Postdoc Circular University Campus at TU Delft in The Netherlands
Closing Date: November 5, 2023
Job Category: Postdoc
Location: Delft, The Netherlands
University: TU Delft
Department: Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment
Faculty/Division: the Circular Built Environment Hub (CBE Hub)
Description:
Do you want to make impact on TU Delft’s home base, one of the largest real estate portfolios in the region? Your thorough material flow and environmental impact analysis of our current and future building stock and construction and renovation activities can add to fundamental changes in RE management and development on and off campus.
The TU Delft campus consists of >160 ha, more than 60 buildings and needs to adapt to various developments. In the current decade we are and will constantly develop the Delft campus in Delft and in the near future also in other nearby Dutch cities. In doing so we collaborate with other universities and provide an inspiring and sustainable learning and working environment to >35.000 students plus thousands of staff members, start-ups and scale-ups.
The TU Delft has the ambition to transform its campus into a sustainable campus. However, the construction and renovation task increasingly becomes a challenge due to the negative ecological impact and the societal turmoil of a vast decreasing availability of materials. The circular economy's (CE) principles are seen as a solution to both challenges. To achieve this the faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment (A+BE) and the Campus Real Estate & Facility Management department (CREFM) cooperate in the Circular Built Environment Hub (CBE Hub). The CREFM is currently implementing numerous improvements in process and tooling to maintain, renovate and (re)build in a more circular way. How much this helps to reach the 2030 and 2050 ambitions, what the most effective improvements are, and how circular building principles can be more fundamentally part of the longer-term building agenda (2030-2040) needs to be worked out.
You'll be surrounded by a talented and diverse group of academics and professionals who are dedicated to pushing boundaries and thinking outside the box. Together with another researcher on Circular Asset Management you’ll take up this challenge. You’ll also closely work together with colleagues at the department of Strategic Portfolio Management of the CREFM department and fellow researchers at the CBE Hub.
You’ll be working on:
- Providing insights in what types of materials are stocked/available on the campus, where they are located, and when they come available. And for future (re)developments, what materials might need to come from outside of the campus. For this, several databases and scenarios for the campus development will need to be combined, and where needed expanded. CREFM currently uses the platform 'Insert' for the upcoming projects, that acts as an online marketplace to sell and buy used products, materials and components. Parallel, the CREFM is currently developing the material passports of several new built buildings on the TUDelft campus. For the existing buildings, databases are being developed for relevant Shearing layers. The end deliverable is a clear visualisation of stock and expected flows of building materials.
- Understanding the socioeconomic and ecological impacts of the whole (re)building process, in order to understand what part prioritizes more than another. For this, a collaboration with partners like the Dutch Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) can be sought.
- Eventually, together with the insights on the Asset management process, all this needs to be translated in clear policy recommendations for the TU Delft campus governance. What needs to be done when? Who needs to do what to improve the sustainable campus?
Requirements
You have:
- experience with material flow analysis and mapping, GIS and the use of (material) databases and visualisation.
- calculating environmental impact/LCA’s.
- a link with the built environment through different scales (material-building-region), via for example studying/working with the fields of industrial ecology, urbanism, spatial planning, and geography.
Extra’s are:
- a PhD in industrial ecology, spatial planning, geography or related fields.
- understanding the specific challenges of the TU Delft, Delft and the province of Zuid-Holland.
- experience with interviews, organizing round tables, and writing policy recommendations.
- • experience with publishing scientific results in academic journals.
Conditions of employment
Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (based on scale 10: € 3.226,00 - € 5.090,00). The employment contract is offered for two years. The position is open for 32-40 hours per week. The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.
For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.
More information on the vacancy and how to apply here.
