UPSCALE
Cross-linking, Tracing and Reusing Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) across Circular Supply Networks in Construction
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About

The construction sector consumes 50% of raw materials and generates 35% of all waste, making it a major societal challenge. With strong commitments at national and European levels to reduce climate impact and promote a circular economy, the industry is under pressure to change. Initiatives like Buildings as Material Banks (BAMB), Material Passports, and circularity hubs are steps in the right direction, but more systemic changes are needed.

The UPSCALE project aims to drive this shift by transforming traditional supply chains into dynamic, waste-reducing networks. By linking state-of-the-art decentralised, networked web technologies with decomposed asset data in Building Information Models and Digital Twins, the project focuses on tracking and tracing construction and demolition waste (CDW). The project also includes behavioral research to encourage the adoption of new technologies and practices, alongside management and business model research to develop scalable processes and decision-making models for integrating CDW into sustainable supply networks. The project participants actively engage in co-design and co-creation with industry stakeholders to ensure practical and effective integration of these innovations into the construction sector.

Three pillars of the project

Ambitions

BEHAVIOR
  • Outcome 1: An irreversible cultural and behavioural change towards circularity and reuse can be recognised in the day-to-day activities of the construction value chain.
  • Outcome 2: Acquiring and purchasing policies and processes have changed for CDW and circular materials, facilitating the circular transition of the built environment.
SYSTEM
  • Outcome 3: Other industries apply the UPSCALE approach.
ECONOMY
  • Outcome 4: Increased turnover from circular activities and products, and creation of more functionality from existing elements and new product flows to other industries.
  • Outcome 5: Incentive for and reuse of CDW in new products, materials and constructions.

DEMONSTRATORS

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CIRCL
Track&Trace
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DE FOB
BIM-based asset monitoring & predictive maintenance
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BouwHubs
Circular hubs & smart logistics
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HUISRIJK
Open, co-participatory circular housing

WORK PACKAGES

Project Organization

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Pieter Pauwels

TU/e

Project Management and Coordination

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Laura Piscicelli

UU

Societal Trust and Community Management

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Ekaterina Petrova

TU/e

Digital System Infrastructure for Networked Circularity Twins

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Tong Wang

TUD

Business Potentials in a Networked CDW Circular Economy

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Tomasz Jaskiewizc

RUAS

Learning Communities, Co-Creation, Exploitation and Dissemination

Contact Us

For questions, please contact: info@upscaleproject.nl