Publications related to Reuse of human excreta

Geometry-Driven Stock-Constrained Truss Design via Equilibrium-Based Structural Models

This paper presents a geometry-driven approach to form-finding with reused stock elements. Our proposed workflow uses a K-mean algorithm to cluster stock elements and incorporate their geometrical values early in the form-finding process. A feedback loop i ...

Springer2024

Reusability assessment of reinforced concrete components prior to deconstruction from obsolete buildings

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Maléna Bastien Masse, Julie Rachel Devènes

A large part of building demolitions is motivated by purely socio-economic reasons. Hence, about-to-be-demolished structures, commonly made of reinforced concrete, very often present no or little degradation. When adaptive reuse of the entire building is n ...

2024

Reusability Assessment of Obsolete Reinforced Concrete Structural Components

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Maléna Bastien Masse, Célia Marine Küpfer, Julie Rachel Devènes

The production of concrete, the most widely used construction material, detrimentally affects the environment. Obsolete reinforced concrete (RC) load-bearing structures, even when still in good condition, are today prematurely crushed and landfilled or rec ...

Springer2023

Fate of parasites and viruses in calcium hydroxide-treated urine in relation to temperature and moisture content

Tamar Kohn, Loïc Decrey

Human urine can be used as fertilizer and technologies, such as alkaline-urine treatment, are being developed to enable easier re-use. There is, however, a risk of pathogens being present in the urine. This hygiene assessment examined inactivation of three ...

2022

Superior visible light-mediated catalytic activity of a novel N-doped, Fe3O4-incorporating MgO nanosheet in presence of PMS: Imidacloprid degradation and implications on simultaneous bacterial inactivation

Stefanos Giannakis, Jérémie Decker

Impressive Imidacloprid (IMD) degradation and bacterial inactivation were attained through the photocatalytic activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) via a novel, N-doped MgO@Fe3O4, under visible light. After complete characterization (XPS, XRD, FT-IR, FE-SE ...

ELSEVIER2022

Environmental and economic analysis of new construction techniques reusing existing concrete elements: two case studies

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Maléna Bastien Masse, Célia Marine Küpfer, Julie Rachel Devènes

As the most widely used construction material worldwide, concrete is the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions, material depletion, and waste generation by the construction industry. Typically, concrete waste is crushed and, at best, reclaimed into recycl ...

2022

Decision Framework to Balance Environmental, Technical, Logistical, and Economic Criteria When Designing Structures With Reused Components

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Numa Joy Bertola, Célia Marine Küpfer, Jan Friedrich Georg Brütting

The reuse of structural components in new buildings has great potential to reduce the environmental impacts of the construction sector but remains uncommon practice. An obstacle to its wider implementation is the lack of robust assessment methods and decis ...

2021

Robust metal-organic frameworks for dry and wet biogas upgrading

Kyriakos Stylianou, Arunraj Chidambaram

Biofuels are considered as viable, sustainable and renewable alternatives to fossil fuels. One amongst them is biomethane which has emerged as one of the valuable contributors in facilitating the essential transition towards green energy sources. Industria ...

ELSEVIER2021

Supported ruthenium nanoparticles for supercritical water gasification - synthesis, activity and stability

Christopher Marc Hunston

Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) is a promising and versatile technology for the conversion of a variety of wet biomass streams into renewable natural gas. In this work, the focus was set on methane production with the help of an active and stable m ...

EPFL2021

Concerning the research “Material history of the built environment and the conservation project” (2008–2020), methodology and results

Franz Graf, Giulia Marino

Recent successes in the reuse and rehabilitation of 20th century architecture have shown that design begins with the study of history. Study of the material history of built structures, together with historical and critical investigation, supported by diag ...

CRC Press/Balkema2021

Concerning the research “Material history of the built environment and the conservation project” (2008–2020), methodology and results

Franz Graf, Giulia Marino

Recent successes in the reuse and rehabilitation of 20th century architecture have shown that design begins with the study of history. Study of the material history of built structures, together with historical and critical investigation, supported by diag ...

CRC Press/Balkema - Taylor & Francis2021

Thermal Stress Interacts With Surgeonfish Feces to Increase Coral Susceptibility to Dysbiosis and Reduce Tissue Regeneration

Leïla Ezzat

Dysbiosis of coral microbiomes results from various biotic and environmental stressors, including interactions with important reef fishes which may act as vectors of opportunistic microbes via deposition of fecal material. Additionally, elevated sea surfac ...

Frontiers Media SA2021

Upcycling Space Structures (Preface to special issue)

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Olivier Baverel

The construction industry’s contribution to the deterioration of Earth’s ecosystem is huge. 11% of all anthropic greenhouse gas emissions worldwide are due to the construction, demolition, and transformation of buildings and infrastructure. Construction an ...

2021

Comparison of environmental assessment methods when reusing building components: a case study

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Endrit Hoxha, Catherine Elvire L. De Wolf

The building industry is responsible for 35% of all solid waste in Europe and more than a third of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To address this, applying circular economy principles to the building sector is crucial, for example by reusing building elem ...

2020

Optimum design of low environmental impact structures through component reuse

Jan Friedrich Georg Brütting

Load-bearing systems (structures) in buildings and infrastructure contribute to a significant share of adverse environmental impacts (EI) because of resource- and energy-intensive fabrication. A currently overlooked circular economy strategy to reduce EI i ...

EPFL2020

Water and sanitation hub in Mali. Reasons for an architecture seminar

Riccardo Vannucci

What is the goal of a five-day seminar for the (architectural) design of a ‘water and sanitation hub’ in Mali? What does one want to achieve, or rather, what is the seminar meant to ‘disseminate’? To begin with, what is a ‘water and sanitation hub’? It is ...

EUNSA. Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, S.A.2020

Construction of MOF/Polymer Composites for Metal Ion Capture

Daniel Teav Sun

Metal ion capture is of environmental and economic significance. The industrial revolutions have discharged increasing amounts of heavy and precious metals into complex water sources. The key is that these types of metal ions tend to be at trace amounts in ...

EPFL2020

Optimum design of frame structures from a stock of reclaimed elements

Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Gennaro Senatore, Jan Friedrich Georg Brütting

This paper presents optimization methods to design frame structures from a stock of existing elements. These methods are relevant when reusing structural elements over multiple service lives. Reuse has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of bu ...

2020

Natural iron ligands promote a metal-based oxidation mechanism for the Fenton reaction in water environments

César Pulgarin, Stefanos Giannakis, Giulio Farinelli

The Fenton reaction is an effective advanced oxidation process occurring in nature and applied in engineering processes toward the degradation of harmful substances, including contaminants of emerging concern. The traditional Fenton application can be rema ...

ELSEVIER2020

Assessment of the breakthrough of micropollutants in full-scale granular activated carbon adsorbers by rapid small-scale column tests and a novel pilot-scale sampling approach

Urs von Gunten, Juliane Hollender

This study aimed to compare three approaches for predicting the service life of full-scale GAC adsorbers for the removal of micropollutants. The approaches included (i) rapid small-scale column tests (RSSCTs), (ii) two pilot-scale sampling approaches, and ...

ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY2020