Assessment and Evaluation Tools for Circularity

Exploring How LCA Works

Our construction ways are changing and timber is becoming increasingly used in construction. TU Delft recently developed a MOOC that examines how the use of timber can be supported by implementing a combined ‘sustainable forestry’ and ‘timber for construction’ supply chain. Two of the videos from the MOOC are featured in this unit, both by Elizabeth Migoni Alejandre. Elizabeth is a researcher at Delft University of Technology in the Department of Environmental Technology and Design. She explores the environmental implications of biomaterials in the built environment to support sustainable urban transitions. In the first video, Elizabeth explains [1] the stages of LCA framework, [2] its specific groups of processes (modules), and [3] the types of the environmental impacts considered. In the second video, Elizabeth attempts a comparison between a concrete, a steel and a glulam beam. Which one of three do you think is the most environmentally friendly option?

*Both educational videos are part of the course Sustainable Building with Timber, ©️ TU Delft, released under a CC BY NC SA.

Circularity for Educators

The platform is intended to provide with content on either circularity or pedagogy for and about circularity. It is one of the outcomes of the Circular Impulse Initiative (CII), a project intending to enhance the integration of circularity in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment education. The platform mainly aims to help tutors get better acquainted with circularity in the built environment by providing a series of resources on this subject that they can either view to get better informed or directly share with their students in class or online. A large number of the Faculty's professors and researchers have contributed substantially both in creating a coherent narrative for circularity in the built environment as well as further elaborating on different aspects of it. Besides this one, a new platform for interaction and direct exchange was also established in parallel that we call ‘Educators for Circularity‘. This one offers the opportunity for all of us to meet and share our experiences and learn from one another.

Visit Educators for Circularity