Library of Reuse

Digitalisation is crucial for making construction more sustainable and circular. But the sector is slow to digitalise its processes and often relies on fragmented data.

Martin Fischer, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, explains how digitalisation improves project management, automation, and building information modelling to better navigate tradeoff decisions for more sustainable construction.

Episode credits: Interview by Brandon Byers and Iro Armeni. Produced and edited by Jennifer Bartmess. Music by Coma Media. © Chair of Circular Engineering for Architecture, ETH Zurich

Human habitats and their infrastructure require a lot of space and resources. Could mixed reality help architects and engineers build spaces that put less pressure on our urban environments?

Iro Armeni, professor at Stanford University, leads the Gradient Spaces Lab, where she combines computer science with architecture and engineering to create more circular, multifunctional, and reusable spaces.

Episode credits: Interview by Jennifer Bartmess and Deepika Raghu. Produced and edited by Jennifer Bartmess. Music by Coma Media. © Chair of Circular Engineering for Architecture, ETH Zurich

Life cycle assessments (LCAs) are necessary for understanding the environmental impacts of buildings. André Stephan, associate professor at the University of Melbourne, researches how to scale up life cycle assessments so that they can be used to better understand the carbon footprint of the construction sector.

In this podcast he talks with Prof. Catherine De Wolf about computational tools, challenges in creating life cycle assessments for buildings made of reused materials, and how academia is responsible for reducing the environmental impact of construction.

See more on the Nested Phoenix project.

Episode credits: Interview by Catherine De Wolf. Produced and edited by Jennifer Bartmess. Music by Coma Media. © Chair of Circular Engineering for Architecture, ETH Zurich