University of Twente Student Theses
A Decision Support Tool to assist demolition contractors in choosing to Reuse, Recycle or Recover building elements
Hulsbeek, L.D.J. (2022) A Decision Support Tool to assist demolition contractors in choosing to Reuse, Recycle or Recover building elements.
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| Abstract: | The construction industry is responsible for a high waste production and extraction of natural resources. Therefore, it should shift towards a circular economy, which means that waste should be designed-out and material loops must be closed. Demolition contractors have an important role in this transition, as they should decide what waste management strategy should be executed for building elements. However, little is described in literature about how demolition contractors can evaluate waste management strategies and recent studies overlook the implementation of evaluation methods in the decision-making process of demolition contractors. This research followed a design-science research methodology to develop a Decision Support Tool (DST) which should assist demolition contractors during the decision-making regarding the waste management strategies for all building elements present in a to-be-demolished building. Multiple design cycles were executed consisting out of different activities; problem identification, define objectives, design and development, demonstration, evaluation and communication. The DST uses a Multi-Criteria Decision Methodology to compare three different waste management strategies (i.e., Reuse, Recycle, and Recover) by evaluating four main criteria (i.e., economic costs, environmental gain, technical feasibility and social gain). The output of the DST is (1) a ranking which provides the optimal waste management strategy regarding the four main criteria, and (2) a graphical presentation of the absolute and relative difference between the strategies regarding economic costs and environmental gain. It was observed that the use of the DST will have some implications on the current work process of the demolition contractor. By using the DST, decisions are not longer based on tacit knowledge or only on economic costs, but also on environmental impact, technical feasibility and social impact. Therefore, the DST can assist demolition contractors in the transition towards a circular economy. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | ET: Engineering Technology |
| Subject: | 56 civil engineering |
| Programme: | Construction Management and Engineering MSc (60337) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/92943 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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