Interdisciplinary Thesis Lab 2021-2022: Circular Building Materials and (re)Manufacturing Hub

From February to July 2022, LDE Centre for Sustainability joined forces with the municipality of Leiden, municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn, the Economic Development Board Alphen, Bouwend Nederland and the province of Zuid-Holland to accelerate the transition towards a circular built environment. As a result, the Interdisciplinary Thesis Lab on a Circular Building Materials and (re)Manufacturing Hub was run. The findings of the lab have been made available in practical solutions for companies and policy makers.

Challenge

Cities are facing enormous challenges, such as environmental threats and scarce resources. In order to tackle these issues in a sustainable way, cities strive to become resilient and focus on circular systems that make optimal (re-)use of resources. The resource intensive building sector plays a critical role in addressing urban sustainability challenges. At the same time, cities are an urban mine of materials and knowledge, that have the potential to develop a circular system for the built environment and this should become the standard in urban areas. To achieve this, (im)material networks should become more circular, and more local. This will reduce distances, safeguard and increase lower to higher skill jobs and reduce the dependency on other (less friendly?) areas for the delivery of materials and knowledge.

The municipality of Leiden, municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn, Economic Development Board Alphen, Bouwend Nederland and the province of Zuid-Holland had one major challenge for this Interdisciplinary Thesis Lab: What are the potentials and limitations of a Circular Building Hub?