About the Project
About the award
This project is one of a number funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Doctoral Training Partnership to commence in September 2018. This project is in direct competition with others for funding; the projects which receive the best applicants will be awarded the funding.
The studentships will provide funding for a stipend which is currently £14,553 per annum for 2017-2018. It will provide research costs and UK/EU tuition fees at Research Council UK rates for 42 months (3.5 years) for full-time students, pro rata for part-time students.
Please note that of the total number of projects within the competition, up to 15 studentships will be filled.
Location
Penryn Campus, Cornwall
Project Description
Circular economy seeks to increase the value of materials, products, component and assets at their highest value for the longest time, in contrast to a liner take-make—dispose model. Construction and buildings have the highest potential for circular economy innovation, value retention and creation opportunities1,2,3.
There is a significant body of literature on the drivers and benefits of circular economy; however, little research or wide- scale application has been undertaken within a construction context.
To translate potential to reality requires a new circular building construction system that co-ordinates and integrates key players and activities including, innovative building and product design and manufacturing systems , dismantling and separation, high value remanufacture and market place exchange: in short systemic innovation.
New forms of near zero waste distributed off site manufacture of entire buildings and systems are becoming a reality and has the potential to radically transform a notoriously conservative, risk averse, low innovation industry. The claim for such systems is that they reduce the costs of construction, are more adaptable and flexible, have near zero waste and can be designed as net positive energy generation units. The techniques are especially suited to low cost, affordable and adaptable housing – a major UK national priority.
The underpinning logic of this project is to build on the current 3 year EPSRC REBUILD project (2017-2019) to demonstrate the potential for distributed manufacture and remanufacture of circular housing system combined with technological developments allowing immediate “on site” or local re-manufacture of new products from locally available technical and biological resources co-ordinated within a circular building-for-deconstruction system, where the key elements are arranged at a variety of spatial scales.
The key research question is to evaluate and demonstrate the technical feasibility and superior economic, material and social value from such a re-design against the current base linear case.
The research will involve a range of methodology including 1) collating data on material flow, economic and environmental analysis of the proposed distributed manufacturing system versus traditional comparable linear approaches 2) undertaking interviews, workshops and mediated modelling to establish current barriers 3) identifying and evaluating case studies analysis of real world projects with industrial partners 4) modelling the circular value creation potential and further optimisation of manufacturing processes
The project will focus on opportunities for such systems in the SouthWest region although visits to sites of best practice in UK and Europe may be necessary.
Candidates with a research interest circular economy, buildings and construction manufacturing and quantifying key measures of performance
Entry Requirements
You should have or expect to achieve at least a 2:1 Honours degree, or equivalent, in business and management, civil engineering/architecture or applied environmental sciences. Experience in quantitative analysis and systems modelling is desirable.
If English is not your first language you will need to meet the English language requirements and provide proof of proficiency.
The majority of the studentships are available for applicants who are ordinarily resident in the UK and are classed as UK/EU for tuition fee purposes. If you have not resided in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the studentship, you are not eligible for a maintenance allowance so you would need an alternative source of funding for living costs. To be eligible for fees-only funding you must be ordinarily resident in a member state of the EU.
Applicants who are classed as International for tuition fee purposes are NOT eligible for funding. International students interested in studying at the University of Exeter should search our funding database for alternative options
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