The environmental issue requires a renewed attention in considering the role of materials in the project, imposing a new gaze into their entire life cycle: procurement, production processes, ...assembly, maintenance and replacement cycles, disassembly, reuse/recycle and disposal. This perspective based on the circularity requires the improvement of knowledge and skills traditionally involved in the design project and the reconfiguration of relationships among the operators of the supply chain. New research and experimentation horizons open up; new opportunities for specialization within LCA methodologies and logics are earmarked to assume an increasingly important role.
Today architectural design is faced with the complex relationship between time and sustainability. In this perspective, the article reports the results of an articulated research activity, which ...highlights how the need for a temporary location or use of spaces can be achieved with an appropriate level of environmental sustainability, and only through long-term use of resources during the entire life cycle. The concept of “long-lasting temporariness” is outlined, based on the extension of the life of artefacts and on the reuse/recycling of resources at the end of their life, when the reversibility of construction systems, the circularity of materials, and the life cycle management of material and energy flows assume a paradigmatic role.
Circular economy has become central in the European policy arena, and the Member States have promoted a number of initiatives and programs to shift from their traditional linear economy towards a ...circular economy. This is particularly relevant for the construction sector, which is the highest producer of waste and one of the main causes of resources consumption. The paper objective is to analyse the present level of application of circularity strategies, identifying the related barriers and drivers, through interviews with building stakeholders across five European countries, Belgium (Flanders), Netherlands, United Kingdom, Denmark, and Italy. The analysis focuses on the building level and assesses the level of application in current policies and practices of circular strategies in three key field: resource and waste management, design for reversible building, and business for the networking of operators in the construction value chain. The results highlight the different and fragmented circular strategies currently applied in the analysed countries analysed, highlighting the need for more effective and coordinated actions and policies promoted by European Commission. In particular, the current legislative framework promotes the waste management strategies, focusing more on recycling practices than on reuse or resource management. The design strategies for reversible building are generally in private initiatives, driven by market competitions, rather than by public incentives. The application of circular business models and the creation of circular networks among the operators of the value chain is still lacking. Furthermore, the use of life-cycle tools to assess the environmental effectiveness (sustainability) of circular strategies is rarely applied. The recommendations that emerged from the comparison of the current applications of circular economy strategies across the countries analysed and demanded by key players in the construction sector interviewed, include the need for greater international coordination in terms of policy, practices and enabling tools (digital data, platforms, traceability). Improvements in both the legislative framework and practices are needed. Future development of research regards, in particular, the fields of digital supporting tools and environmental assessment (LCA), circular relationships and business models and the definition/training of new expertise related to enabling aspects.
•Lack of attention for the building level in circular economy policies•Need for more coordinated actions and policies to encourage circularity in EU•Beyond recycling, reuse and new business models should be promoted by policy•Lack of evaluation on the environmental sustainability of circularity strategies•Need for enabling tools to promote circular supply chains and operators' networks
This study describes the results of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) applied to 24 statistically-based dwelling archetypes, representative of the EU housing stock in 2010. The aim is to quantify the ...average environmental impacts related to housing in Europe and to define reference values (baseline scenario) for policies development. The average environmental impacts have been calculated taking into consideration the number of dwellings (clustered per typology, year of construction and climate zone) related to each representative model. System boundaries include production, construction, use (energy and water consumption), maintenance/replacement, and end-of-life phases of each dwelling. The environmental life cycle impact assessment was carried out using the ILCD method. EU average annual environmental impact per person, per dwelling, and per m2 were calculated. Results show that the average life cycle greenhouse gases emissions related to housing per person per year are 2.62 t CO2eq and related to a representative dwelling per year are of 6.36 t CO2eq. The use phase (energy and water consumption) is the most relevant one, followed by the production and the maintenance/replacement phases. Single-family houses are responsible for the highest share of impacts related to housing in Europe. The same type of building has different impacts in different climatic zones, due to the differences in the need for space heating. In general, electricity use and space heating are the activities that contribute more to the overall impacts. The final results could be used as a baseline scenario for testing eco-innovation scenarios and setting targets toward impact reduction.
•The EU residential housing stock is modelled by means of 24 representative dwellings.•A detailed LCA-based analysis of the environmental impact of housing in the EU is carried out.•The impacts of all lifecycle stages are presented for 16 impact categories.•The highest environmental impact is due to use phase and the production of materials.•The impact of EU housing stock may represent a baseline for testing ecoinnovations scenarios.
Enabling Technologies have the potential to transform both the physical flow of materials and resources (production and construction methods), and the intangible organisational and managerial ...relationships (exchange and monitoring of data and relationships along the entire chain of value). They should, therefore, be considered important in supporting change processes aimed at the circular use of resources. This paper presents some research and experiments, at European and Italian level, aimed at developing and applying Enabling Technologies for circular economy, and at aligning them with the needs and challenges of society, by directly involving actors of the building sector ecosystem in moments of discussion and co-creation to define potential strategies and operational actions for innovation in the sector.
Background
Improvement in morbidity of pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) largely depends on the reduction in the incidence of clinically relevant (CR) postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF).
Methods
After ...internal validation of the clinical risk score (CRS) of POPF, and identification of other predictive factors for POPF, robotic (RPD), and open (OPD) PDs were stratified into risk categories and matched by propensity scores. The primary endpoint of this study was incidence of CR-POPF. Secondary endpoints were 90-day morbidity and mortality, and sample size calculation for randomized controlled trials (RCT).
Results
No patient undergoing RPD was classified at negligible risk for POPF, and no CR-POPF occurred in 7 RPD at low risk. The matching process identified 48 and 11 pairs at intermediate and high risk for POPF, respectively. In the intermediate-risk group, RPD was associated with higher rates of CR-POPF (31.3% vs 12.5%) (
p
= 0.0026), with equivalent incidence of grade C POPF. In the high-risk group, CR-POPF occurred frequently, but in similar percentages, after either procedures. Starting from an unadjusted point estimate of the effect size of 1.71 (0.91–3.21), the pair-matched odds ratio for CR-POPF after RPD was 2.80 (1.01–7.78) for the intermediate-risk group, and 0.20 (0.01–4.17) for the high-risk group. Overall morbidity and mortality were equivalent in matched study groups. Sample size calculation for a non-inferiority RCT demonstrated that a total of 31,669 PDs would be required to randomize 682 patients at intermediate risk and 1852 patients at high risk.
Conclusions
In patients at intermediate risk, RPD is associated with higher rates of CR-POPF. Incidence of grade C POPF is similar in RPD and OPD, making overall morbidity and mortality also equivalent. A RCT, with risk stratification for POPF, would require an enormous number of patients. Implementation of an international registry could be the next step in the assessment of RPD.
Enabling Technologies have the potential to transform both the physical flow of materials and resources (production and construction methods), and the intangible organisational and managerial ...relationships (exchange and monitoring of data and relationships along the entire chain of value). Automated Systems and Robotics sono un importante supporto per la prefabbricazione off-site, volta all'uso ottimizzato delle risorse, alla riduzione degli sfridi (tipici del cantiere artigiana le), alla modularità e reversibilità costruttiva per favorire l'adattabilità e la manutenibilità. Il progetto "Building As Material Bank"3 (BAMB) è stato pioniere nella sperimentazione dei "Materials Passport" (MP), ovverostrumenti digitali, interoperabili con software BIM, in grado di raccogliere l'insieme di dati che descrivono le caratteristiche dei materiali e dei componenti facenti parte di prodotti ed edifici (EPEA, 2017). Il MP deve contenere: - informazioni per identificare i prodotti stoccati nell'edificio (es. produttore, marca di prodotto); - raccolta delle schede tecniche, EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) e MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) dei prodotti; - informazioni su uso e manutenzione dei prodotti installati nell'edificio e le istruzioni su come assemblarli e disassemblarli; - indicazioni sul fine vita dei prodotti o ulteriori cicli di vita, ad esempio potenziale riutilizzabilità, rilavorabilità o riciclabilità.
Nowadays, the transformation processes of the built environment, particularly those with the "common good" as their target, face complex regulatory systems organised in multiple areas, levels and ...scales. The different legislations often hinder the possibility of achieving the defined objectives due to the inability to interpret and translate the contents of these instruments into practice, and the difficulty of coordinating the tools as a result of different perspectives and goals. The research addresses this critical issue within the redevelopment and value-enhancement processes of properties confiscated from organised crime by proposing an innovative management model, which systematises the rules and roles of multiple subjects, increasing the social impact of requalification actions. Keywords: Multi-stakeholder cooperation; Construction site-schools; Confiscated assets; Social integration; Legalprocedural aspects.
The bio-engineering technologies of medical devices through nano-structuring and coating was recently proposed to improve biocompatibility and to reduce microbial adhesion in the prevention of ...implantable device-related infections. Our aim was to evaluate the ability of new nano-structured and coated materials to prevent the adhesion and biofilm formation, according to the American Standard Test Method ASTM-E2647-13. The materials composition was determined by X-ray Fluorescence and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy. Silver release was evaluated by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry analysis. The gene expression levels of the Quorum Sensing
and
system were evaluated by the ΔΔCt method. The Log bacterial density (Log CFU/cm
) on TiAl6V4 was 4.41 ± 0.76 and 4.63 ± 1.01 on TiAl6V4-AgNPs compared to 2.57 ± 0.70 on CoCr and 2.73 ± 0.61 on CoCr-AgNPs (P < 0.0001, A.N.O.V.A.- one way test). The silver release was found to be equal to 17.8 ± 0.2 µg/L after the batch phase and 1.3 ± 0.1 µg/L during continuous flow. The
gene resulted in a 2.70-fold increased expression in biofilm growth on the silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) coating. In conclusion, CoCr showed a greater ability to reduce microbial adhesion, independently of the AgNPs coating. The silver release resulted in promoting the up-regulation of the
system. Further investigation should be conducted to optimize the effectiveness of the coating.
Summary Background Patients receiving haemodialysis are exposed to a large volume of dialysis fluid. The Italian Society of Nephrology (ISN) published guidelines and microbial quality standards on ...dialysis water (DW) and solutions to ensure patient safety. Aim : Aim of the study was to identify microbial and chemical hazards and to evaluate disinfection treatments quality in DW plants. Methods: In the years 2015 and 2016 water networks and DW plants (closed loop and online monitors) of nine dialysis wards of Italian hospitals, hosting 162 dialysis beds overall, were sampled on a monthly basis to determine the parameters provided by ISN guidelines. Chlorinated drinking water was desalinated by reverse osmosis and distributed to the closed loop which feeds all online monitors. Disinfection with peracetic acid was performed in all DW plants on a monthly basis. Findings: During the entire study period of 24 months 7 out of 9 DW plants (78%) recorded negative results for all investigated parameters. A closed loop contamination of Burkholderia cepacia was detected in a DW plant from January 2015 to March 2015. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated from March 2016 to May 2016 in the closed loop of another DW plant. These microbial contaminations were eradicated by shock disinfection with sodium hypochlorite and peracetic acid, followed by water flushing. Conclusion: Our results highlight the importance of chemical and physical methods of DW disinfection. The maintenance of control measures in water plants hosted in dialysis wards ensures a microbial risk reduction for all dialysis patients.
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