PDEng position in Civil Engineering at University of Twente

The planned transition towards a circular economy requires new methods to gain insight into the circularity potential of constructions. The construction industry is notorious for its large share in consuming virgin materials and producing waste. Its current ‘linear’ model of construction is not sustainable, because resources are finite and waste unwanted. To adopt alternative, ‘circular’, construction methods in which materials are efficiently reused, new methods are necessary to assess circularity potentials and to inform project decision-makers. Despite several (inter)national initiatives, no such method has matured yet. This PDEng project therefore tries to further develop and digitize a circularity assessment method through a design science approach. The candidate will use Building Information Modelling (BIM) tools and technologies to systematically design, test and implement the method. The candidate will thereby actively participate in several ongoing design/construction projects with circularity ambitions. Those projects offer a learning environment (living lab) to better understand information requirements of different construction parties and to experiment with any BIM solutions. An educational trajectory tailored to the needs of the candidate thereby helps to substantiate those solutions with the latest circularity knowledge. The PDEng project eventually results in a robust yet intuitive BIM-based method to assess the circularity potential of constructions.