Circularity in Current PhD Research

Information delivery model for a circular design process of buildings with mineral building material

Dr. Ir. Magdalena Zabek completed her PhD in RWTH Aachen University in December 2022 under the supervision of Dr. Linda Hildebrand and Prof. Dr. Ing. Tillmann Klein. Her research focuses on information flows in circular building design. In this video, she explains how important considerations during a building’s design and construction can inform the development of an information delivery model and support architects and planners during the design process.

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Main Takeways

  • Information errors or absence of information during design and construction often cause misleading communication between stakeholders
  • Lack of data can lead to higher workload and lower quality of circular material flows
  • New digital tools can distribute relevant information about product properties, judicial and organizational data for different circular scenarios thus ensuring a transparent, standardized way of managing the design process. These models are compatible with digital tools such as BIM.

Additional Resources

  • Zabek, M. (2022). Information Delivery Model for a circular design process of buildings with mineral building material [Doctoral Dissertation]. RWTH Publications. DOI: 10.18154/RWTH-2023-02188

Figures | Courtesy of Magdalena Zabek

Author

Magdalena Zabek
Magdalena Zabek
Postdoc Researcher

Dr. Ir. Magdalena Zabek holds a Master’s in Architecture from RWTH Aachen University and completed her PhD there in December 2022, focusing on information flows in circular building design. She has gained experience in implementing circular economy strategies in the construction industry on a regional scale, having worked for six years as a project leader and coordinator in an ERDF-funded project. Currently, she is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Delft University of Technology, specializing in circular economy and construction design. She is actively involved in the European co-funded project “ÆGIR,” which focuses on refurbished façade prototypes and sustainability roadmaps for façade refurbishment. 

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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.

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