Category: Highlights & Events

Five of our project members submitted a paper to the Journal “Applied Science” that got published in the special issue “Sustainable and Durable Building Materials”. In this article, Gaetano Bertino, Johannes Kisser, Julia Zeilinger, Tatjana Fischer, Guenter Langergraber and Doris Österreicher analyzed building deconstructability, intended as the selective dismantlement of building components, in prevision of a future reuse, repurposing, or recycling, in alternative to common demolition. The purpose of this research work is to analyze the deconstruction potential of buildings and the strategies to apply in order to keep the impacts on the urban environment low. The article aims to facilitate the implementation of circular economy strategies for buildings by proposing common principles for deconstruction as a sustainable alternative to demolition and defining the key points to be applied during the design and planning process regardless of the type of construction system or material used.

Follow this link to read the publication.

Follow this link to download the pdf.

Keywords: building deconstruction; building deconstructability; design for deconstruction; end-of-life material recovery; material reuse; sustainable construction; building circularity; building lifecycle

This is an open-access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Citation: Bertino, G.; Kisser, J.; Zeilinger, J.; Langergraber, G.; Fischer, T.; Österreicher, D. Fundamentals of Building Deconstruction as a Circular Economy Strategy for the Reuse of Construction Materials. Applied Sciences 2021, 11, 939, doi:10.3390/app11030939

Our second stakeholder workshop was held on November 5^th, 2020. The workshop was planned to take place in May 2020 but was postponed due to COVID-19 and was finally held in an online setting. Nevertheless, it was possible to create an interactive event with the participation of numerous experts from the fields of architecture, sustainability, disaster research, city administration, and neighborhood management, among others.

In the workshop, we had the opportunity to present preliminary results of our temporary housing research and receive valuable feedback and input from the participants. The main focus of the second workshop was on the current role of temporary housing in the urban planning concepts and general strategic papers of the City of Vienna. The discussions were moderated by Tatjana Fischer (Institute of Spatial Planning), André Gaszó, and Gloria Rose (Institute of Technology Assessment). A lively exchange emerged on stimulating and inhibiting factors for (future) strategies on temporary housing. The insights gained from the second stakeholder workshop will be integrated in our further research. We thank the experts for their active participation!

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Tuesday 1st January 2030 is the deadline for the “construction sector” to contribute to the fulfillment of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs). But how can the building sector contribute towards the creation of Sustainable Cities and Communities of the future? What challenges and opportunities result for the building sector from implementing the SDGs?

The BEYOND2020 World Sustainable Built Environment Conference, organized by the Chalmers University of Technology from November 2nd-4th, aimed to create clear links between the most relevant SDGs and the built environment, with the focus on achieving SDG11, “Sustainable cities and communities” by the 2030 deadline. BEYOND 2020 embraced a global perspective that reaches across academia as well as private and public sectors, working together to develop concrete solutions and achievable implementation plans, incorporating research, policy, finance, education and innovative thinking, in order to create the resilient and sustainable built environments of tomorrow.

In this context, on November 2nd Gaetano Bertino presented “Temporary urban environments – framework conditions and solutions for sustainable short-term pop-up living systems” with the aim of showing how the use of temporary pop-up environments can represent a solution to some of the problems that characterize the modern city. By presenting international case studies, it was possible to define the sustainable aspects and the low environmental impact of temporary strategies. By suggesting their use in cases where urban planning fails to propose adequate solutions, a temporary approach based on circular strategies, such as the reuse of components and constructive reversibility, could contribute to the creation of sustainable cities and communities of the future.

We are happy to announce that the poster has won the conference’s Best Poster Award. 🏅

After the successful cooperation in the winter semester 2019/20, we were able to continue the partnership with the TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology)/JASEC (Japan Austria Science Exchange Center) in the summer semester 2020. Students of the design class ‘Großes Entwerfen’ could choose from three scenarios to develop a model and visualize it with a 3D software.

The three scenarios are:

‘Life on track(s)’ is a concept in which living space is provided in wagons on tracks. The wagons can be moved rapidly from one site to another without organization of additional carriers. In this manner, a large number of temporary housing units can be transported and placed within a short period of time. Four different designs were developed for Life on track(s) (by Johanna Huber, Felix Neudeck and Konstantin Werni, Livia Karner, Goekcan Celik).

In the scenario ‘Shop-hopping Box’ (ShoHoBo) the continuing high vacancy rates for ground-floor retail spaces are taken as a starting point to create temporary living rooms. To make better use of the available built environment of the city, these vacancies can be temporarily appropriated as living spaces until another retailer moves in. The architectural challenge is to make the best use of the existing building structure while still providing good residential quality. Structural adjustments, therefore, have to be envisaged either as reversible, easily removable or to be implemented within the course of renovation or maintenance activities of the retail spaces. Six students (Masayuki Fukui, Rachael Verdugo and David Egido, Meryl Barthe, Magdalena Czarnowska and Dokyun Jung) developed four different designs for ‘Shop-hopping Box’.

The scenario of the ‘DonAutonom’ concept involves the use and redesign of old Danube ships (e.g. old cargo ships) that can be purchased, with the idea of ​​being anchored on the Danube to offer a short-term home for different types of user groups. The strength of this concept is the potential of a high degree of autonomy or self-sufficiency in the use of resources. Three different designs (by Cleo Sophie Traub, Mila Mihaylova and Sandra Prieto, Victor Zugmayer-Preleitner) were developed for this scenario.

The TU-course was lead by Iris Mach and Thomas Rief.

We thank all participants for their commitment and great work!

Click here to watch the video showing insights of all designs

A paper of 5 of our project members recently got published in Sustainability’s special issue “Urban Planning and Social Well-being“: Framework Conditions and Strategies for Pop-Up Environments in Urban Planning by Gaetano Bertino, Tatjana Fischer, Gustav Puhr, Guenter Langergraber and Doris Österreicher

The purpose of this research work is to outline the general requirements of pop-up environments in urban developments that allow for adequate integration into urban planning strategies. Based on an extensive evaluation of the existing literature and a series of case studies, the paper analyzes the key elements that define the framework conditions of urban planning strategies for temporary developments that generate a positive impact on the overall urban system.

Follow this link to read the publication.

Follow this link to download the pdf.

Abstract: Urban strategies and the way cities are planned have changed throughout history, adapting to the needs of the inhabitants, infrastructure requirements, and advances in technology. Uses and customs of people and cities are changing and can evolve much faster than in the past, with the result that urban planning is often too slow to adequately meet the current needs of society. In this context, the development of pop-up environments for temporary developments could be a solution to meet the needs of flexibility, adaptation, and resilience of a city. This allows the urban planner to consider systems from a short-term perspective, fulfilling current needs without compromising the development of potentially different activities in the future. The purpose of this research work is to outline the general requirements of pop-up environments in urban developments that allow for adequate integration into urban planning strategies. Based on an extensive evaluation of the existing literature and a series of case studies, the paper analyzes the key elements that define the framework conditions of urban planning strategies for temporary developments that generate a positive impact on the overall urban system.

Keywords: pop-up environment; temporary architecture; pop-up housing; temporary use; temporary strategies for urban planning; sustainable planning; urban planning

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This is an open-access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

MDPI and ACS Style

Bertino, G.; Fischer, T.; Puhr, G.; Langergraber, G.; Österreicher, D. Framework Conditions and Strategies for Pop-Up Environments in Urban Planning. Sustainability 2019, 11, 7204.

Jeden Dienstag um 10.00 gibt es auf Radio NJOY 91.3 die Sendung „Wissenschaftsradio – Wissenschaft einfach erklärt“ zu hören. Am 29.10.2019 gab es eine besonders spannende Folge: Fünf JungforscherInnen wurde eine Plattform gegeben ihre Forschung live im Radio vorzustellen.

Der Haken: Sie hatten dafür nur 90 Sekunden lang Zeit.

Der beste Pitch wurde von Wissenschaftsjournalist und ORF3-Moderator Andreas Jäger ausgewählt und darf zum „Science Talk“ ins Wissenschaftsministerium.

Unsere Forschung zu nachhaltigen, temporären Wohnformen wurde von Julia Zeilinger präsentiert. Auch wenn es leider knapp nicht für den Sieg gereicht hat, hat sie das Projekt „Pop-up housing“ doch würdig vertreten.

Nachhören kann man die Sendung hier oder auf Soundcloud

The Circular Economy Coalition for Europe (CEC4Europe) is a growing initiative of researchers with long-term experience in the field of waste and resource management aiming to facilitate the transition from a linear to a circular economy in Europe.

To mark four years of existence, the CEC4Europe invited to the Symposium “Science and Research for Circular Economy” on October 24^th, 2019 in Vienna. The symposium was hosted by Prof. Martin Faulstich, head of INZIN Institute (Institut für die Zukunft der Industriegesellschaft – Institute for the Future of Industrial Society) and former chairman of the German Advisory Council on the Environment.

Researchers of different Universities in Austria and Germany were invited to present current research activities to interested representatives of the scientific community, personnel in research and development as well as representatives of ministries.

Julia Zeilinger gave insights into the research project and preliminary research results with her presentation on “Urban pop-up housing environments – Überlegungen zur Kreislauffähigkeit von temporären Wohnformen” and appreciated the opportunity for discussions and exchange of expertise with the diverse audience.

If you want to learn more about CEC4Europe, the Symposium and even watch a short video with excerpts from the presentations, please visit the website: https://www.cec4europe.eu/science-and-research-for-circular-economy/

Every two years, the so-called Sardinia Symposium, organized by the IWWG (International Waste Working Group) takes place in the beautifully located Forte Village Resort in Santa Margherita di Pula (Cagliari), Italy. The symposium offers a welcome opportunity for representatives of waste management to get together, learn about new findings and current research activities and discuss future developments in the sector. The conference was attended by 675 international participants (researchers, technicians, administrators and operators) and focused on the advances of waste management science and technology, presenting case studies, and sharing experiences among different countries.

“Pop-Up Environments” was presented by Julia Zeilinger (Institute of Waste Management) during the session “Waste management in urban and peri-urban areas”. In her presentation titled “Sustainable temporary housing in urban areas – The role of waste & resource management”, she presented some examples of selected types of temporary housing facilities and discussed the prevalent waste and resource management considerations.

Julia’s participation at the conference was kindly facilitated by a travel subsidy of the Doctorate School Transitions to Sustainability (T2S) at BOKU University, of which she has been a doctoral candidate since 2018.

More information about the Symposium can be found here.