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.
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
WORK PACKAGES
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Project Management and Coordination
The project will be managed according to an agile project management methodology. This includes setting up the project infrastructure and continuous project governance for work packages and consortium partners.
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Societal Trust and Community Engagement
The objective of WP2 is to advance circular practices aimed at reducing and reusing Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW). In WP2 we: (1) Assess the current state of circularity in the (Dutch) construction sector; (2) Identify barriers to the widespread adoption of digital circular solutions for CDW; (3) Develop and test strategies to increase trust and uptake of network-oriented circular construction practices via co-design and end-user involvement in demonstrator sites; and (4) Create an evidence-based implementation roadmap for digital circular solutions for CDW.
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Digital System Infrastructure for Networked Circularity Twins
Work Package 3 aims at the system pillar of this research project. As part of this WP, a decentralised user-centric IT infrastructure is created that allows to manage construction and demolition waste (CDW) across the construction supply chains. Connections are made with Building Information Modelling (BIM), Digital Twinning and Green Business Process Modelling to enable appropriate material re-use. Finally, the addition of Track & Trace functionality is investigated to track the provenance of materials and enabling a Take Back model for construction materials.
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Business Potentials in a Networked CDW Circular Economy
In addition to the research on Behavior (WP2) and System (WP3), research needs to be done on changing the Economy, in order to enable the UPSCALING of novel decentralized circular workflows. This is the topic of WP4, which aims to (1) evaluate and critique existing centralised business models, (2) co-design network-based business models to increase CDW valorisation, and (3) upscale supply chains into circular supply networks.
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Learning Communities, Co-Creation, Exploitation and Dissemination
Work package 5 aims to create an UPSCALING network of l earning communities. By directly engaging with anyone related to construction and demolition waste (CDW), as well as construction companies, waste management companies, product manufacturers, real estate owners, and citizens, this WP5 aims to increase awareness of CDW valorisation for economy, environmental sustainability, and resilience.
Project Organization
Pieter Pauwels
TU/e
Project Management and Coordination
Laura Piscicelli
UU
Societal Trust and Community Management
Ekaterina Petrova
TU/e
Digital System Infrastructure for Networked Circularity Twins
Tong Wang
TUD
Business Potentials in a Networked CDW Circular Economy
Tomasz Jaskiewizc
RUAS
Learning Communities, Co-Creation, Exploitation and Dissemination
