Journal: Developments in the Built Environment

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Publisher

Elsevier

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ISSN

2666-1659

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2023 - 202512
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Publications 1 - 10 of 12
  • Environmental and economic optimization of relocation strategies for mobile prefabrication factories in infrastructure projects
    Item type: Journal Article
    Ma, Jianxiang; Cao, Jianpeng; Benedetti, Lorenzo; et al. (2025)
    Developments in the Built Environment
    Mobile off-site prefabrication can enhance complex linear infrastructure projects, yet the absence of a general and robust relocation rule limits its practical implementation in the construction industry. This research proposes an integrated model that combines Life Cycle Assessment and Geographic Information Systems to optimize a three-layer mobile supply network. A hyperloop infrastructure case study demonstrates that relocating a pneumatic mobile factory four times reduces carbon emissions by 62 % and costs by 49 % compared to a stationary facility, primarily due to shortened outbound transportation distances. Scenarios-based sensitivity analyses confirm the adaptability of mobile factories to supply diverse projects and recommend relocating the factory every 5080 km to balance sustainability and practical feasibility. Although direct impacts from factory reconfigurations are modest, they serve as necessary constraints to prevent impractical relocation numbers. The model offers practical guidance for developing sustainable relocation strategies for mobile prefabrication factories used in large-scale infrastructure construction. 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
  • Identifying barriers and enablers for emerging value chains in open-loop mineral wool waste recycling within the construction sector
    Item type: Journal Article
    Komkova, Anastasija; Krog Agergaard, Sophie; Holt Andersen, Birgitte; et al. (2025)
    Developments in the Built Environment
    Global objectives to mitigate climate change, minimise waste, and ensure the efficient use of resources require urgent actions in multiple sectors, including construction and buildings. Currently, rock wool and glass wool are widely used as insulation materials in the building stock across Europe, while in multiple countries are still landfilled at their end-of-life. Within a recent research project, mineral wool waste has proved to be recyclable as a precursor in an alternative binder to carbon-intensive conventional cement, such as alkali-activated materials (AAMs). This open-loop recycling of mineral wool in AAMs is associated with the creation of new value chains within the circular economy that can trigger symbiotic relationships between urban areas and industries. Stakeholders who produce mineral wool waste–based alkali-activated construction materials at a pilot scale in 5 European countries were interviewed to evaluate their environmental, economic and social performance using selected circular economy indicators. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis was applied to identify common trends across pilot-scale productions and potential industrial up-scales. While common barriers include limited economic viability at the pilot scale, which can be addressed through industrial upscaling with optimised supply chains, there is also variability in consumer acceptance of waste-based materials across countries. Finally, potential solutions to the identified barriers along each step of the value chain are proposed. The results show that combined actions of industry, cities, and policymakers are required to overcome barriers and nudge the transition towards a circular economy. This can be achieved by using economic incentives to enhance the cost-competitiveness of alternative construction materials, promoting green public procurement, and raising public awareness.
  • Optimisation goals for efficient construction from reused materials towards a circular built environment
    Item type: Journal Article
    Gordon, Matthew; De Wolf, Catherine (2024)
    Developments in the Built Environment
    Building materials that are reused in a circular economy context are often non-standard because previous usage has altered their original properties. Material matching algorithms aid design and construction by matching components in stock with those needed in a design. The efficiency of these matches is assessed based on factors such as waste, logistics, and structural applicability. In this paper, we evaluate the efficacy and practicality for design evolution of construction-relevant optimisation goals. We evaluate goals based on their construction-time and design time results, using a software pipeline optimising both the mapping and design. One design was also constructed based on the optimised matching, to assess additional considerations when working component-specific designs. Based on difficulties and inefficiencies observed during fabrication, we propose two alternate matching strategies and compare their effects on the chosen factors. The study reveals that component allocation systems frequently overlook the need for both contingency planning and redundancy in the construction process. Additionally, inaccuracies in inventory tracking can significantly compromise the feasibility of the planned design. The stability of these design assistive techniques strongly affects their ability to be applied in large-volume projects. This implies the need for a new set of objective factors to be incorporated into existing methods of design optimisation.
  • Framework for the assessment of the existing building stock through BIM and GIS
    Item type: Journal Article
    Honic-Eser, Meliha; Ferschin, Peter; Breitfuss, Dominik; et al. (2023)
    Developments in the Built Environment
    With 60% of the world's raw materials extraction, the construction sector is the largest consumer of raw materials. The consumption can be reduced through reuse and recycling of building materials which reached their end-of-life; however, there is lack of information on the building stock. This paper presents a bottom-up approach based on Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Geographic Information System (GIS) to assess material quantities. To test this approach, a real-world building is used. The material intensity is calculated based on existing planning documentations, on-site investigations, laser scanning and a BIM-model. The gross volumes (GVs) obtained from GIS enable the modelling and prediction of cities' building stocks. The results of this paper demonstrate the method of calculating material intensities and present how the applied method can be used to predict building stocks. The latter is presented as a framework which can support various cities in assessing their material stock.
  • Non-sintered artificial aggregates made of ternary alkali-activated materials with natural carbonated MSWI fly ash incorporations
    Item type: Journal Article
    Gong, Jing; Wang, Mengmeng; Yang, Guo; et al. (2025)
    Developments in the Built Environment
    This study investigates the utilization of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash (MFA) to produce non-sintered artificial aggregates (AAs) through alkali activation. To enhance its suitability, MFA underwent a six-month natural carbonation process to remove leachable salts and stabilize heavy metals, during which significant phase transformations were observed. The AAs were fabricated using ternary alkali-activated materials (AAMs) with varying MFA proportions through spray pelletization. Although higher MFA content reduced the strength of the AAs, this effect was counterbalanced by increasing the silicate modulus in the activators. The resulting AAs demonstrated mechanical strength comparable to or exceeding that of natural granite aggregates and recycled aggregates derived from concrete demolition waste. Furthermore, the study examined the reaction products and microstructural characteristics of the AAs. Leachate analysis confirmed compliance with environmental standards for heavy metal content, highlighting the potential of these AAs as a sustainable alternative aggregate resource for the construction industry.
  • Evaluation of the flowability and non-linear rheological properties in alkali-activated concretes
    Item type: Journal Article
    Zhang, Jian; Li, Zhenming; Wang, Wentao; et al. (2025)
    Developments in the Built Environment
    Alkali-activated materials (AAMs) emerge as a sustainable alternative to Portland cement binders. Despite their potential, the rheological properties of alkali-activated concrete, particularly their non-linear behaviors, remain underexplored. To bridge this gap, a comparative study was conducted to examine the flow characteristics and shear thinning/thickening tendencies of alkali-activated slag (AAS) concrete. The research began with a detailed evaluation of the setting times of AAS mixtures, optimizing activator compositions to identify formulations suitable for concrete productions. Employing the Bingham and Herschel-Bulkley models, it was observed that AAS concrete with a lower silicate modulus (Ms) predominantly exhibited shear-thinning behavior. As the Ms increased, a shift toward shear-thickening behavior occurred, becoming more pronounced with higher concentrations of alkaline compounds in the activators. Furthermore, the fresh properties of AAS concrete significantly improved with increased alkali dosages in the activators, resulting in reduced dynamic yield stress and plastic viscosity, along with enhanced workability retention over time.
  • A steel element reuse ontology for building audits in circular construction
    Item type: Journal Article
    Schönfelder, Leonhard; Byers, Brandon; Honic-Eser, Meliha; et al. (2025)
    Developments in the Built Environment
    The construction sector's transition to a circular economy necessitates the closure of material loops through reuse. However, there is little consensus regarding the information to assess the reusability of building elements. This paper determines the necessary information for evaluating steel member reusability and explores the structure of an ontology for conducting building audits. The methodology involves surveys and interviews with European experts in reuse to create the Steel Element Reuse Ontology (SERO). The results show 1) that economic, technical, and condition factors are important to define reusability, and 2) an ontology to assess the reusability should account for the condition and documentation of steel members. SERO establishes definitions and a human- and machine-readable framework for assessing the reuse potential of steel H- and I-profiles in a European context. This framework could be employed in developing digital tools aimed at streamlining inventory procedures in construction, fostering the practical implementation of circular economy principles.
  • Accelerated carbonation of MSWI fly ash as a supplementary precursor in alkali-activated materials
    Item type: Journal Article
    Sun, Yubo; Tao, Yaxin; Li, Zhenming; et al. (2025)
    Developments in the Built Environment
    The supply of blast furnace slag (BFS) for alkali-activated materials (AAMs) has declined due to increased scrap recycling and BFS usage in cement industry. Sustainable supplementary precursors are urgently needed to ensure the progress of AAMs. This study treated municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash (MFA) with accelerated carbonation (AC) to convert the waste material into suitable precursors. MFA exhibited strong CO2 capture due to the presence of slaked lime, with calcite content rising by 67 % after 6-h of AC. Heavy metal leaching was significantly reduced, with Cu and Pb leachate decreasing by 53.1 % and 73.5 %, respectively. AAM mixtures with 0–50 wt% carbonated MFA (CMFA) were tested. While CMFA slowed early structuration and altered fresh mixture properties, 10 wt% CMFA achieved comparable 28-day strength to the reference, and heavy metal leachate from hardened mortars met environmental standards. Results have confirmed CMFA is a viable supplementary precursor for AAMs.
  • Thermal and manufacturing properties of hollow-core 3D-printed elements for lightweight facades
    Item type: Journal Article
    Leschok, Matthias; Piccioni, Valeria; Lydon, Gearóid; et al. (2024)
    Developments in the Built Environment
    High-performance facades play an important role in achieving Net-Zero goals by 2050. As a facade manufacturing technology, 3D printing offers the opportunity to create site-specific and high-performance building envelopes. In this manuscript, the thermal performance of components fabricated with different Material Extrusion methods is studied experimentally, and the fabrication time is calculated, thereby examining both performance and fabrication viability. More specifically, this manuscript investigates the thermal performance of 3D-printed facades using Hollow-Core 3D printing (HC3DP) and explores the potential of this novel approach in creating thermally insulating, lightweight, and translucent building envelopes. The research compares the thermal resistance of HC3DP specimens to conventional material extrusion methods, such as desktop 3D printers, and granular-based, large-scale pellet extrusion. Different methods are used to determine the thermal resistance of specimens, including the dynamic thermal conductivity measurement for the desktop 3D-printed (3DP) specimens, and the steady-state hot box heat flux meter approach for HC3DP. The results demonstrate that HC3DP enables lower Thermal transmittance (U-value)s at lighter weight and faster printing speed, making it a promising avenue for further research. Additionally, the combination of HC3DP with aerogel is shown to create ultra-lightweight and thermally insulating 3D-printed facade elements. The potential of this new facade technology is also highlighted in comparison with established facade systems. All in all, the manuscript provides insights into the thermal performance of 3D-printed facades at different printing resolutions and emphasizes the importance of printing time and material consumption in determining the most promising 3D printing approach for lightweight and thermally insulating facades.
  • A template design and automated parametric model for sustainable corbel dwellings with interlocking blocks
    Item type: Journal Article
    Zhang, Yu; Tatarintseva, Liz; Clewlow, Tom; et al. (2023)
    Developments in the Built Environment
    Existing approaches to sustainable dwellings often involve high-tech equipment and skilled workers, which are less accessible in low-resource settings. This research introduces a novel template design and automated parametric model for the design of corbel dwellings that can be built using standard equipment, local material, and lower-skilled workers. The template design is a modular, single-story dome-shaped structure transitioning from a square-base footprint to a circular roof zone using only five block types. Interlocking block features enable both aligned and offset dry stacking and reduce the use of mortar and formwork. The geometrically complex design is enabled by a parametric model that automatically synthesizes alternative designs and conducts preliminary structural analysis, including stability and FEA in real-time. The example context used is Morocco where the entire structure can be constructed using Compressed Earth Blocks. A range of dwellings are automatically generated using one set of blocks to explore the design space.
Publications 1 - 10 of 12