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2024 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

From Debris to the Data Set (DEDA) a Digital Application for the Upcycling of Waste Wood Material in Post Disaster Areas

Authors : Roberto Ruggiero, Roberto Cognoli, Pio Lorenzo Cocco

Published in: Architecture and Design for Industry 4.0

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The convergence of digital and ecological transition [1] can be crucial in achieving the European Green Deal targets. In this perspective, implementing the Industry 4.0 model in the building sector acquires high value not only for the efficiency of construction processes but also for mitigating the carbon footprint and resource exploitation, traditionally related to the building industry. Considering the circular economy as a paradigm of sustainability [2], the search for synergies between “circular” and “digital” approaches in the building sector represents nowadays a strategic research sector. “Upcycling” demolition material to transform into new building components is, in particular, a topic where digital technologies can play a key role. «Only by capturing the physical world through data»  [3] there is a real possibility to overcome the limits that have emerged to date in upcycling processes, in particular concerning the control and classification of waste materials. In this context, post-disaster areas represent a remarkable reservoir of available and potentially reusable materials: a “material bank”, according to the circular economy vocabulary. DeDa (From Debris to the Data set) is a research work in progress at the University of Camerino, which focuses on reusing waste wood material in post-disaster areas. DeDa represents a new way of applying the principles of the circular economy and Industry 4.0 to debris treatment. This paper describes the aforementioned research work in its cultural and operational aspects, current limitations and future potential.

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Footnotes
1
Original text: «permanente processo di trasformazione» che attraverso l’impiego di «materiali, (…) elementi, (…) sistemi contribuisce a dare forma alla realtà costruita» (translation by the authors).
 
2
In line with the EU Green Deal goal of climate neutrality by 2050, in March 2020 the European Commission proposed the first package of measures aimed at accelerating the transition to a circular economy, as announced in the Action Plan for the Circular Economy. The proposals include the enhancement of sustainable products, consumer empowerment towards the green transition, the revision of the building materials regulation and a strategy on sustainable textiles. Cf.https://​eur-lex.​europa.​eu/​legal-content/​IT/​TXT/​?​qid=​1583933814386&​uri=​COM%3A2020%3A98%3AFIN
 
3
With reference to the European context, two data exemplify the dimension of the problem: 3.4 million companies (equivalent to 9% of the EU gross domestic product) engaged in the field of building construction produce 25-30% of all waste generated in the Union (with an expenditure of 45 billion euros for their treatment) and employ 4.3 gigatons/year of materials (of which only 12% comes from secondary sources). Source: “UNEP at 50” Report (United Nations Environment Programme).
 
4
Source: European Topic Centre on Waste and Materials 2020 report: “Construction and Demolition Waste. Challenges and opportunities in a circular economy”. https://​www.​eionet.​europa.​eu/​etcs/​etc-wmge/​products/​etc-wmge-reports/​construction-and-demolition-waste-challenges-and-opportunities-in-a-circular-economy
 
5
This EU Directive and the subsequent EU Directive 2018/851 set out measures for the reduction of impacts in waste generation and management. They represent the reference regulatory instruments for the Member States of the Union on waste matters.
 
7
Paola Altamura gives a specific definition of these two terms [12]. Downcycling: «The process of reworking a product, almost always with high energy consumption, which reduces its quality in terms of performance and/or economic value». Upcycling: «The process of converting a waste material into a new material (...) characterized by better quality, which requires creativity and planning».
 
8
The authors of this experimentation (launched in 2017) are Randon Clifford, Wes McGee and Johanna Lobdell, researcher at MIT, in partnership with the company Quarra Stone. Cf. http://​www.​matterdesignstud​io.​com/​cyclopean-cannibalism.
 
9
A recent study [18] identified ten specific enabling technologies that can be introduced in the Circular Construction processes in line with the Industry 4.0 paradigm: Additive and Robotic Manufacturing (AM/RM), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data and Analytics (BDA), Blockchain Technology (BCT), Building Information Modelling (BIM), Digital Platforms, Digital Twins, Geographical Information System (GIS), Material Passports and Databanks, The Internet of Things (IoT).
 
10
Source: International Energy Agency.
 
11
Source: FAO (The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN); Forest Product Statistics 2018. https://​www.​fao.​org/​forestry/​statistics/​80938/​en/​.
 
12
Gresham House is a specialist alternative asset management company (https://​greshamhouse.​com).
 
13
The concept of cascading is comparable to downcycling: a building component is reused several times, for iteratively less demanding purposes [16].
 
14
In the case of the 2016/2017 earthquake, the reconstruction of private assets is still in a phase of substantial stalemate, especially due to the inability to dispose of the rubble of the destroyed buildings and, for the same reason, to demolish the crumbling buildings. The landfill sites are full and it is still necessary to travel more than 100 km to use a landfill (Source: Osservatorio Sisma, https://​osservatoriosism​a.​it/​gestione-macerie/​).
 
15
Italy is a highly seismic country where catastrophic events have followed one another, requiring almost always long and laborious reconstruction processes. The earthquakes of Belice (1968), Friuli (1976), Irpinia (1980), Marche/Umbria (1997), Puglia/Molise (2002), L'Aquila (2009) and Amatrice (which affected a large area of the sub-Apennine region of central Italy in 2016/17) represent some of the destructive seismic events occurred in Italy in the last fifty years. “Concrete” has been the reference reconstruction material in all these cases, except for L'Aquila. Here, the use of timber for the reconstruction of residential buildings has been undermined by urban planning and typological choices that are still at the center of a strong debate [23].
 
16
Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA, Planning for Disaster Debris, EPA report, December 1995.
 
17
With a 9.0 magnitude, the earthquake triggered a tsunami and the meltdown of a nuclear power plant, costing more than 20,000 victims and destroying more than 120,000 homes (about 1 million were damaged).
 
18
Along with Toyo Ito, Riken Yamamoto, Hiroshi Naito, Kengo Kuma and Kazuyo Sejima were involved in the project.
 
19
Usually solid wood elements are used for temporary works. Depending on the origin of the material (foreign or domestic) there are two different classifications given in UNI EN 338 (material of foreign origin) and UNI 11035 (material of Italian origin). See also UNI EN 460: 1996 and UNI 350: 2016 about the durability of wooden products.
 
20
According to the European Directive (2008/98/EC, subsequently amended by Directive 2018/851/EU), a waste is no longer such after being subjected to a recovery operation that fulfils the following conditions: (a) the substance or object is intended to be used for specific purposes; (b) there is a market or demand for that substance or object; (c) the substance or object meets the technical requirements for the specific purposes and complies with the existing legislation and standards applicable to such products; (d) the use of the substance or object will not cause overall negative impacts on the environment or human health. When all these conditions are met, the waste resulting from the recovery process is no longer “waste” and becomes a “product”.
 
21
Original text: UNI 11119:2004: “Beni culturali. Manufatti lignei. Strutture portanti degli edifici - Ispezione in situ per la diagnosi degli elementi in opera”. UNI 11035:2010 “Legno strutturale - Classificazione a vista dei legnami secondo la resistenza meccanica”.
 
22
The UNI 11035 regulation only applies to Italian timber and concerns the classification of solid wood sawn timber for structural use of any size and moisture content. The material is classified in different categories (S1, S2, S3 for conifers and S for hardwoods) according to its defects. The UNI 11119 regulation sets objectives, procedures and requirements for the diagnosis of the conservation state and the evaluation of the strength and stiffness of wooden elements through in situ, non-destructive inspections and methodologies. The parameters underlying the inspection phases are: mechanical strength, geometric characteristics, biological degradation (for example: knots, inclination of the grain, density, cracks and onions), presence of chamfers and deformations, biological degradation, mechanical damage (as lesions).
 
23
As an example, the work “Matter Site. Material (data) intelligence” by Garcia et al. [14] investigates the reusability potentials from post and pre-demolitions sites using enabling technology such as Ai, Robotics and Data Analytics. The work was carried out at IaaC (Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia) during the 2019-2020 edition of the Master of Robotics and Advanced Construction and subsequently developed by Driven (startup incubator) and supported by Scaled Robotics as Industrial partners.
 
24
Circular-Ar is a second level master directed by Prof. Federica Ottone with the support of an international scientific committee, different companies involved in circular economy and private associations such as Symbola foundation and ANAB (Associazione Nazionale Architettura Bioecologica).
 
25
At international level, the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) is today one of the main references for research in this field, as it uses innovative methodologies involving the integration of research and higher education, as in the case of IAAC's immersive Master in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities (MAEBB).
 
26
In 2016 and 2017, central-Italy was affected by a destructive seismic event sequence. The crater area is about 8,000 km2 and includes 140 municipalities and 580,000 inhabitants.
 
27
The term “data-driven design” refers to a process in which qualitative and quantitative data are processed to guide design decisions [24]. For a concise but effective understanding of this topic, it may be useful to consult Proving Ground, a digital design agency that enables digital transformation with creative data-driven solutions to the building industry. https://​provingground.​io/​.
 
28
Photogrammetric surveying is based on “structure from motion” algorithms, i.e., a calculation method allowing the reconstruction of the three-dimensional shape of objects by the automatic collimation of points from a set of pictures [25]. This is how the procedure works: the algorithm extracts the remarkable points from the individual photos and (by cross-referencing the recognizable points on several frames) calculates the spatial coordinates of the single points. The result of this calculation is a scattered cloud of points to be, subsequently, employed to determine a dense cloud of points in space. Each point is characterized by spatial coordinates and a color.
 
33
P. Vestartas and A. Settimi, Cockroach: “A plug-in for point cloud post-processing and meshing in Rhino environment”, 2020. Cfr: https://​github.​com/​9and3/​Cockroach.
 
34
A CSV (comma-separated values) file is a text file characterized by a specific format which allows to save the data in a table structured format. CSV is a common data exchange format that is widely supported by consumer, business, and scientific applications.
 
35
BIM software uses a B-Rep (Boundary Representation) method whereby each object can be represented by a curve governing its course (directrix) and by a curve defining its profile (generatrix) [27].
 
36
These algorithms allow to find solutions to the problems described through a system of constraints and targets, expressed using a fitness function and the continuous recombination of design variables known as “genes” [32]. In this case, the algorithms control the orientation in the three dimensions of the reference planes (genes) for the construction of the parallelepipeds. They allow to minimize the difference between the volume of the starting mesh and its boundary parallelepiped (fitness function).
 
37
Rhino.Inside is an open-source software that allows Rhino and Grasshopper to run within other 64-bit Windows applications (such as Revit or AutoCAD).
 
38
Through direct communication with the Revit API, Rhino.Inside allows native Revit geometries (each characterized by a unique GUID—Globally Unique Identifier) to be modeled from Grasshopper's computational environment. Cf. https://​www.​rhino3d.​com/​inside/​revit/​beta/​guides.
 
39
The MAEBB is a good example of an innovative educational format that offers interdisciplinary skills through an experimental activity focused on new categories of projects, technologies and solutions related with the design, prototyping and fabrication of ecological buildings.
 
40
The project is the result of an innovative digital workflow realized with the co-partnership between the Master’s students and teachers and external specialists. The Voxel is an autonomous 12 m2 cross-laminated timber (CLT) structure clad in a parametric rainscreen, exemplifying an advanced ecological approach to architectural production. Every timber element can be traced back to its exact point of origin, and all building components have been rigorously quantified in terms of geographic source and carbon content, taking into account any fuel or energy inputs during the entire associated life cycle. Cf. https://​iaac.​net/​maebb-voxel-quarantine-cabin/​.
 
41
The currently most human-driven technological cycles are still “linear”. According to the Ellen McArthur Foundation, «in our current economy, we take materials from the Earth, make products from them, and eventually throw them away as waste» (https://​ellenmacarthurfo​undation.​org/​). In the future, the scarcity of resources will require more and more to focus on new techniques and methodologies in order to replace the principles of the linear economy with those of the circular economy, in which waste products are reused as inputs for the creation of secondary products [44]. The Ellen McArthur Foundation is a charity foundation whose core business is promoting circular economy i.e., eliminating waste and pollution and boosting the spread of circulate products and materials. Cf. https://​ellenmacarthurfo​undation.​org/​about-us/​what-we-do.
 
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Metadata
Title
From Debris to the Data Set (DEDA) a Digital Application for the Upcycling of Waste Wood Material in Post Disaster Areas
Authors
Roberto Ruggiero
Roberto Cognoli
Pio Lorenzo Cocco
Copyright Year
2024
Book
Architecture and Design for Industry 4.0

Print ISBN: 978-3-031-36921-6

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-36922-3

Copyright Year: 2024

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36922-3_41

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