How to support the operationalization of life cycle thinking across education, digital tools, and companies using a feedback-based approach
Doktorand: Fabian Kastner
Zweitbetreuung: Prof. Dr. Guillaume Habert, Chair of Sustainable Construction, ETH Zurich
Long-term-oriented practices in the built environment have not yet reached the mainstream. This thesis investigates their operationalisation through life cycle thinking (LCT). To this end, the scope of life cycle-oriented use cases has widened. However, although LCT offers a well-founded set of concepts, methods, and tools for various contexts, evidence-based studies on related effects remain scarce. In the context of professional practice, a gap between academia and practice within the built environment might hinder advancing long-term-oriented strategies toward the built environment. Aiming to support their broader deployment, this work looks at both academic and construction practices. In addition, digital mediation is explored as a third aspect of future broad societal outreach and collective experimentation. Accordingly, this thesis examines the operationalisation of LCT as a common rationale across the following selected contexts: architecture education, the construction industry, and digital planning tools. The impacts of operationalising LCT within these contexts are examined using a multi-case study design, including the following feedback mechanisms: curriculum mapping, assessing companies’ trends in environmental impacts, and transdisciplinary playtesting.