Fixotek: Implementing and Testing Urban Reuse and Repair Centers in Sweden

The Fixotek project is testing if dedicated community spaces in residential areas could help encourage residents to fix, lend, swap and recycle consumer products, thereby preventing waste generation and recovering resources locally. Four Fixoteks have been developed, in districts with different socioeconomic conditions in Gothenburg, offering regular open hours and events. The idea has been very well received by the community, with differences in how easily it has been taken up in some of the locations. Two of the Fixoteks engage local volunteers and have developed closer to local initiatives, while in the other two more efforts are needed to engage the local community. Non the less, the locations have allowed residents to reuse and repair beyond what was possible before. The project has been implemented with a multi-stakeholder consortium, which has given it a holistic approach to the implementation, but makes decision taking slow

Designing Away Waste: A Comparative Analysis of Urban Reuse and Remanufacture Initiatives

In order to transform the economy into one that is circular, that recovers most materials through reuse, remanufacturing and recycling, these activities need to grow significantly. Waste management has substantially incorporated recycling as an end-of-life treatment but has still largely failed to incorporate remanufacturing and reuse as possible material recovery routes. This article aims to provide useful information to establish centers for urban remanufacture (CUREs), by analyzing fifteen existing initiatives that facilitate reuse and remanufacture by providing access to secondary materials or manufacturing tools. The study consists of a review of selected initiatives complemented with targeted interviews to fill in missing information. Most initiatives provided access to secondary materials (13 of 15 initiatives), and almost all used different manufacturing tools (14 of 15 initiatives). Besides their regular opening hours, initiatives were mainly engaged in capacity building activities, which were done through predefined or improvised workshops. Most initiatives relied on external support to finance their operations (9 of 15 initiatives). However, one of the self-financed initiatives is the oldest initiative in the study, operating since 1998. Based on the results and tacit knowledge collected in this study, a framework is suggested to serve as a guide for establishing future CUREs

Next Generation Living Labs: Comprehensive Report

This report aims to expand on existing logic and knowledge of Living Labs and take into consideration the innovation ecosystems surrounding Living Labs.\ua0Through literature review and the lessons learned from the initiation and implementation of two Living Lab infrastructures in the Building Technology Accelerator Flagship Program (BTA), perspectives are offered focusing on Open Innovation ecosystems, Open Innovation organizational elements, co-creation and data system tools.\ua0The breakdown of the methods as well as the results derived have been synthesized and compiled in this report. Key lessons learned were summarized and categorized using the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) harmonization Cube. This was done to provide a more comprehensive set of suggestions for organizations connected to Living Labs transitioning towards Open Innovation and developing Next Generation Living Labs.We hope This report is a start towards the development of a comprehensive methodology for Living Lab infrastructures within the BTA network and points to important elements for this development

Hygrothermal Design of a Prefabricated Wooden Facade Module for School Building Renovation in Sweden

Today it is widely recognized that the construction industry plays a key role in the rational use of resources and the realization of a more sustainable society. Concerning buildings and energy use, renovation of the existing building stock to the higher energy performance is crucial. Among the various existing buildings in Europe, school buildings are of importance among the publicly owned buildings. However, there has been little effort in Sweden to promote the school building renovation by prefabricated wooden modules, which should be highly advantageous due to the short refurbishment period and its light weight.The present study investigated the hygrothermal property of wooden refurbishment modules in combination with an existing brick wall under Gothernburg (Sweden) climate. The criterion for the moisture safety inside the wall after the refurbishment was at 75% relative humidity in order to comply with the Swedish building regulation while it was assumed that the surface of the wall was wet from the precipitation during the refurbishment period. Two-dimensional transient heat and moisture transfer simulation was applied to three different module configurations. It was shown it is important to design the module vapour permeable so the entire wall system after the refurbishment have sufficient drying potential

Hygrothermal Design of a Prefabricated Wooden Facade Module for School Building Renovation in Sweden

Today it is widely recognized that the construction industry plays a key role in the rational use of resources and the realization of a more sustainable society. Concerning buildings and energy use, renovation of the existing building stock to the higher energy performance is crucial. Among the various existing buildings in Europe, school buildings are of importance among the publicly owned buildings. However, there has been little effort in Sweden to promote the school building renovation by prefabricated wooden modules, which should be highly advantageous due to the short refurbishment period and its light weight.The present study investigated the hygrothermal property of wooden refurbishment modules in combination with an existing brick wall under Gothernburg (Sweden) climate. The criterion for the moisture safety inside the wall after the refurbishment was at 75% relative humidity in order to comply with the Swedish building regulation while it was assumed that the surface of the wall was wet from the precipitation during the refurbishment period. Two-dimensional transient heat and moisture transfer simulation was applied to three different module configurations. It was shown it is important to design the module vapour permeable so the entire wall system after the refurbishment have sufficient drying potential

Sustainability Assessment of a Wooden Multi-Storey Building Compared with an Equivalent Reinforced Concrete Alternative Using ToSIA: Finnish Perspective

The aim of this study was to conduct a sustainability impact assessment (SIA) on a wooden multi-storey building and compare this to an equivalent reinforced concrete building using ToSIA (Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment). The SIA considered the material flows and processes along the respective supply chains in Finland and included environmental, economic, and social indicators. The greenhouse gas savings of various wood-based materials of the buildings were also compared with concrete elements. The boundary of the quantitative analysis was cradle-to-construction site and included the structural support system of the building. Primary data was collected from the material supply chain and manufacturing facilities and were used to develop the life cycle inventory database. Secondary data were also referenced for the selected indicators. The results indicated that the wood frame structure provided greater environmental benefits, being responsible for only one-third of the greenhouse gas emissions and two-thirds of the non-renewable energy consumption during building material sourcing to the construction site gate, compared to the reinforced concrete alternative. In terms of socio-economic sustainability, the reinforced concrete alternative had higher production costs, but a lower labour intensity than wood. It was also found that non-fatal accidents occurred more often in the concrete supply chain, especially at the manufacturing facility, indicating that work safety was higher in the wood-alternative. In addition, the avoided greenhouse gas emission calculation showed that 159 kgCO2\ua0m–2\ua0could be avoided and 101 kgCO2\ua0m–2\ua0could be stored by replacing concrete frame building with wood. Such information can be useful for constructors, designers, and public bodies in making informed choices during building design and future construction. Future studies may extend the system boundary and include end-of-life scenarios and the cascading use of wood to find further greenhouse gas emissions savings

Room for change: Impact of building-level innovations to facilitate product reuse among residents

This article explores the importance of building spaces in residential areas to encourage waste prevention through product reuse. First, a short review is made over five existing spaces that allow residents to leave and take products to be used again by others. Then, the initial experiences of establishing such a space in the HSB Living Lab in Gothenburg are presented to complement the review. In general the experiences of establishing these rooms for change are positive, with users making use of the space frequently. Aspects such as location and open hours are crucial to make the change-stations convenient for residents to use. Making the space available to a large group ofpeople is important to ensure good product flow and renewal. Even though these spaces enable product exchange between users, it is not always possible to link this exchange to a measureable effect on reduced waste generation or consumption. It is not always true that the items exchangedwould have been discarded or purchased if the space to change them was not available. There is an exception when the exchanged items are food, since the food made available for others to take would have been wasted otherwise

Collaborative Pedagogy for Co-creation and Community Outreach: An Experience from Architectural Education in Social Inclusion Using the Miro Tool

The Covid-19 pandemic has hugely affected our lives, including the daily work of university students and teachers, although such difficulties can emerge as drivers for change to discover new pedagogical possibilities. This paper explores this challenge in the context of the Design and Planning for Social Inclusion master’s course within architecture, at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden). It examines the pedagogical and societal contribution arising from a systematic use of a digital whiteboard as a collaborative tool, following an interlinked process of co-creation in which stakeholders and students interact continuously to co-create architectural and urban design proposals. Results of such an innovative process can be used to revisit the impact of Covid-19 on students’ work and highlight positive and unexpected discoveries, and at the same time integrate feedback from local community and stakeholders, contributing to societal outreach and architectural practice