & Building Sciences was completely revised. The current Building Technology education encompasses a broad spectrum of engineering and building design skills that lead to one of the dominant professions of the future: the sustainable designer.

The emphasis of the programme is on designing innovative, future-oriented and sustainable building components and on their integration into the built environment. Not only does it focus on the technological aspect, but also on the context in which these technical solutions are applied. Digital design tools are a backbone of the programme.

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By Peter Teeuw, master-coordinator track of Building Technology of the master AU&BS

Students are also able and encouraged to follow the TU broad TiSD annotation (Technology in Sustainable Development) when they focus their graduation on elaborating sustainable development to a next (higher) level. We are proud to tell a lot of students of the track of Building Technology do go for this annotation!

Building Technology stands out internationally because of the integration of the architectural design in technical disciplines, filling in a gap between architecture and engineering. The education program is well suited for both designers looking to strengthen their technical qualifications and for those with a technical background wanting to acquire design skills. Building Technology graduates are designers and engineers embodied in one person, which is what the frontrunner market asks for today.

Another unique characteristic of the track of Building Technology is the interaction with current and future markets. This is also reflected in design projects actually executed, in research, education, as well as in important international competitions such as the

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Solar Decathlon, another ‘sustainability highlight’ in which Building Technology had a dominant share in TU Delft’s team.

Through focusing on innovative structural, façade and climate design, students learn how to contribute to smart buildings that are sustainable, comfortable and environmentally intelligent.

Graduates are perfectly trained to take on the challenges of today’s and the future’s built environment.

An increasing number of students enrol for the graduation studio of the track of Building Technology.

The Building Technology Program 2016/2017

_Recent Building Technology graduate projects can be found on: http://www.bk.tudelft.nl/en/study/student-projects/ _More information on the TiSD annotation is available at: www.tudelft.nl/tisd _This text has been composed with thanks to professor Andy van den Dobbelsteen and Marketing and Communication of our faculty

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SMART

URBAN ISLE SUI

Smart bioclimatic low-carbon urban areas as innovative energy isles in the sustainable city.

A 24 Months ENSCC/SURF project by Sabine Jansen, Regina Bokel and Andy van den Dobbelsteen

Imagine an energy neutral city. At the moment this is far from reality. Urban centers, where vast amounts of people reside, consume serious amounts of energy in many different ways such as transportation, residence, and commercial activities. Thesesectors also produce huge quantities of CO2. One way to reduce the energy consumption and the CO2 emission is using great renewable energy generation plantsin the outskirts. This measure has been taken in many places withwind farms of hundreds or thousands of Megawatts. Another solution to the large energy consumption and CO2 emission is to implement

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simple renewable energy mini-systems for each dwelling, buildingor isolated community.

This approach has been carried out in several regions wherethere is no grid connection and therefore the fossil fuel dependence is absolute.

This SUI project believes that an intermediate step between these two distinct cases is a better solution. With the SMART URBAN ISLE (SUI) approach this project willexplore how to integrate energy mini-systems in the existing urban fabric.

The aim is to locally balance the energy system as much as possible. These areas can consist of 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1000 buildings; the optimal scale will be evaluated, and will depend on different (technological) solutions. Moreover, this project intends to enrich this point of viewwith a much bigger network of SUIs and therefore to develop the smart city concept considering an urban fabric of SMART URBAN ISLES (smart basic and optimal energy independent units). An added value is that this approach can go hand in hand with decentralised energy initiatives.

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The SUI concept is in line with actual European policies regarding energy saving, energy efficiency and renewable energies. A main objective of the EPB Directive requires all new public building must to be nearly zero-energy by the end of 2018. The SUI project will develop several strategies to show how this SUI concept can be implemented in urban fabrics, and indeed, the SUI project will implement those strategies obtaining real data proving the feasibility of the SUI concept. Citizens are also a target of this project because they are the final users of the project outcomes. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) conducted a study on the implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) obtaining some interesting conclusions about the engagement of the general public to sustainable carbon-free technologies.

One of the conclusions is that:â&#x20AC;&#x153;Civil society, given the right regulatory conditions, has a strong interest and the potential to carry out a major part

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Figure1:The Sui concept at different scales

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of the transition to decentralized, sustainable energy production.â&#x20AC;?The SUI consortium aims at populated cities. There are in Europe at least 230 cities with more than 100.000 inhabitants1.

Of this, 185 cities range between 100 and 500 thousand inhabitants and 27 cities have between half a million to one million inhabitants. The 18 most populated cities in Europe have over one million inhabitants. This leaves a large potential for innovative new concepts for city planning, where cities are arranged and grow through small integrated areas: the Smart Urban Isle as innovative basic energy unit in the Smart City.

WHAT IS A

SUI The consortium defines the SMART URBAN ISLE as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;

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an urban area around a bioclimatic (public) building, having a smart energy network that creates synergy between buildings and energy system and makes use of the scale advantages for energy (storage) solutionsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; . Two major results are expected to be solved (1) SUI technical concepts: technical solutions for smart energy systems at community scale, where the focus is on the integration between building and network; (2) SUI implementation strategies. The project is formed by three complementary and integrated energy focused blocks: (1) bioclimatic design system, (2) management platform and (3) mini-networks.

Moreover, this project is intended tobe adapted to larger scalesby connecting several facilities and even entire neighbourhoods, districtsor cities, thus building up complexsystems out of SUIs.

Overview of the project academic article

Sustainability

Figure 2:The SUI project.

Bioclimatic design system Bioclimatic design is formed byan architectural design to achieve the maximum comfort inside the building with the minimum energetic cost.

But having a bioclimatic public buildingas an example is not enough, a step forward is plannedby developingbioclimatic designs in urban areas (bioclimatic urban planning). On the other hand, not all bioclimatic design aspects are highly visible or recognisable for the general public.

New bioclimatic areas should be developed and designed in such a way that the bioclimatic strategies are visible in the architecture. The nonvisible aspects of the bioclimatic design should be pointed out in the building(signs, posters, and

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tours overthe SUI).The TUDelft wil participate in the Smart Urban Isle bioclimatic design and mobility research. The SUI bioclimatic design will determine the energy consumption and human comfort conditions within new/existing building by acquiring data of the existing buildings and investigating the reduction of the conventional energy use for new buildings through energy efficient design by applying energy conservation measures which also reduce the CO2 emission.

Within the SUI, however, not only the optimal bioclimatic design of the public building itself is important. This project searches for the optimal design of the public building in relation to the surrounding buildings. The optimal amount of surrounding buildings that are necessary for net zero-energy demand of the combination of the public building with the surrounding buildings (design point of view) will be determined, thus placing extra constraints on the design of the public building and the surrounding buildings

Management platform The management platform deals with the automatic active measures that can be takenup in the SUI. A software

application will be developed to control, manage and monitor the building (as SUIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s core) in order to improve the energy efficiency, as well as the energy flow throughout the

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SMART URBAN ISLE(all components). Moreover, several ICT systems (sensors, actuators...) placed all over the SUI area, will offeradvanced automatizedcontrol, monitoring,management and maintenanceto systems and services, in an optimal and integrated manner both locally or remotely.

The TUDelft will not participate in the Smart Urban Isle Management Platform research although the TUDelft will closely monitor this research in order to use the findings for the other research aspects.

Mini-networks Urban Isle mini-networks will cope with how to facilitate the generation, storage and supply of energy in the SUI. Concepts for flexible and smart networks will be developed that integrate the energy demands, storage and renewable energy production, both from buildings as well as from shared energy facilities in the SUI. Energy production includes all renewable sources but has a focus on solar and wind energy. The optimal scale of certain energy technologies, such as shared production and storage facilities, and therefore increases the synergy and flexibility of energy networks, are investigated. A second aim is to match the quality of energy, i.e. the exergy, and hence reduce the exergy losses in the energy networks of the SUI, resulting in an effective use of the potential of energy resources. The mini networks can be adapted to the needs of an urban isle, and can also include for example heat networks or DC networks between certain buildings. The TUDelft will take the

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lead in the Smart Urban Isle mini-network research.

Interest from other cities Municipalities such as Amsterdam (Buiksloterham), Winterthur (CH), Zurich (CH), Limassol (CY), Iasi (RO), Granada (ES), Güssing through ecoEnergyLand (AT) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (ES) have shown their interest to work hand by hand implementing the SUI outcomes.

All these municipalities will study and analyse the technical and economic feasibility of transforming urban areas into SUI’ s. The implementation will specifically be analysed for six municipalities: Amsterdam, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Iasi, Limassol, Granada and Güssing through ecoEnergyLand. A roadmap for implementation will be developed and if feasible within the project budget and timeframe, real measures will be implemented. The lead in the application of the SUI project is again the TUDelft.

Dissemination At the end of the 24 months of the ENSCC SUI project, starting April 2016, an innovative new concept for energy efficient city planning should have been developed, whereenergy neutrality is

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achieved in small integrated areas. Additionally, key socialaspects should be taken into account. People must know what SMART URBAN ISLEmeansand therefore the results of this project should be disseminated to the widest possible audience, involving both a technical and scientific audience and society at large. Workshops and seminars will be coordinated and organized by the partners in combination with possible exhibitions of realized demonstrators. If possible, toursthroughout a SUI will be organised demonstrating the neighbours how people can live in sustainable places without any loss of comfort. Sensitive places such renewable energy systems like biomass plants, photovoltaic and wind turbine installations and places wherebioclimatic measures have been taken, will be clearly presented to indicate the tools that are used in order to establish a new approach in urban city planning towards sustainability.

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Source 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_the_European_Union_with_more_ than_100,000_inhabitants

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Refurbishment

is

sustainable

The motivation to reconsider and improve the existing building stock lies in society’s efforts towards sustainable development. The building sector, comprising the household and service sector, has a considerable role to play. In the recent years there has been a lot of discussion, policies, technologies and research on making building using less energy, while providing high comfort standards for the occupants. Before discussing how this can be achieved, the relation between sustainability and the need to reduce energy demand of the building sector needs to be established.

The term ‘sustainable development’ was popularised by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in its 1987 report entitled Our Common Future.

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (WCED, 1987)

By Thaleia Konstantinou

able. One of those key issues addressed by the WCED is energy. Energy use is the main responsible factor for GHG and hence climate change (Eurostat, 2010). The energy use produces 59.8% of GHG, as shown in Figure 1.a. Consequently a reduction in the use of energy can contribute considerably to the alleviation of the climate change and compliance with decarbonisation targets.

a

b

Figure 1 : (a) Greenhouse gas emissions by sector, EU-27, 2010

Our Common Future reported on many global realities and recommended urgent action on eight key issues to ensure that development was sustain-

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(source: Eurostat, 2012 © European Union, 1995-2013) and (b) Final energy consumption, EU-27, 2010(Eurostat, 2013, fig. 11.20 © European Union, 1995-2013)

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Sustainability European Commission has endorsed ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gasses by 20% compared to 1990 levels, by 2020, along with a long term commitment to the decarbonisation path with a target for the EU and other industrialised countries of 80 to 95% cuts in emissions by 2050 (European Commission, 2010). Being the bigger energy user (40% of final energy consumption in the EU), there is an urgent need to reduce the energy demand of the building sector.

So, the building stock is relevant to sustainability, in terms of the energy it consumes, as well as the potential for energy savings, necessary investment and as part of political decisions. In order to reach the ultimate objective of transforming the existing building sector into a sustainable one by 2050, renovation rates need to rise from the prevailing rate of around 1% of the total floor area renovated annually, to around 3% p.a. from 2020 onwards. The real challenge is, therefore, to properly refurbish existing buildings in a manner that they use the minimum non-renewable energy, produce minimum air pollution and construction waste, all with acceptable investment and operating costs, while improving the indoor environment for comfort, health and safety.

Sustainable aspects of Refurbishment

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energy efficiency along with political support and incentives, socio-financial effects, usersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; behaviour. To understand why refurbishment is sustainable, social, ecological and economical aspects are important and influence each other: Ecological relevance: The potential of the existing stock is firstly due to the fact that existing building stock exceeds the number of newly built dwellings by far, as the renewal rate of the stock is very slow. It is estimated that every year only 1% is added to the existing stock, which means that in a period of 10 years only 10% of the stock will be at least at the level the current building regulations demand for newly built dwellings.

On the other hand, the condition of the existing stock is problematic, as it was built under far lower energy and sustainability standards (and with the use of poorer materials) at the time of construction. However, regarding materials and waste, studies show that the environmental impact of life cycle extension of a building is definitely less than demolition and new construction (Thomsen & van der Flier, 2008). The energy consumed during the production and transport of materials, the socalled embodied energy, is stored in the construction itself and demolition means throwing this energy away.

The issue of refurbishment is complex, encompassing a number of parameters such as the architectural design and construction,

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Economic relevance: Along with embodied energy, buildings are also stored capital; money is bound in raw materials. While façades and technical installations may reach the end of their technical life span at the age of 30 years, the load bearing structure can last for a century or more. Thus, demolition would be not only a waste of energy but also a waste of capital.

The operational cost of a building is strongly related to its energy consumption. Research has shown that tenants would accept higher rental rates, if the operational costs were lower. Real estate developers express the economic refurbishment target: The total rent including utilities has to remain at the same level, but the share of the base rent must be bigger (Ebbert, 2010). Therefore, refurbishment has a direct economic effect, by improving the energy efficiency and reducing the energy consumption of the building. Moreover, efforts towards increasing the rate and depth of renovation will stimulate at the same time the market uptake of highly efficient and renewable technologies and construction techniques that can deliver the expected increase in the actual energy performance of buildings (BPIE, 2013).

for its qualities and potentials. Poorly designed urban surroundings, vacancy, which often occurs when buildings do not fulfil the current demands, and misuse of properties lead to a lack of acceptance by neighbours, vandalism and social problems. Furthermore, technical decay in the estates is connected with social decay. Hence, refurbishment can reverse this problematic social environment, as the building meets todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s demands and provides a functional and attractive contribution to society.

Social relevance: When buildings today are in need for refurbishment, the task is to keep this history alive and preserve its value for society. In practise this means that each project has to be valued

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Improving the performance of buildings: the case of the 2ndSkin refurbishment concept The specific definition of the term “building performance” is complex, since different actors in the building sector have different interests and requirements (Haapio & Viitaniemi, 2008). With regard to sustainability, the integrated building performance incorporates environmental, social and economic performance. The definition of environmental performance, according to EN156432 (2011) is the following: Environmental is the performance relevant to environmental impacts and environmental aspects. where: environmental impact is any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from environmental aspects and environmental aspect is the aspect of construction works, part of works, processes or services related to their life cycle that can cause change to the environment Those impacts are related to the building fabric, referring to construction products, processes and services during the building life cycle and building operation, particularly the energy and water used by building integrated technical systems to serve the occupants’ needs. Thus, energy consumption is an integral part of the environmental perfor-

mance. It is related to the function of the building and it is necessary for the well-being and comfort of the occupants.

The envelope of a building can be the medium both for fabric and building serviced upgrade, combined with the generation of energy with renewable sources, combining both passive and active measures (Konstantinou, 2014). In this way, it is possible to achieve improved performance and quality of the dwelling without interfering severely with the interior. By adopting a holistic approach that views the renovation as a package of measures working together, deep renovation can typically reduce the energy demand and respective CO2 emissions more than 60% of the pre-renovation demand. Prefabrication of the retrofitting components can achieve high performance solutions, while minimising the on-site construction time. There are several examples of projects limiting construction time along with the energy demand, using methods such as prefabrication of the components, possibly with building services integration.

The “2ndSkin” project brings different stakeholder together, aiming at reversing the traditional decision-making process, in order to integrate their expertise and objectives into an innovate building retrofitting concept that achieves zero energy use of a dwelling, while offering upscaling possibilities and broad adoptability of the process. The objective is not only to find a successful refurbishment strategy for a specific building type, but also to determine the framework within which the pro-

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posed solution can be adjusted. If the result of the 2ndSkin strategy were extracted on a nation-wide Dutch level, this would suggest 300.000 energy-neutral dwellings that are within the direct target group.

The design elaboration process has resulted in a number of options on a component and sub-system level. Based on the systematic organisation and evaluation of options, the design teams have come up with combinations for the 2ndSkin preliminary design. The concept is integrated, combining the building envelope upgrade, the use of efficient building systems and the generation of energy. As a first step, the building envelope retrofit needs to reduce the energy demand for heating and cooling, by increasing the thermal resistance and the air-tightness of the envelope components. This is achieved by the replacement of the existing windows and the addition of insulation to the opaque elements of the façade and roof. Moreover, energy generation is necessary to reach the zero-energy target; thus, PV panels are installed on the roof, while installations to improve ventilation are also integrated.

Figure 5a

The development of the 2ndSkin strategy is based on a reference building. It proceeds in parallel with the prototypesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; development and it benefits from the test results. Before the application of the concept on a building 2ndSkin, a mock-up was constructed as part of the methodology to the final 2ndSkin refurbishment module development.

Figures 5a, 5b: Detailed 3D impressions of the 2ndSkin construction and assembly process (Source: 2ndSkin team)

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Figure 5b

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Figure 2a

Figure 2d

Figure 2b

Figure 2c

Figure 2e Mock-up construction phases (Source: 2ndSkin team)

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Nevertheless, to reach the energy and carbon reduction goals, both technological and behavioural aspects are essential. Research and innovation towards a holistic, multi-stakeholder approach can reduce the additional investment required to reach the renovation targets in terms of energy efficiency. The crucial parameters go beyond the building upgrade technologies and they are the financial and supply chain issues, the role of the user, the design and construction process, considering also the issues of sustainability and circularity. The following figure illustrates the complexity of the interrelation between

the technology (faรงade refurbishment design and building services) and the user aspects, which should consider different parameters, resulting in multi-criteria design decisions.

To create and realise successful refurbishment strategies, effective design is necessary. Designing is deciding. Knowledge and information on the different aspects can lead to better understanding of the decision consequence and result in better design solutions.

Further research should contribute in holistic and up-scalable refurbishment strategies creation and implementation.

Figure 6: The interrelation between the technology and the user aspects

_The 2ndSkin is part of the European BTA-Flagship Program of the Climate K IC and supported by the Dutch Topsector Energy (TK I/ ENERGO). http://bta.climate-kic.org/innovation_projects/2nd-skin-facade-system/

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References 1.BPIE. (2013). Boosting building renovation: An overview of good practices. Brussels: Building Performance institute Europe.

2. Ebbert, T. (2010). Re-face refurbishment strategies for the technical improvement of office facades (Diss Delft 2010 dissertatie) 3. Delft University of Technolofy, Delft. Retrieved from http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b676cb3b-aefc-4bc3-b htm 4.EN15643-2. (2011). Sustainability of construction works - Sustainability assessment of buildings - Part 2: Framework for the assessment of environmental performance: European Commitee for Standardization (CEN).

5.EuropeanCommission. (2010). Energy 2020: A strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy. In E. Commission (Ed.), COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (Vol. COM(2010) 639). Brussels.

6.Eurostat. (2010). Environment and Energy Europe in figures: Eurostat yearbook 2010. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.

7.Eurostat. (2012). “Climate change statistics” - Statistics Explained Retrieved 20/12, 2013, from <http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa. eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Climate_change_statistics> 8.Eurostat. (2013). “Consumption of energy” - Statistics Explained Retrieved 04/08, 2013, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/ statistics_explained/index.php/Consumption_of_energy 9.Haapio, A., & Viitaniemi, P. (2008). A critical review of building environmental assessment tools. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 28(7), 469-482. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2008.01.002 10.Konstantinou, T. (2014). Facade Refurbishment Toolbox: Supporting the Design of Residential Energy Upgrades. (PhD), Delft University of Technology. Retrieved from http://abe.tudelft.nl/index.php/faculty-architecture/article/view/konstantiou 11.Thomsen, A. F., & van der Flier, C. L. (2008). Replacement or reuse? The choice between demolition and life cycle extension from a sustainable viewpoin Shrinking Cities, Sprawling Suburbs, Changing Countrysides (Vol. 1): Centre for Housing Research, UCD. WCED. (1987). Our common future. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.

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BEYOND SUSTAINABILITY IN THE

BUILT ENVIRONMENT This article describes a vision on ‘beyond sustainability’ for the built environment. In this vision we do not only aim for less environmental impact, but the ambition is to achieve a positive footprint. In the first part an overview of all aspects and natural resources is described. This part is followed by three sections summarizing the developments and challenges on the use of natural resources of energy, material and water.

by PG Luscuere, RJ Geldermans, MJ Tenpierik, SC Jansen

WATER

ENERGY

MATERIAL 26

TOP SOIL

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1 Beyond sustainability: overview Natural resources and challenges The sustainability challenges we are confronted within the built environment are all related to the physical consumption of natural resources: energy, water, materials and top soili . Extraction and conversion processes lead to depletion and harmful emissions, and as such to challenges in terms of ecology, economy and equityii .

The Matrix of Figure 1 depicts biodiversity, health effects and climate change as the most relevant ecological challenges we are confronted with, whereas scarcity of materials and natural resources is seen as primary economic challenges. In terms of equity, the unfair distribution of resources or the deliberate dumping of our toxic waste in countries with little regulations, stand out.

Energy Transition At this moment (January 2016) the world population is reaching 7.4 billion: more than seven times the number of people at the start of the industrial revolution 1,2 . During the same timeframe the primary energy consumption per capita has nearly tripled3,4 whereby the pressure on our, nearly entirely fossil

based, energy supply has risen 23-fold. This leads to the present 70 GJ per year per person3, the equivalent of 2.2 kW or 3 hp. Fossil fuels are being depleted, peak-oil has passed and the oil-addicted industry and governments are trying all they can to exploit their investments for yet a little longer or to savor the extra time of non-dependency from foreign nations.

One of the most logical alternatives is solar energy: it is abundantly available and it provides us with 5,000-10,000 times our current need4. Moreover, it is clean, free, and everlasting (at least for the foreseeable future). In approximately 10 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; time Germany has installed a staggering 50 GWp of Photo Voltaic Power6 , the peak equivalent of some 50 nuclear power plants, predominantly by (groups of) individual citizens. This is a substantial contribution of roughly one fourth of the required transition towards 76% renewable energy in 2030,

Top Soil being the top few centimeters of fertile soil on which most of our food production depends.

Equity in social context, like fairness. iii This matrix relates four natural resources to three value areas in our society: Ecology, Economy and Equity. Examples of nonsustainable developments are given as well as possible solutions. It can be used to structure discussions on sustainability ambitions. i

ii

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Figure 1: Matrix Resources-Valuesiii

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and a fine example of the power of democratization of renewable energy generation as described by J.Rifkin7.

maximizing its potential positive aspects, and is as such hardly sustainable.

Nearly Zero Energy?

Positive Footprint: energy

Energy has been the most popular studied resource, as we were – and are – confronted with the limitations of our fossil fuel dependency as well as its related sensitivity to price fluctuations and geo-political interests. Subsequently, we are unpleasantly surprised by global climate change as a – highly likely – consequence of our large-scale fossil fuel driven economy. Thus far, solutions were sought in terms of: reduction of consumption, replacement by renewable sources and improvement of efficiencies i.e. steps we know as the ‘Trias Energetica’. The focus has gradually evolved from energy reduction via low energy buildings to ‘nearly zero energy buildings’. This approach aims at minimizing the negative aspects of building and living, instead of

If we were able to realize buildings that generate more renewable energy than they consume, including the initially invested ‘embodied energy’ in production, transport and construction, one could speak of a positive footprint (regarding energy). This is a real paradigm shift; the (group of) building(s) couldn’t be big enough from an energy point of view. It would be energetically beneficial to its environment and to society.

Improvement Potential using Exergy To generate an energetic positive footprint we need to use the full potential of the available energy sources. At this moment that is not yet the case; the improvement potential of our energy conversions is

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still very big.

The focus up until this moment was on reduction of the demand and on production from renewable sources. At a system level the focus was aimed at energy efficiencies, only taking into account the first law of thermodynamics. This approach does not consider the quality of different forms of energy.

It thereby fails to identify the true effectiveness of the used energy carrier in different energy systems, as well as its improvement potential. Exergy on the other hand , which is based on the second law of thermodynamics, takes into account the ideal conversion of one form of energy into another.

Hence, exergy identifies the real thermodynamic performance and improvement potential. Burning high-value fossil fuels for low temperature heating is energetically highly efficient but exergetically disastrous. Simply analyzing energy flows can be very misleading indeed, see Figure 2.

Resource Depletion Our fossil energy sources are exploited to the point of depletion while at the same time causing potential climate change. The other resources: water, materials and top soil face similar challenges. Water gets contaminated in different ways, sometimes to the point it can hardly be cleaned, several materials are expected to be depleted in the coming decades 8,12,13, and of all available top-soil approximately 50% has been lost during the last 150 years9. Such linear processes – referred to as ‘Take, Make, Waste’ by Michael Braungart and William McDonough in their

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Figure 2: Energy and Exergy Analysis of gas and heat. The amount of Energy is constant for all three examples whereas the Exergy content is reduced dramatically as indicated.

book on Cradle to Cradle®10 – do not relate well to a finite planet, as illustrated in a striking manner by Annie Leonard in her video-animation ‘The Story of Stuff’11. That is why circularity is key; we must be able to endlessly renew all our natural resources.

Energy, water, materials and top soil should all be renewable or from renewable sources.

Renewable energy is abundantly available in the form of solar energy. Some material resources are also renewable, but most resources used in industry and the built environment are non-renewable. The amount of those resources at our disposal is limited and we are consuming them in an irresponsible rate, like we have done with our fossil fuels. For example, at the current rate – taking into account a 3.1 % per annum increase – the existing world mineral reservesiv of Copper will be depleted by as early as 203512. Based on recent sources8,13 and given a general 2 % increase per year, one can calculate the

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depletion of about 12 elements, among which quite common ones such as: Lead, Tin, Chromium, Zinc and Copper, in the coming 20 years.

The depletion of resources is more imminent and potentially more disruptive than the fossil energy depletion alone. In this context circularity is a means to achieve renewability, whether it concerns water, top soil, materials or energy.

A growing economy, or rather: a growing production of goods requires materials to answer to the increased demand. As most technological materials are finite, or only renewable in extremely long cycles, we have to find new abundant renewable alternatives alongside the extraction of materials from our waste. Furthermore, it is imperative that either the regenerative capacity of the earth allows for sufficient food production or that the production of renewable materials does not compromise food

Figure 3: Number of years left to depletion of mineral reserves (Luscuere after USGS8 and Diederen13)

iv

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production. In a way, technological materials that are fully recyclable and capable of functioning in continuing cycles can be considered renewable.

Besides this, rare technological materials for which no substitutes exist need to be reserved for specific essential processes. Harmful materials and recycling processes must be avoided, just as hybrid materials that thwart the continuation of pure – biological or technological – flows (‘monstrous hybrids’ as they are called by Braungart en McDonough).

The relation between resources It is essential to consider the interrelationship of all resources. Systems for the production of energy from renewable sources also require materials, many of which are finite.

Well-known examples are the so-called ‘Rare Earth Metals’. Water may be a carrier of materials as well, in the form of impurities or salt for example. All these materials can be ‘nutrients’ for a material’s cycle.

For the biological material cycle a relation exists with top soil: the amount of renewable materials to be produced depends on the ecological capacity of the earth to (re)generate top soil. This underlines the importance to study the flows of energy, water, materials and top soil in an integrated way.

From Recycling to Upcycling

A mineral reserve is defined as that part of a known mineral deposit that can be extracted legally and economically.

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In the traditional linear economy, minerals are mined, processed to products and finally wasted in landfills or burnt in incinerators. In order to safeguard the availability of these materials, not only for the coming decades but surely also for our progeny, we will have to come up with more effective ways to recycle or even upcycle materials. And there is plenty available: not in our mines but in our present and historic waste.

The term ‘upcycling’ often gives rise to confusion.

People argue this contradicts the second law of thermodynamics, in which entropy is ever increasing.

The flaw in this reasoning is that it is not forbidden to feed energy to the system. In this way it is for instance possible to combine Carbon dioxide (mostly seen as a nasty climate change propelling waste product)

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Figure 4: Biological and technological material cycles in our society

with Hydrogen (originating from renewably powered electrolysis) to produce Methane. The latter is better known as natural gas, but now acquired through a very short-cycled renewable process as opposed to the fossil version.

Waste as a resource Waste does not exist in nature. As in the C2C® principle of Waste = Food10, all biological materials end up as intake for other processes. It is challenging to consider CO2 as a resource instead of a harmful greenhouse gas. Multiple applications can be found for CO2. In The Netherlands for example, where ‘waste’ CO2 from industrial processes is captured

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and used to fertilize greenhouse agriculture.

The word ‘waste’ is thus an abomination; it disregards the value of the constituent elements and components. In order to understand the true value of this we should approach waste as a resource. One kilogram of gold can be obtained from 200-1,000 ton of ore, depending on the richness of the mine. In 2009 one could find one kg of gold in 3.3 ton of used mobile phones, alongside 471 kg of Copper, 10 kg Silver, 0.4 kg Palladium and 10 grams of Platinum14.

This richness in our ‘waste’ can best be described by using Exergy as a metaphor: the Exergy of waste or ‘Ex Waste’.

Ex Waste Following the mobile phone example: the constituent substances of a mobile phone represent more value

than the caloric value of the device when burning it. The ways in which the substances are mixed, however, often withhold us from harvesting them in a clean and reusable state. For this we are dependent on logistics and technologies that may or may not be developed yet and will be continuously improved in the future. In the Ex Waste concept such contextual elements are taken into account. Ex Waste integrates different ‘embodied values’, depending on the inextricable preconditions surrounding the given waste stream. The Netherlands, for example, has an intensive livestock industry, producing more manure than can be processed naturally. Therefore manure is often seen in The Netherlands as an environmental burden or even a liability, whereas in neighbouring countries this manure is highly valued (in original or processed conditions). Ex Waste thus uses Exergy as a metaphor rather than an analogy, stressing the qualitycapacity,includingthermodynamicprinciples but not solely depending on them.

Widening the Concept of a Positive Footprint The positive footprint concept can be applied to all four resources in the Built Environment:

Figure 5: Sustainable energy powering the circular use of natural resources.

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1.

Energy: Produce more renewable energy than the building consumes, including the embodied energy.

2.

Water: Install water treatment that allows

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for better quality water out as in.

3.

Top Soil: Take measures to produce more top soil during the anticipated life time of the building as what is destroyed during construction.

4.

Materials: Bring materials in a biological or technological cycle so that they can be reused indefinitely.

Several energy positive buildings have already been realized15, albeit without taking the embodied energy thoroughly into account. Biological water purification techniques are applied successfully in modern office buildings16 and impressive results are achieved with regard to decentralized water purification in places with high concentrations of contaminants, such as hospitals17. Urban greening can help to form top soil18, and phytoremediation interventions can help restore contaminated top soil . At multiple continents large-scale eco-remediation operations are successful19. Biological materials are renewable by definition: they grow. Unfortunately this quality is sometimes undermined: trees are being cut down for wood at a far greater rate than they are replanted20. Furthermore, dramatic efficiency improvements can be achieved in the cultivation of biological materials by choice of different crops21 and harvesting techniques. Technological materials are presenting us with far more serious challenges.

For several chemical elements the depletion of their mineral reserves will be reached in the two decades

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to come (see Figure 3). Without a doubt prices will rise significantly on the mid to long term, whilst showing large fluctuations due to uncertainties.

The only sustainable way forward is developing improved recycling and upcycling techniques.

For each of the resources the question is if, and if so, how the objective of a positive footprint can be met.

This provides us with some challenging research questions.

New Business models As a result of the abovementioned developments new business is emerging: design and development of new materials, components and products – that can be restored in the original constituent parts – as well as processes and services that enable full recyclability. The associated investments lead to new business models in which the ownership of renewable materials remains with the producers. The materials are provided for a defined period of time in what is -in fact- a material lease construction. At this moment track and trace systems and ‘circularity passports’ are being developed to safeguard the value of materials now and in the future, for example in the Horizon 2020 project: ‘Buildings as Material Banks’.

Social values and health effects A positive footprint for energy, water, materials and top soil relates to the users of these resources: all

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of us, here and there, now and later. Therewith it is first and foremost a social transition. But what this entails exactly, and how to anticipate it, is not immediately clear. In any case, the social aspects will have to be better integrated in the business – or: value – models of the construction sector. An instrument such as ‘social return on investment’ can be of assistance to secure the social added value of propositions and interventions. This ranges from e.g. stakeholder involvement, procurement policy and transparency to health, comfort and environmental effects. Traditional market mechanisms and earning models fall hopelessly short in this respect.

A lot is going on in this area, at various levels of interest. An example is the immense increase of decentralized generation of renewable energy, as described by Rifkin7, which is in fact a democratization of energy generation. While existing structures are based on centralized generation and decentralized consumption, the emerging trend is decentralized generation of a substantial part. This transition increasingly takes shape through local cooperatives, which simultaneously promotes the social coherence in a neighborhood.

The fossil fuel industry encounters problems in terms of overcapacity, net problems and reserve capacity. Criticism from this industry regarding the ‘subsidization’ of renewable energy sources ignores the externalized hidden costs that the fossil fuel industry has forced upon society during its entire

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existence. An estimation of these costs can be found in a working paper from the International Monetary Fund: it amounts to 5.3 E12 $/y22,23,24. This equals 9 Million € per minute.

Furthermore, many materials that are used in our society contain harmful substances for our health. Emissions in our indoor environments and exposure to fine particulate matter by industry, building activities and traffic shorten our statistical life expectancy25. Such observations may sound quite technical but are of course based on real life experienced negative effects (health problems, nuisance in smell, noise, visual discomfort etc.).

Reduction of these hazardous elements in materials is an important step towards a sustainable society.

Functions and applications in the built environment are often very suitable to contribute positively to our living environment. For example, plants, trees and mosses are able to intercept or even metabolize fine particles, coatings exist with air cleaning properties, and harmful contaminants can be eliminated by positive micro-organisms26.

Competition between energy and material cycles on one hand, and the production of food on the other should be prevented at all costs. A wellknown example is the production of 1st generation bio-fuels, such as corn. Violent protests broke out in Mexico after the price of tortillas quadrupled in 2007, supposedly as a result of increased demand

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for corn from the USA for bio-fuel production27.

Such price increases will first and foremost harm the poorest people on earth, leading to famine and increased poverty. Circularity as a concept can help to avoid an increase in the demand for such biofuels, whilst safeguarding sufficient arable land for food production.

Other aspects related to the concept of circularity and renewability are potential positive effects on employment and working conditions on the one hand, and increased flexibility for building owners and occupants on the other.

Beyond Sustainability and Cradle to Cradle® Some of the ideas in this paper are consistent with or inspired by ideas from Cradle to Cradle ®. Up until now no building can claim a C2C-status, but a building that has positive footprints regarding all four resources, while honoring the mentioned ecological, economic and social challenges will be well on its way.

The built environment uses a lot of energy, but recent developments and future performance requirements of buildings aim at energy neutral buildings. A building is energy neutral when the annual energy demand is equal to the amount of energy generated from renewable resources – onsite or nearby.

Depending on the available roof and façade area for

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2 Beyond Sustainability: Energy generating renewable energy it is already possible to develop ‘energy positive buildings’, i.e. buildings that produce more energy than they consume. As mentioned in the main article the use of the exergy concept plays an important role in the development of energy-plus buildings, since exergy supports the maximum use of the potential of our resources.

However, building energy-plus is not enough when aiming for a sustainable built environment.

What is the sustainability performance of energy-plus buildings?

Different solutions can lead to energy neutral or energy-plus buildings, as is illustrated in a simplified way in figure 6. The question can then be asked: which solution is optimal from an overall sustainability point of view?

On a yearly basis they may have the same net energy use, but in order to be truly beneficial in a larger perspective there are more aspects to consider: Firstly, there is a short term (day-night) and long term (summer- winter) mismatch in time between the energy demand and the energy generated. This mismatch needs to be considered for a sustainable future with no backup from fossil fuels. Much

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Figure 6: An energy neutral building can be achieved with different solutions.

Which one is better?

research is currently being done on energy storage technologies, smart grid solutions and ‘demand side management’, all aiming to solve the mismatch problem.

Furthermore, the solutions illustrated in figure 6 are essentially different in two important aspects: the use of materials and the use of space. To convert, store or distribute energy materials are needed, and to harvest renewable energy space is required. In figure 7 the relation between energy system and the other resources on earth, including materials, water,

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top soil and space, is shown.

Material use In performance assessment of buildings also the material use starts to be evaluated, mostly by looking at the ‘embodied energy’, i.e. the energy required for producing, transporting and maintaining a certain product. In addition, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods are used, assessing the environmental

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waste’ paradigm. In the latter approach a product ends in an ‘end of life scenario’ such as incineration.

Instead, a circular evaluation ends with the ‘new life’ scenario of a product or material, and considers the energy required to achieve this. This paradigm shift is very important since it is in line with the nature of our planet, which receives energy from the sun while materials must be used in a circular way, as is also shown in figure 5.

Use of space

Figure 7: Scheme of the relation between energy system, resources on earth (water, material and top soil) and the use of space.

impact of a product. However, current evaluation methods do not yet consider the circular use of a product or material28. Evaluating a product according to a life cycle – being truly circular - can lead to another performance outcome than in evaluation according to the more common ‘take – make -

Last but not least the factor ‘space’ is obviously essential. Generating energy from renewables usually requires space: for solar panels, for wind, for biomass. The use of space is directly related to the available top soil on our earth, biodiversity and ecosystems, all being the natural capital of our planet which enables life on it. If the aim is to design buildings with a positive footprint, the factor ‘space’ for energy systems needs to be considered. More simply stated: if you need your entire roof for energy production, there is no place for a green roof to increase biodiversity or grow vegetables.

To conclude...

Energy systems of buildings should meet not only

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Figure 8: A ‘take – make – waste’ scenario versus a circular life cycle.

energy criteria but also consider the use of materials and space. Circularity of materials and use of space may be regarded as boundary conditions.

Developing buildings that perform well on all resources is an interesting challenge for architects, engineers, clients and users.

Potential advantages of materials and products that function in a circular model are increasingly acknowledged: less waste and resource-depletion on the one hand, for example, and more focus on

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quality – of design, material use and producercustomer relation – on the other. But how this works for a complex assembly of materials, products, and services, such as a building, requires more study.

Think of the technical capacity of building parts to

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3 Beyond Sustainability: Materials, circular flows in buildings enable circular flows, this asks for better track & trace systems of the used materials. If circularity is a criterion, knowing the qualities and quantities of materials in a building is a prerequisite. In the current build-use-demolish paradigm, however, we get away with rather rough estimations, and corresponding waste management strategies are usually limited to low-grade applications. For a more regenerative approach, radical changes are thus inevitable.

Cradle-to-Cradle® (C2C) puts forward the idea of buildings as material banks (temporary storage of materials that comprise the building assemblies), completely altering the way material flows need to be managed. This notion sheds a new light on the quality of building materials and building design. The basic conditions remain straightforward: touching upon pure, healthy material use, and anticipated disassembly and reuse routes. Just as important are the interdependencies between material properties

(the intrinsic quality) on the one hand, and the contextualized building-design properties (the relational quality) on the other. Figure 9 displays the intrinsic and relational properties deemed crucial in facilitating circularity of materials and products in/through buildings29. Figure 10 visualises a basic inventory matrix linking building ‘layers’ to biological or technical regeneration routes. The service system, one of these layers, is highlighted. The building layers follow the so-called shearing layers of change30, in the adapted version of McDonough & Partners, indicating average associated material turnover rates in a building’s performance cycle. The layers can be further unravelled in sub categories, up to the smallest units of change relevant for the regeneration routes. Figure 11 displays the regeneration routes, as proposed by C2C10 and Circular Economy31. Biological routes are labelled

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GROUP (turnover rate)

SUB CATEGORY EXAMPLES

Piping & wiring SERVICE SYSTEM (4x)

HVAC units

PART

s de sca -ca Bio

ck sto ed

-fe Bio

ce

an

en

int

Ma

n

utio

trib

dis

Re

t

en

hm

bis

fur

Re

ing

tur

fac

nu

ma

Re

g

lin

cyc

Re

COMPONENT PRODUCT

Sanitary equipment etc.

MATERIAL

SETTING (3x)

Figure 9: Circular potential at the intersection of intrinsic and relational aspects SKIN (2x)

as bio-cascades (reuse in gradually lower grade biological applications) and bio-feedstock (providing direct nutrients for the soil), whereas multiple technical routes can be distinguished: maintenance, redistribution, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and recycling. From here, an intriguing research field unfolds, touching upon a myriad of technical, organisational and financial questions of circular opportunities and challenges.

Water is one of the four important resources needed for life and for human activities. To deal with the worldwide rising demand for potable water and to resist the effects of climate change, a paradigm shift in our way of thinking is imperative. Our water supply must be brought in line with circular principles.

Among others four large system theories have discussed circularity in relation to water: Cradleto-Cradle速, Regenerative Design, Biomimicry and Blue Economy. These theories have three important

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STRUCTURE (1x)

SITE (0x)

Figure 10: Example inventory matrix of building layers, material turnover rates and regeneration routes

Figure 11: Material flows in a circular economy (Source: EPEA & Returnity Partners)

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4 Beyond Sustainability: Water principles when it comes to water32. These principles, which are all founded on the idea of creating positive footprints, are: 1. (innovative) reduction measures; 2. (innovative) discharge measures; 3. improvement of water quality. ‘Improvement of water quality’ in this context for instance means that companies that use water for their (production) processes must ensure that the water that leaves their premises is cleaner than the water that went into their premises.

An example of an urban area in Amsterdam with a lot of attention for water quality is the office area ‘De Ceuvel’ 33. Important aspects concerning ‘innovative discharge measures’, are green urban solutions like parks, public and private gardens and wadies. This greenery minimises peak loads on the sewer system during heavy rain fall, ensures water infiltration into the soil and improves the environment in the city.

One way of including water related aspects into the design of buildings is the use of the so-called New Stepped Strategy: 1. reduce the demand; 2. reuse waste flows; 3. use sustainable sources for the remaining demand34. Demand reduction foremost aims at reducing the need for potable water. Potable water should only be used for those purposes for

which this water quality is really needed, like food preparation or water consumption by people and animals. A sustainable source of water for instance is rain water. After filtering, rain water is very suitable for diverse uses like flushing toilets, washing cars, watering gardens and maybe washing clothes.

Because there is a time difference between the supply of rain water and the demand for water, storage is needed.

However, particularly step 2, reuse of waste flows, strongly links to circularity. We can distinguish reuse of water of the same quality, cascading and upcycling. An example of reuse of water of the same quality is a water-based cooling system in which the water after cooling down is reused within the same system. This in fact is a closed water circuit and therefore by definition circular. Cascading means reuse of water in (an)other function(s) for which water of lower quality can be used. An example is the use of shower water for flushing the toilet, if

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Figure 12: Circularity in the biological and technological water cycles.

necessary after filtering with a membrane filter as was done in the urban area Vauban in Freiburg35.

Upcycling is the reuse of water after first having improved its quality. Such quality improvement typically takes place in a municipal water treatment plant or in infiltration zones in the dunes but can also take place inside neighbourhoods or even inside buildings (e.g. helophytes, lagoons, algae purification). Particularly water treatment areas in neighbourhoods can be interesting because these may increase the quality of the environment in the city by adding vegetation and water and may create

42

temporary water buffers in case of high-intensity rain fall.

A good example of a building in which waste water is being reused is the office building Covent Garden in Brussels36. This building contains a cascading water flow in its atrium with various plants which act as the last step in a biological water treatment system for its own waste water. The water that is purified in this water flow up till grey water quality is reused within the building. By separating different qualities of water and by treating waste water inhouse, this building is largely self-sufficient when it

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comes to water. Furthermore, the atrium with all its greenery is a pleasant space for people to reside in.

This building nicely shows how water treatment can become part of the architecture of the building and at the same time minimises the need for fresh water from the utilities.

by PG Luscuere, RJ Geldermans, MJ Tenpierik, SC Jansen

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5 Beyond Sustainability: Referencing World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/gho/urban_

1

health/situation_trends/urban_population_growth_text/en/ Worldometers: http://www.worldometers.info/world-popu-

2

lation/ http://ourfiniteworld.com/2012/03/12/world-energy-con-

3

sumption-since-1820-in-charts/ 4

Welt im Wandel, Energiewende zur Nachhaltigkeit. Wissen-

schaftlicher Beirat der Bundesregierung Globale Umwelt-

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M Braungart, W McDonough, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the

Way We Make Things, 2002. ISBN: 0-86547-587-3 11

Story of Stuff: https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=9GorqroigqM 12

P Mobbs: http://www.fraw.org.uk/mei/current/ecologi-

cal_limits.shtml 13

A Diederen, Global Resource Depletion, Managed Austerity

and the Elements of Hope, 2010. ISBN: 978-90-5972-425-9

veränderungen. ISBN 3-540-40160-1. http://www.wbgu.de/ The Encyclopedia of Earth: http://www.eoearth.org/view/

fileadmin/templates/dateien/veroeffentlichungen/haupt-

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gutachten/jg2003/wbgu_jg2003.pdf

article/150977/

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http://www.peakoil.net/publications/peer-reviewed-articles

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BEE Plattform Systemtransformation 2012 Das BEE Szenario

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MN Fisch, Energy Plus. Buildings and districts as renewable

energy sources. ISBN: 978-3-00-041246-2 http://openbuildings.com/buildings/covent-garden-pro-

Stromversorgung 2030 Björn Pieprzyk:http://www.bee-ev.de/

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fileadmin/Publikationen/Studien/Plattform/BEE-Dialogkon-

file-3744

ferenz_Szenario-Stromversorgung-2030_BEE-Pieprzyk.pdf 7

J Rifkin, The Third Industrial Revolution. ISBN: 978-0-230-

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Pharmafilter: http://www.pharmafilter.nl/en/

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http://www.thehenryford.org/rouge/teachers.aspx

34197-5 8

Mineral Commodity Summaries 2015, US Dept. of the Interior,

US Geological Survey: http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/

(21st Century Ford Rouge Factory –Environmental Innovations at the Rouge)

pubs/mcs/2015/mcs2015.pdf 9

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBLZmwlPa8A

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MF Ashby, Materials and the Environment. ISBN: 978-1-

WWF: https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/soil-ero-

sion-and-degradation

85617-608-8

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built, Viking Press, New York, 1994 21

http://www.bioenergy.wa.gov/oilseed.aspx 31

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International Monetary Fund, WP/15/105, How large are

Global Energy Subsidies?

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JP van Soest en F Rooijers, Overheid stimuleert het gebruik

van fossiele energie. NRC, 2015 05 23, O&D p. 9.

Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Towards the Circular Economy

– Economic and business rationale for an accelerated transition, EMF, 2012 32

Dijk, S. van, Tenpierik, M. and Dobbelsteen, A. van den

(2014), “Continuing the building’s cycles: A literature review and analysis of current systems theories in comparison with

24

The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/environ-

ment/2015/may/18/fossil-fuel-companies-getting-10m-a-

the theory of Cradle to Cradle”, Resources Conservation and Recycling 82: 21-34.

minute-in-subsidies-says-imf 33 25

European Environmental Agency, Loss of statistical life

expectancy attributed to anthropogenic contributions to PM2.5,

Metabolic (2015), Metabolic – De Ceuvel, retrieved from the

internet on 19 oktober 2015, <http://www.metabolic.nl/projects/de-ceuvel/>.

2000 and 2020. http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/ figures/loss-of-statistical-life-expectancy-attributed-to-an-

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thropogenic-contributions-to-pm2-5-2000-and-2020

cycles – new strategy steps inspired by the Cradle to Cradle

Dobbelsteen, A.A.J.F. van den (2008), “Towards closed

approach”, In: Proceedings of the 25th passive and low energy 26

Bioorg: http://www.bioorg.eu/

27

L Sherriff (2007), “Bio-fuels trigger tortilla price bub-

architecture international conference, UC Dublin, 22-24 October, Dublin.

ble”, The register, 1 Feb. 2007: http://www.theregister.

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co.uk/2007/02/01/tortilla_bubble/

meren, A. van (2006), Integratie van decentrale sanitatie in de

Hasselaar, B.L.H., Graaf, P.A. de, Luising, A.A.E. en Tim-

gebouwde omgeving, TU Delft, Delft.

28

NL Agency (december 2011), “Usability of Life Cycle

Assessment for Cradle to Cradle purposes”. Publication-nr.

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1AFVA1106

brochure,retrieved from the internet on 20 oktober 2015, <

Art & Build Architect (2007), Covent Garden Brussels 2007,

http://www.artbuild.eu/projects/environment/covent-gar29

Geldermans, B., Rosen Jacobson, L., Zuidema, R., Doepel,

den>.

D., Welink, J-H. Materialen & Circulair Bouwen, vervolgonderzoek Pieken in de Delta project REAP+, 2015 30

Brand S., How Buildings Learn – What happens after they are

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TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE RESEARCH IN BUILDING TECHNOLOGY

By Mira Conci.

During my Master thesis at the Department of Building Technologies at TU Delft I planned a small terminal for Schiphol Airport as a Net Zero Energy Building. In order to do so, I had to plan for a passively optimized construction and map its active energy flows during the course of one operational year. Looking back at my work just two years ahead, I see it a bit as naive. It was nonetheless an increadibly valuable tool to set the basis for the research I developed from then on, which focuses on smart districts.

communication technologies play a central role in the future of energy and the built environment, to the point that next to the now well-known „Internet of Things“, the term „Internet of Energy“ was introduced in 2014.

In my Master Thesis „A Zero Energy terminal building for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol“ I did not consider power storages, like batteries or electro mobility, and I only barely touched the topic of local energy management systems. Those themes are now a prominent part of my research and a major discussion point for the development of local smart grids. Building renovation has been the focal point for sustainable strategies for the built environment for decades by now, and while it still poses unresolved questions, mostly socioeconomical and political rather than technical, I decided to look at a new construction instead. This was in order to be able to really start from zero and work „upwards“ towards an optimized solution from all technical points of view.

The principle is the same, energy is not a linear process but a circular one, and technology needs to adapt to this. A lot of progress has been made in this direction within just a few years. Because of the fluctuating effects of high shares of renewably generated energy within the upcoming smart grid, the importance of storage systems and hybrid networks has grown strongly. Lots of research has been put in the operational mechanisms needed to operate and control a complex system of interconnected sub-networks. Information and

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I simulated the passive performance of the building as a whole through volumetric energy simulations.

The aim was to find the optimal volume to facade surface ratio, as well as orientation on site and wall to window ratio. The terminal building was a freestanding object kilometers away from the next construction, so urban planning did not really pose any constrains. This way, I was able to really exploit all possible architectural shapes and strategies with which to optimize not only enregy conservation, but also energy generation opportunities.

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faucets, WCs and big cooking appliances. Strips of glazed surfaces on the upper part of the wall provide aesthetical definition and natural diffuse illumination, while high performance, energy savings lighting fixtures are installed by cooking surfaces and mirrors.

The building ended looking like a flat „D“-shape oriented towards south-east. The big roof slopes towards the semi-circular rim, so that the volume hosts two upper floors on the north-west side but only one on the south-east: the upper one for boarding, and the lower one for landing passengers. The second floor is entirely occupied by a small indoor greenhouse, which generates an own microclimate thanks to a separated ventilation system through the roof. A central atrium makes up the hole of the thick „D“. This solution also floods the innermost spaces with natural light, a welcome feature for crowded spaces like airport terminals.

The nort-west wall necessarily had to be as opaque as possible in order to minimize heat losses, so it is lined with rooms occupied by functions which suit this requirement: kitchens, storage rooms, and restrooms. There are multiple advantages in placing those on a „cold“ side: for commercial use, comfort standards are lower and temperature oscillations of a few degrees can be tolerated. Kitchens generate their own heat, and profit from a cooler wall. All three categories trade window area for usable wall surface, for example to line up closets,

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ZERO ENERGY AND ZERO WATER OPERATION IN 14 STEPS 1. BENCHMARK programme and volume

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2. SHAPE / ORIENTATION thermal zoning

3. THERMAL INSULATION external or integrated, > 20 cm > 0.15W/m2K

4. IMPROVED GLAZED ELEMENTS > 0.7W/m2K double leaf facade translucent double glazed skylights

7. NATURAL VENTILATION passive pre-heating and -cooling in facade cavity+in ground pipes 85% heat recovery

11. ELECTRICITY GENERATION 1 200 000 kWh/y solar cells 725 000 kWh/y PV modules

5. AVOID OVERHEATING ventilated roof with heat recovery overhang and inclination

9. NATURAL LIGHT atrium, greenhouse, facade, skylights, narrow overhead windows on the north facade and light shelves

12. THERMAL ENERGY GENERATION & STORAGE 128 000kWh/y hot water 281 600kWh/y heating

6. SUNSHADE g = 0.14 in facade cavity

10. LIGHTING CONCEPT&SENSORS ambient and task lights with wall switches occupancy+daylight dimming sensors

13. DETACHED CHP bio-waste+waters become extra electricity

Sustainability

14. WATER rainwater harvest 13 mln liter/y, total consumption 871 200 liter/y, grey- and black-waters purification

annual electricity yield&consumption

hot water generation and storage

55˚

ventilation lighting misc. equipment heat pumps

heating cooling hot water

rainwater purification and storage

The north-east wall is highly insulated, but is also the only opaque side of the buidling, for the other three sides merge into one like a curving, bending ribbon, almost fully glazed. The Netherlands have a mild climate, but so much glass would anyway present overheating issues if left fully exposed to sunlight during hot summer months. For this reason, the south-east side slopes forward at an angle, and the roof slightly overhangs to provide full shading for most of the day when the sun is at its highest point of the year. Still, double paned windows are assembled with an additional single pane on the outer side, creating a cavity in which shading blinds can be lowered at different angles. This serves two purposes: redirecting natural light deeper in the room in the winter, and reflecting it when it reaches from the side during early morning or evenings in the summer.

biogas to offsite CHP

> 10˚

> 20˚

heat pump + annual heating storage

speed fans are used to help redirect the air towards the central atrium, where it is dragged upwards and joined by hotter greenhouse air to help it being extruded through openings in the roof. This would happen more effectively in a taller building, or with a protruding shaft. The window cavity is wide enough to open the inner double panes, wheter top-guided or tilt and turn.

The structure is timber, for aesthetic reasons but mostly as a statement for a more sustainable architecture due to its obvious reciclability and low embodied energy content. Wood constructions need more planning time because they can shrink and expand in theri longitudinal axis as a result of humidity content in the sorrounding air, but accurate design of flexible joints and margins in supports can solve this problem.

The exact height of paraphets was simulated according to the sun´s position and used to design opaque, insulated sandwich components, which also host decentralized ventilation units equipped with heat recovery filters. The building does not have centralized mechanical ventilation, but low

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Once the building was optimated in order to require as little energy as possible, active energy components were planned to provide enough energy to offset the entire consumption over the course of an operational year.

On the other hand, timber structures not only have outstanding thermal properties, as they buffer termperature differences, but when laminated can also span wide distances. The circular structure is built with massive, radiating, arched and laminated beams, left visible. The secondary structure is built in steel profiles and hidden behind sound insulating panels.

The roof of the terminal provides power through two types of photovoltaics, building integrated on the sloping area, and assembly mounted on the glass roof of the greenhouse. A few centimeters cavity is used to flush heat from under the panels, thus improving their peak performance, the heat is then extracted and stored in an aquifer. It is important to note that heat fluxes through different mediums should be simulated in detail before assessing their potential for energy generation. This simulation was only roughly approximated in my work. If I were to redesign the system today I would rethink this solution, since storing heat and cooling for such a small building might not justify the difficulties of building and operating an aquifer. Energy storage systems need more research and development, for they will determine how many energy generating components will be needed in the first place.

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234 kWh/m2/y

Numerical simulations were run using simple scripts in order to indentify the essential variables and understand the way they influence eacht other.

Even complex components can be reduced to simple modular formulas, which can help designers understand the magnitude and time scale of energy fluxes in their buidlings, and thus keep leading architectural projects that are both beautiful, comfortable, and ready for the future of power and heat, a hybrid smart network.

heating hot water cooling

1. PEER BUILDING 2. SHAPE AND ORIENTATION -6% 3. THERMAL INSULATION -12% 4. INSULATED GLAZING -12% 5. AVOID OVERHEATING -5% 6. SUNSHADE -3%

ventilation lighting misc.

7. NATURAL VENTILATION -12% 8. HEAT RECOVERY -16% 9. LIGHTING CONCEPT -12% 10. OCCUPANCY/DAYLIGHT -12% PLUG-LOADS

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87 2 kWh/m kkW /y

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Mira Conci is a PhD candidate at the Institute for Structural Mechanics and Design of Technische Universit채t Darmstadt. After a Bachelor degree in architecture at University of Innsbruck, she completed a Master degree in Building Technologies, together with a specialization in Technologies for Sustainable Development, at TU Delft.

At TU Darmstadt, her main role is to coordinate the joint research SWIVT: District energy modules for existing residential areas. In the framework of SWIVT, she is developing her own research by linking her original fields of architecture and building engineering with energy science and building management systems. The goal of her research is to design a modular management platform that can bridge the planning process and deliver a smart control system to the operational phase of a project.

This is believed to have many advantages, among others, to facilitate stakeholder interaction.

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THE REFUGEE CITY REDEFINITION OF THE REFUGEE CAMPS IN KURDISTAN

by Twana Gul. The exponential growth and inauguration of refugees around the world transform the connotation of the temporary perception. New cities build by refugees occur around the globe in exiled locations with scarce connections to the existing population for ten, twenty or even forty years. Generations are born, living and working in camps with no external contact. Poor conditions in the camps demoralise refugees to take part in the new beginning. A new solution is now required to enhance the current circumstances. The refugee city research utilises Kurdistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq) refugee camps as testing ground for new improvements.

The camps in Kurdistan (KRG), e.g. the Dara Shakran camp, ascertain in such a condition. With almost no connection with the urban grid, the 10.000 people are forced to stay most of the time inside the camp. Water, electricity and consumptions are imported on the daily basis. Thousands of kilogram

52

of waste is weekly burned on a nearby site. Every six to twelve months new tents are provided, creating more waste and labour work periodically. With the upcoming winter and summer season around the corner, people fear of the worst, the demolition of their UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) Family Tents. In addition, adjusting ones shelter according to the familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s preferences is a far fetched dream.

This research addresses the refugee camp as an evolving sustainable city. A city, which should have been developed with the mindset for the future. The isolated attribute of the city is embraced. Solutions on generating energy, reusing waste, building with local materials are the first steps to the creation of the off-the-grid metropolitan.

By involving refugees in the process of the accretion, we can manifest a city with different identities. Using local materials, earth and reed, cuts a huge expense.

People will have the flexibility to collect materials on and around the site, adjust their shelter, cultivate their food and provide service using their expertise without the abidance of the higher force. With the focus on a passive solar shelter design, we will be able to balance the ventilation and reasonably cool / heat in different seasons. Accumulation of waste can be disputed by recycling 50% of the total waste into energy, while the other waste will be segregated into

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Sustainability SECTION CUT A-A

CLIMATE AND STRUCTURAL VIEW

SSW 13:00 15:00 18:00

D02

20:00

SHOWER

D01 EXHAUST FASTEN & SLIDE

FRESH AIR

QUADRUPLE REED LAYER

SEWER

different categories for later reuse.

The Sustainable Strategy The isolated state of the camp can be improved by creating an ecosystem, which consolidates the users of the city and environmental (surrounding) resources with the goal to achieve a state of equilibrium. The following three core elements are explored to create an ecosystem for the refugee city: I. Active and passive solar approach II. Partial recycling of waste III. Aggregate and production of local materials

KITCHEN

WORK/GATHER

+ AIR FLOW

user transmission. With design principles - for ventilation, heating and cooling - we can create a passive solar shelter without the use of equipment.

The fundamentals of a passive design starts with: I. Thermal mass II. Orientation III. Shading / Lighting IV. Indoor space composition V. Solar chimney VI. Underground ventilation VII. Venturi roof

While the active solar approach requires supplementary equipment to produce energy, the passive solar approach is focused on the design of the camp and shelter without the use of external machinery. As a matter of fact, architecture is the instrument towards a passive solution.

By taking advantage of the sun, wind, earth and

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Note that the passive system should be combined with the active solar approach in order to supply the city with electricity. One of the most important ingredients of the passive solar approach is the materialisation of the city.

Ecosystem: The Complementary Evolution The off-the-grid mentality comprises of three integral systems. First, the city should predominantly use the passive solar approach. Second, the active solar approach is essential in generating electricity and keeping the city functional during day and night.

Finally, recycled bottles and packaging evolve into building material in the pace of time, resulting into a reduction of the amount of waste.

This dynamic sequence works parallel with the evolving refugee city. The more people arrive and settle, the more energy and reuse of waste is processed.

MAKING THE BASE REED COLUMNS

EACH BRACKET TYPE REPRESENTS A POSITION IN THE PLAN

COLLUMN H-BRACKET 3 TYPES AVAILABLE FASTEN WITH ROPE

The Building Materials In the Kurdistan Region various local materials are available - such as clay, reed, fabric and natural stone - that are not or rarely used as a building material. The local community has been comfortable with concrete and cement blocks for years, due to its robust character and mundane reliability. However, the other range of materials has been neglected due to unfamiliarity. It is time to permeate this notion and settle a new scope. After conduction a research on local materials, reed and earth prove to be the best options for the refugee city, mainly due to affordability, availability and flexibility. Dara Shakran is fortunately in a close range of these

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Graduating Projects

Sustainability materials as shown on the location map.

Using Earth as building material has several pros and cons. The main advantage is a reduction of energy costs related to transportation and production, because it can be produced on site.

Secondly, a huge reduction of material costs can be reached due to its availability on site. Lastly, earth is an environmental friendly substance with a high thermal mass, which is preferable to reduce heat and cool loss. The down side, earth requires - depending on building technique - periodical maintenance, 4 - 7 days dry / baking time and the labour can be time-consuming. But this should not be a reason to disregard the great features it offers.

The next building material for the refugee city is reed.

Reed can be used in four different ways by virtue of its all- round performance, it can be used as: I. Insulation material II. Roof / facade finishing (Breathing Facade) III. Lightweight structure IV. Water treatment Due to its flexibility, insulation property and brisk wild growth, this material is an efficient asset to use in the refugee city. Especially if a huge amount of material is required for low-cost and in different seasons. The easiest way to use the material as a building component is by collecting a range of reed and binding them together. Subsequently, the bundle has to be cut to be aligned. Hereafter, the material is ready to be used as for example a column.

Finally, to enhance the speed of engineering with

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these materials, the refugees will receive 3D manufactured components which can be used to build up the shelters. All shelters require these components to create the columns, walls, floors and roof structure. The components are environmentally dissoluble and recyclable.

The Urban Visionary Design Similar to every city worldwide, evolving a city requires input from the inhabitants. Hence, it is important to provide the refugees the same properties, such as involvement and flexibility to choose a certain lifestyle to support the growth and success of the city. Due to this notion, three types of typologies are developed for three different kinds of refugees. Some of the refugees prefer a housing solution focused on privacy due to their religion, while others seek a solution for production (trading) or group cooperation.

The next building stone of a growing city is trade and education. These aspects are mandatory to develop the city economically as educationally. Finally, to complete the ecosystem a recycling factory is based in the city to keep the metropolitan running.

With this formation, we can say that the Refugee City urban stamp consists of a Region Centre - the place for trading, education and organisations connected with each side towards a District Centre - a node for specialised trading. The Region Centre

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is surrounded by four dwelling regions, which can be filled by three types of typologies: The Reaper (Production), The Modest (Privacy) and The Assembler (Unity). By separating the types of refugees we can promote the efficiency of the economy, schooling and community.

Incremental crafting with Earth, Reed and the Manufactured Components A crucial aspect of the refugee city is the rapid settlement of new refugees and the need of adjustable shelters. New shelters should be developed instantly in all seasons. Hence, an incremental design approach is a sensible solution.

The walls of the shelter will be developed using reed, earth and a variety of components. The rest of the shelter require the use of components and reed.

While time passes by, the owners can clad the reed with earth to enhance insulation.

Waste of the refugee city will be recycled within time and processed as new materials for the city, which can be later added to the shelters. This method will keep the city running and promote new developments.

WALL CONFIGURATION

USE REED, EARTH & FABRICATED COMPONENTS

PINPOINT THE REED SUPPORT HORIZONTAL REED

CONNECT PB*

200 MM

FASTEN REED POLE WITH ROBE USE DRLC*

250 MM

HORIZONTAL REED TEMPORARY

300 MM

ADD EARTH

MUD LAYER

DRY TIME 路 3 DAYS

+ PAINT OUTDOOR

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270 MM

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