(Un)folding the membrane in the deployable demonstrator of contex-t

The paper presents a system, made out of foldable ‘kinked’ beams and a membrane skin, based on a concept referring to origami. The anticlastic curvature of the membrane is obtained by transforming flat triangular parts into space. The following research question is considered: can the foldable system be stable in intermediate configurations? To obtain a well-tensioned membrane in the intermediate positions, the belts connecting the membrane to the frame can be released or increased in tension. A full scale ‘demonstrator’ has been built within the frame of IP-project Contex-T8. Although the deployment - rotating the ‘kinked’ beams about the central axis - was feasible, the tensioning and structural behaviour of the membrane, attached in the nodes of the frame, was not yet thoroughly examined. For that reason one single unit has been analysed. Forces and deformations in the membrane are verified for different opening angles using integrated models including the membrane, connecting belts and ‘kinked’ beams (for the frame). The results of the experimental investigations and numerical models are compared and occurring discrepancies are clarified

A Deployable Mast for Adaptable Textile Architecture

p. 252-263Proposed here is a concept for a deployable mast with angulated scissor units, for use in adaptable temporary architectural constructions. The adaptable structure serves as a tower or truss-like mast for a temporary tensile surface structure and doubles up as an active element during the erection process. The mast consists of scissor-like elements (SLE¿s) which are an effective way of introducing a single D.O.F.(degree of freedom) mechanism into a structure, providing it with the necessary kinematic properties for transforming from a compact state to a larger, expanded state. The scissor units used here are not comprised of straight bars, but rather consist of angulated elements, i.e. bars having a kink angle. Although primarily intended for radially deployable closed loop structures, it is shown in this paper that angulated elements can also prove valuable for use in a linear threedimensional scissor geometry.De Temmerman, N.; Mollaert, M.; De Laet, L.; Van Mele, T.; Guldentops, L.; Henrotay, C.; Debacker, W.... (2009). A Deployable Mast for Adaptable Textile Architecture. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/650

Integrating Scenarios into Life Cycle Assessment: Understanding the Value and Financial Feasibility of a Demountable Building

Although life cycle assessment offers insight into the long-term value of our building stock, it has become impossible to model with certainty the service life of a building. What if new lifestyles make reality diverge from the expected service life? What if the building is decommissioned very early or forced to accommodate new functions? Would the same design decisions have been made or would an alternative have been preferred? In reaction to this challenge, the present paper proposes to integrate scenario planning and life cycle assessment. Therefore, it discusses from where scenario planning originates and how it appeared hitherto in architectural design and life cycle assessment. Thereafter, it explores how assessors can profit from scenarios when raising awareness and co-creating alternatives. Subsequently, a methodological framework for effective scenario development is proposed. To illustrate the added value of scenario integrated life cycle assessments, four divergent scenarios are developed for evaluating the financial feasibility of demountable building element reuse. With this simple case study is shown how more relevant and nuanced assessment outcomes are obtained when divergent scenarios are adopted

Expandable Houses: An Explorative Life Cycle Cost Analysis

In addition to the environmental burden of its construction and demolition activities, the Flemish housing market faces a structural affordability challenge. As one possible answer, this research explores the potential of so-called expandable houses, being built increasingly often. Through specific design choices that enable the disassembly and future reuse of individual components and so align with the idea of a circular economy, expandable houses promise to provide ever-changing homes with a smaller impact on the environment and at a lower cost for clients. In this paper, an expandable house suitable for various housing needs is conceived through a scenario-based research-by-design approach and compared to a reference house for Flanders. Subsequently, for both houses the life cycle costs are calculated and compared. The results of this exploration support the proposition that designing expandable houses can be a catalyst for sustainable, circular housing development and that households could benefit from its social, economic and ecological qualities. It requires, however, a dynamic perspective on evaluating their life-cycle impact

Research and Development Directions for Design Support Tools for Circular Building

To support the construction sector in its transition to a circular economy, many design instruments and decision support tools have been and are still being developed. This development is uncoordinated and raises confusion among building designers and advising engineers, slowing down the tools’ adoption in practice. Moreover, it is unclear if the available design tools are able to fulfil the needs of design professionals at all. Therefore, this research identifies the knowledge challenges for the “supply and demand” of design tools for a circular construction practice. It focuses on Flanders, given the importance the topic receives in the region’s policy programme and among practitioners. This study builds on a thorough literature review, and on inventorying and categorising instruments and ongoing developments. By comparing that review with the needs that were identified during interviews with a focus group, it was possible to pinpoint designers’ needs for support tools and outline three urgent research tracks. More generally, it was found that the needs of our focus group are only partially reflected by the available design tools and the ongoing developments. This identified mismatch advocates for a more participatory and practice-oriented research approach when developing design support tools for circular building

Using network analysis and BIM to quantify the impact of Design for Disassembly

Design for Disassembly (DfD) is a promising design strategy to improve resource efficiency in buildings. To facilitate its application in design and construction practice, specific assessment tools are currently being developed. By reviewing the literature on DfD, including criteria and assessment methods, and with an explorative research approach on simple examples, we have developed a new method called Disassembly Network Analysis (DNA) to quantify the impact of DfD and link it to specific design improvements. The impact of DfD is measured in material flows generated during the disassembly of a building element. The DNA method uses network analysis and Building Information Modeling to deliver information about flows of recovered and lost materials and disassembly time. This paper presents the DNA method and two illustrative examples. Although DNA is still at a preliminary stage of development, it already shows the potential to compare assemblies and supports better-informed decisions during the design process by detecting potential points of improvements regarding waste generation and time needed to disassemble an element.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

(Un)folding the membrane in the deployable demonstrator of contex-t

The paper presents a system, made out of foldable ‘kinked’ beams and a membrane skin, based on a concept referring to origami. The anticlastic curvature of the membrane is obtained by transforming flat triangular parts into space. The following research question is considered: can the foldable system be stable in intermediate configurations? To obtain a well-tensioned membrane in the intermediate positions, the belts connecting the membrane to the frame can be released or increased in tension. A full scale ‘demonstrator’ has been built within the frame of IP-project Contex-T8. Although the deployment - rotating the ‘kinked’ beams about the central axis - was feasible, the tensioning and structural behaviour of the membrane, attached in the nodes of the frame, was not yet thoroughly examined. For that reason one single unit has been analysed. Forces and deformations in the membrane are verified for different opening angles using integrated models including the membrane, connecting belts and ‘kinked’ beams (for the frame). The results of the experimental investigations and numerical models are compared and occurring discrepancies are clarified

Challenging Architectural Design Choices with Quantified Evaluations of the Generality and Adaptability of Plan Layouts

Buildings’ obsolescence and inefficient use can be prevented by designing general and adaptable plan layouts. General plan layouts accommodate different needs without being altered, while adaptable plan layouts can be easily altered thanks to, for example, demountable walls. A design-support method to quantify the generality and adaptability of plan layouts is the Spatial Assessment of Generality and Adaptability (SAGA) method Herthogs (Doctoral thesis. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, 2016 [1]). To the knowledge of the authors, SAGA has not been used yet in a real design assignment. To understand how the method can support architectural decisions in a real design process, we applied an adapted version of SAGA in the transformation of a Brussels row house. In this paper, we describe the method’s relevance in validating the architect’s intuition by comparing the results of the method on the initial and future states of the house. Secondly, we evaluate the method’s added-value to guide the optimization of the plan layout, by comparing the future state with three alternative plan layouts. In this case, the architect considers the quantitative assessment as useful to evaluate and improve his architectural design, but the results are hardly interpretable without prior expertise. In conclusion, the method has potential in validating design choices fostering general and adaptable plan layouts. Depending on the expertise of the assessor, it can also support the optimization of the plan. In the future, implementing automatic checks or suggestions could bypass this reliance on expertise.SCOPUS: cp.kDecretOANoAutActifinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Geometric service life modelling and discounting, a practical method for parametrised life cycle assessment

Purpose To evaluate the long-term advantage of reusing building elements, including reduced material consumption and waste production, life cycle assessments are purposeful. To translate these assessments in relevant design advices, it is necessary to model accurately the service life of the considered elements and acknowledge the related uncertainties. Practical methods to do this are nevertheless lacking. In reaction,this paper proposes a new assessment method: geometric service life modelling and discounting. Methods The developed method is extensively parametric. Its formulas express an element’s service life in terms of a limited number of variables. This facilitates the evaluation of large series of elements as well as the automation of uncertainty analyses. Further, the method tackles different modelling complexities such as the interaction between replacements and refurbishments. Taking into account these complexities aligns the assessments with realistic service lives. For the presentation of the developed method, a focus on life cycle costing is chosen. Results and discussion In this paper, the outcomes of the newly developed method are compared to those of an existing calculation method and benchmarked with the manual modelling and assessment of 390 simplified building elements. This comparison is based on three indicators characterising the methods’ accuracy: the number of interventions, their individual impact and their resulting net present value. For each indicator, geometric discounting led to a considerable increase of accuracy compared to the existing method. Conclusions From this comparison, it is concluded that geometric service life modelling and discounting offers not only a well-defined procedure for parametrised life cycle assessment studies, this method is also more accurate than the existing one. Moreover, the uncertainty analyses it facilitates illustrate how detailed assessment outcomes and relevant design advices about the effectiveness of element reuse can be obtained. Nevertheless, further research about the method’s practical implementation is required.status: publishe