Research Matthias Buyle

Abstract

In an era where sustainability is increasingly crucial, access to appropriate tools at every decision-making level is essential. Micro and macro-economic evaluations are paramount at policy and sector levels, while businesses must monitor the overall impact of their activities, including products and services, necessitating thorough life cycle and cost analyses. The proposed future service platform, B.Cycle+, for sustainability at the business level, from the University of Antwerp, encompasses various invaluable intellectual assets crucial for supporting sustainable decision-making. These assets are designed to equip academic and industrial partners with the necessary tools, information, and resources to make scientifically informed and future-proof decisions regarding sustainability. Furthermore, all companies will have to comply with the sustainability reporting mandated by the European Commission within the framework of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) between now and 2029, an obligation many companies currently struggle to meet. This is where B.Cycle+ will provide support. This is crucial because compliance with these reporting requirements is essential for maintaining competitiveness, meeting regulations, and promoting responsible entrepreneurship. Businesses face the challenge of translating policy into concrete actions while aligning core activities with sustainability objectives. This task may seem complex, making it difficult to maintain an overview. To tackle these challenges, a comprehensive approach is needed. Existing tools already provide support at the product and service levels, which is the focus of the existing B. Cycle service platform. "However, for a complete integration and translation of policy into concrete improvement actions at the business level, the objective measurability and reporting of the results is crucial, a growing need that B.Cycle+ strongly addresses. The proposed future service platform for sustainability at the business level of the University of Antwerp can address these challenges due to its accumulated expertise, comprising an extensive content database of scientific research and best practices, advanced analysis tools and models, comprehensive training, and consultancy services. By combining these assets, the platform aims to enable users to make well-informed decisions that not only meet current sustainability requirements but also address future challenges. The platform facilitates collaboration among various stakeholders and implements monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to continuously improve impact and effectiveness. The expertise and dedication present will undoubtedly make a significant contribution to a more sustainable future for all involved.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Audenaert Amaryllis
• Co-promoter: Buyle Matthias
• Co-promoter: Meysman Jasmine
• Co-promoter: Moins Ben

Research team(s)

• Energy and Materials in Infrastructure and Buildings

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The bSMARTT! project is a collaboration between Ghent University, the University of Antwerp, Maastricht University, Tenco DM (Genk, BE), 3D Maastricht (Maastricht, NL), and DC Venturing (Antwerp, BE). The project's goal is to create an open innovation and technology platform that consolidates and strengthens knowledge about materials, technology (high- & biotech), additive manufacturing techniques, and innovative business models. This platform supports regional businesses in the biotech and advanced materials sectors, helps bridge the "innovation valley of death," and accelerates the adoption of circular solutions. The bSMARTT! platform provides access to technological and business expertise and builds an ecosystem that assists entrepreneurs in realizing circular innovation projects. Through this integrated approach, bSMARTT! promotes regional innovation and the circular economy.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Audenaert Amaryllis
• Co-promoter: Buyle Matthias
• Co-promoter: Meysman Jasmine

Research team(s)

• Energy and Materials in Infrastructure and Buildings

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The aim of BIOBUILD project is to develop and demonstrate fully bio-based building materials with thermal storage function that can replace high environmental footprint products. Our solution demonstrates functional incorporation of bio-based phase change materials (bioPCMs) into solid wood and wood fibres bound by plant oil resins, lignin, or fungal mycelia to produce novel bio-composite building materials with significantly improved thermal properties. The novel materials possess a high multifunctional performance, meet requirements for sustainable "green" production, and ensure end-of-life options and recycling. Environmental and social impacts and benefits are fully integrated into the life-cycle perspective.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Audenaert Amaryllis
• Co-promoter: Buyle Matthias
• Co-promoter: Verbeke Stijn

Research team(s)

• Energy and Materials in Infrastructure and Buildings

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Nowadays a vast number of concrete structures are approaching the end of their expected service life. The need for sustainable rehabilitation (maintenance and repair) is urgent and due to the expected deterioration of buildings and civil structures, there will be a great need for preventive and/or curative interventions in the near future. More than 50 % of the damage to reinforced concrete structures is linked to reinforcement corrosion, which can affect the durability of the structure and the residual load-carrying capacity. With the European transition towards a circular economy and the sustainable development goals in mind, it is important to deviate from considering only the technical requirements and initial costs during the design. Therefore, the environmental impact and financial costs over the entire life cycle and the intended service life extension need to be considered. To assess the durability of concrete structures and interventions throughout their life cycle, life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) can be applied. For this reason, the general research objective of this study is to economically and environmentally optimize the intervention strategy for preventive maintenance and curative repair of corrosion-damaged reinforced concrete structures, based on a multi-criteria framework with the incorporation of LCA and LCCA. The optimization framework could be used by the industry for new structures as well as for existing structures.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Craeye Bart
• Co-promoter: Audenaert Amaryllis
• Co-promoter: Buyle Matthias

Research team(s)

• Energy and Materials in Infrastructure and Buildings

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The Campine Basin is a unique geological hotspot, that is increasingly being targeted to achieve energy security and environmental objectives. However, subsurface space is limited and competition between subsurface usages is increasing. To review policies for planning and managing potential resource interactions (either adverse or beneficial) and to set priorities if needed, it is key to create methods for a detailed hydrogeological characterization of these subsurface interactions, accounting for associated above-ground social, environmental, and economic impacts. Therefore, we unite expertise of (inter)national hydrogeological research units to develop dynamic, loosely coupled hydrogeological models that allow for large scale simulations, while remaining accurate for a single activity, and that are able to handle uncertain geological contexts. In addition, we will integrate this innovative hydrogeological method to advanced methods of Environmental Economics and Social Sciences to create an understanding about (i) the indicators for sustainable subsurface development, (ii) above-ground environmental, economic, and social impacts, (iii) and how to make model results transparent. These methods will allow to determine threshold values that must be met to respect subsurface, environmental, economic, and social criteria for the sustainable management of geological resources in Belgium and beyond. Stakeholders from the public and private sector as well as local communities are involved in the research activities to better understand their perception on the sustainable and just development of the subsurface. Knowledge transfer tools tailored to stakeholders' needs will be created allowing them (i) to come to a structural vision on the sustainable development of the Campine basin, (ii) to manage and regulate interacting subsurface activities for the long-term, and (iii) to match subsurface use with aboveground sustainability objectives.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Compernolle Tine
• Co-promoter: Audenaert Amaryllis
• Co-promoter: Bergmans Anne
• Co-promoter: Buyle Matthias

Research team(s)

• Engineering Management

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

One of the core ideas of the circular economy is that technological development can help increase material efficiency, but do such emerging technologies really reduce primary resource consumption and associated environmental impact or do adverse indirect and rebound effects occur? To date, there is a clear methodological knowledge gap on how to assess such emerging technologies and their estimated environmental impact in a broader economic context, considering expectations regarding macroeconomic trends. In addition, endogenizing material feedback loops will be fundamental to account for unwanted indirect and rebound effects of circular strategies. To overcome this limitation, I aim to develop an integrated quantitative method to drive technological progress in a prospective context, by bridging (bottom-up) technology-specific and (top-down) comprehensive modeling approaches into a dynamic value chain equilibrium model. This model will then be linked with prospective LCA background databases. The integrated model will be applied to the European value chain of the woodworking sector. This is a key sector for improving a more sustainable building stock and has great potential for cascading, meaning the inclusion of feedback loops is essential to draw sound conclusions. For validation, the dynamic model will be extended with stochastic properties to gain insight into the magnitude of the uncertainties and to increase the robustness of the results.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Audenaert Amaryllis
• Fellow: Buyle Matthias

Research team(s)

• Energy and Materials in Infrastructure and Buildings

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In a nutshell, the project aims to provide a feasible and innovative renovation solution for social housing, with the goal of preparing these homes for 2050 in the most efficient manner possible. The solution aims to disconnect these homes from fossil fuels and ensure that they are robust enough to meet future challenges in energy and distribution networks. The project also adopts a holistic approach, constantly considering three perspectives throughout the project's lifecycle: what is good for the residents, what is good for the climate, and what is good for the financial stability of social housing providers. The ultimate goal of the project is to offer a concrete, affordable, and scalable solution. During the project, the solution will be developed, implemented, tested, and the real-world performance will be monitored and optimized throughout its lifecycle. In close collaboration with residents and relevant stakeholders, efforts will be made to explore how the solution can be replicated on a larger scale.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Audenaert Amaryllis
• Co-promoter: Buyle Matthias

Research team(s)

• Energy and Materials in Infrastructure and Buildings

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The ALIGNED project will deliver a modelling framework to assess and optimise the environmental and socio-economic performance of bio-based industries. ALIGNED will advance the scientific field of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (moving from TRL2-3 to TRL5) and collaborate with industries and representatives from five bio-based sectors: construction, woodworking, textile, pulp and paper, and bio-chemicals. The transition towards a sustainable economy is dependent on consistent and comparable environmental assessments of bio-based products. However, in practice today the methods to assess the impact of bio-based products give incomparable results, thus confusing decision-making. The models and tools developed in ALIGNED will allow to perform high-quality assessment studies across the bio-based sectors, with industrial relevance and interoperability. This is possible by the iterative application and improvement of the new and harmonised models and tools in five specific cases of bio-based industrial technologies (TRL 2-6), one for each sector. The ALIGNED framework will allow accurately to model key aspects not covered in current practice: the competition for biomass and for land, dynamic and time-specific carbon accounting, and biodiversity and socio-economic impacts. ALIGNED will also develop future energy and resource scenarios derived from integrated assessment models, and a consistent approach to uncertainty assessment. Key stakeholders in the five sectors will be continuously involved, by providing feedback in the early framework development and by sharing the learnings from its practical application. The professional engagement of stakeholders will secure industry relevance and acceptance delivering real impact.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Passel Steven
• Co-promoter: Buyle Matthias
• Co-promoter: Van Schoubroeck Sophie

Research team(s)

• Engineering Management

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Due to the large environmental impact of concrete, a high demand exists for innovative concrete technologies. In order to evaluate and improve the environmental performance of these innovative technologies, a quantitative environmental assessment method such as life cycle assessment (LCA) is needed. The majority of LCA studies are applied after the technology has been fully developed. At this stage any change made to the technology will cost a substantial amount of effort and money. It is more beneficial to perform an LCA on the technology during the development stage instead. The goal is here to predict what the environmental impact of the technology will be when it reaches an industrial scale. This can give developers insight on how design choices will impact the environmental performance of the technology. Performing such a future orientated LCA, also called ex-ante LCA, can therefore greatly help with improving the technology throughout the development process. The big challenge of performing an ex-ante LCA is making a valuable assessment on the expected environmental impact of the fully developed technology at a time where little data is available, but also to project how the world will change by the time the technology is out on the market. This project will focus on creating a methodology to perform ex-ante LCA on emerging concrete technologies, which will be applied on three case studies.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Audenaert Amaryllis
• Co-promoter: Buyle Matthias
• Co-promoter: Craeye Bart
• Fellow: Maes Ben

Research team(s)

• Energy and Materials in Infrastructure and Buildings

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

About 35% of all waste in Flanders comes from construction and demolition activities. However, that waste often contains a large proportion of reusable materials. The project (GEO-CBE) aims to develop an integrated digital tool to geolocalise construction and demolition waste (CDW) and its flows. We aim to identify the spatial, economic and environmental parameters in order to recognise the optimal location of temporary, permanent, or even movable hubs for the recycling of these building materials. In the actual moment of material scarcity and shortages, constraints and high material prices, in addition to geopolitical and carbon reduction targets faced by Flanders and Europe, urgent research is needed on the reuse and recycling of CDW. Hence, there is an urgency to understand the network of stock, construction, and demolition waste flows, in order to elaborate a network of temporary and permanent locations - Circular Hubs (CHs) - to collect, store and redistribute waste as secondary raw materials. Sustainable and future-proof waste management systems must respond to the growing demand for real circular systemic solutions, with the construction sector in Flanders offering a great deal of potential. The increasing demand for housing, combined with increasingly higher standards for (life) quality, energy, and the environment, has led to a drastic increase in the demand for building materials (e.g. wood, concrete, and steel). Therefore, within the contemporary debate on resource scarcity and waste recycling in cities, circularity as an approach to reduce waste is gaining large interest. However, local stakeholders, policymakers, large developer companies, and companies in the construction and demolition business lack knowledge of CDW fluxes and stock, and miss the appropriate tools to adopt their construction and demolition processes. How can material from construction and demolition activities become available and, instead of waste, be understood as a resource for urban projects? The built environment with high material concentrations (stocks) and many construction and demolition activities are often promising for recycling CDW. However, where and how to develop CHs remains to be answered. GEO-CBE project aims to address these needs by developing an integrated digital tool to support stakeholders in the construction and demolition sector. In particular, the project has three key objectives: 1. to develop a platform to visualize a spatial material flow analysis of three construction and demolition waste streams namely wood, concrete, and steel in Flanders, in 2020-2021-2022. 2. based on spatial material flow analysis results, develop different scenarios to identify possible locations and parameters to implement different types of hubs to store, recycle, and reuse CDW. 3. develop an environmental impact assessment to evaluate the performance of different scenarios and identify the best solutions.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Van Acker Maarten
• Co-promoter: Audenaert Amaryllis
• Co-promoter: Buyle Matthias
• Co-promoter: Furlan Cecilia

Research team(s)

• Research Group for Urban Development

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The central mission of the service platform B.Cycle is to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable construction sector and this by providing scientifically sound and tailored made decision support. Key elements are incorporating a life-cycle perspective, including future oriented assessment techniques and developing innovative circular business models to steer optimization and innovation trajectories. To unlock the full potential of any innovation effort, it is crucial to provide quantitative information as early as possible during the development process. More specific, B.Cycle offers expertise to support such trajectories in a holistic way through objective quantitative information on the environmental impact and cost of a product, process or service based on life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analyses (LCCA). The strength of B.Cycle is the fundamental knowledge of applying LCA and LCCA at low TRL applications, which maximizes the benefits after upscaling to an industrial scale at a low development cost. B.Cycle explicitly targets inquiries from the field for process optimization or innovation, where conventional consultant agencies mainly focus on certifying products that are already available on the market. In order to maximize the valorization potential of B.Cycle's expertise, both short-term hotspot analyses as well as more thorough and ambitious long-term trajectories will be offered. The short-term projects are relevant for lowering the barrier for companies to make a first step. However, the unique knowledge of B.Cycle can be used to its fullest extent in the more ambitious trajectories, which in turn can lead to a greater added value for society. The fundamental knowledge of prospective sustainability assessment is B.Cycle's greatest asset and this financial IOF support creates the opportunity to transfer this knowledge to the construction sector. By setting up a central structure to safeguard the scientific quality and at the same time increasing B.Cycle's visibility, the opportunity will be created to set up new collaborations and generate revenues beyond conventional academic funding channels.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Audenaert Amaryllis
• Co-promoter: Buyle Matthias
• Co-promoter: Meysman Jasmine

Research team(s)

• Energy and Materials in Infrastructure and Buildings

Project website

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The circular economy action plan adopted in March 2020 is one of the main building blocks of the European Green Deal that aims for the EU to become climate neutral by 2050 and to reduce other environmental impacts (e.g. nitrogen pollution, air pollution, biodiversity loss). The circular economy will require the increased utilization of residual streams (e.g. wastes and side streams) by creating new high value products from them. This may include the production of fertilizers, proteins or construction materials from waste streams as well as the substitution of fossil-based plastics by renewable alternatives. However, in pursuing the circular economy, it needs to be ensured that the environmental impacts of the novel goods are indeed lowered or that environmental impacts are not simply swapped between impact domains. In addition, by reusing waste streams new methodological challenges for the environmental assessments emerge including how to account for the impacts of waste generated upstream, what the systemic impact of new value chains based on waste/side stream products is and how to account for the difference in the quality of recyclates as compared to virgin materials. The objective of the MAZE project is to develop novel methods and approaches to improve the (prospective) evaluation of environmental impacts of products in the circular economy. The principal methods to be used in the project are life cycle assessment and material flow analysis. The research will address how upstream impacts of waste products can be accounted for, how product quality can be evaluated in environmental and material flow assessments and subsequently how information can be used in prospective decision making. Methods will be applied to a selected number of biobased materials/products to demonstrate their applicability. Thereby, outcomes of the project are in strategic alignment with the EU's circular economy action plan.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Nimmegeers Philippe
• Promoter: Spiller Marc
• Co-promoter: Buyle Matthias
• Co-promoter: Nimmegeers Philippe
• Co-promoter: Spiller Marc

Research team(s)

• Intelligence in PRocesses, Advanced Catalysts and Solvents (iPRACS)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Due to the large environmental impact of concrete, a high demand exists for innovative concrete technologies. In order to evaluate and improve the environmental performance of these innovative technologies, a quantitative environmental assessment method such as a life cycle assessment (LCA) needs to be performed. The majority of LCA studies are applied after the technology has been fully developed. At this stage any change made to the technology will cost a substantial amount of money and effort. Its more beneficial to perform an LCA on the technology during the development stage instead. Here the goal is to predict what the environmental impact of the technology will be when it reaches an industrial scale. Performing such a future orientated LCA, also called ex-ante LCA, can greatly help with improving the technology throughout the development process. This grants the developers insight on how each design choice will impact the environmental performance of the technology. The big challenge of performing an ex-ante LCA is making a valuable assessment on the expected environmental impact of the fully developed technology at a time where little data is available. This project will focus on creating a methodology to perform ex-ante LCA on emerging concrete technologies by theoretically upscaling the emerging technology to an industrial scale and taking into account changes to the incumbent technology and background system.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Audenaert Amaryllis
• Co-promoter: Buyle Matthias
• Co-promoter: Craeye Bart
• Fellow: Maes Ben

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The integration of a life cycle assessment (LCA) of emerging circular technologies at an early stage of their technological development is crucial to identify the most promising pathways for further development efforts. However, the final goal is not to assess the environmental performance of emerging technologies at lab or pilot scale, but of the estimated future scaled-up technology. Such a study can be defined as an ex-ante LCA. In this context, the general objective of this project is to assess the environmental consequences that might occur when new circular technologies to treat metallurgic by-products are introduced, by incorporating an ex-ante approach in LCA. In ex-ante LCAs, both the expected future developments of an emerging technology (foreground system) and the consequences of introducing such a technology to the market (background system) should be taken into account. A novel and structured approach for both systems will be developed by integrating technological learning, scale effects and non-linear and market based relationships in LCA. The proposed approach will be applied, tested and validated with a case study on emerging technologies aiming to recover the residual metals (Cr, V, Nb and Mo) entrapped in stainless steel and FeCr slags, under the constraint of a zero-waste approach.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Audenaert Amaryllis
• Co-promoter: Van Passel Steven
• Fellow: Buyle Matthias

Research team(s)

• Energy and Materials in Infrastructure and Buildings

Project type(s)

• Research Project