Third Construct Innovate AIMday in UCD

EVENTS

University College Dublin School of Civil Engineering hosted third Construct Innovate AIMday (Academic Industry Meeting day) on Tuesday, 30 April 2024 in the The Newstead Building.

The event is a organised biannually for all Construct Innovate members, with two previous events hosted by Trinity College Dublin and University of Galway. This time, we were delighted to see more than 90 members from industry and academia attending.

AIMday Construct Innovate

The research programme of Construct Innovate is driven by working groups formed by our members. Industry is supported and empowered to take ownership of the research, development and innovation activities required for the companies’ continued progression, excellence and impact.

Construct Innovate AIMday invites members to pose a business challenge (in the form of a question) faced by their organisation, and seek new knowledge and solutions with a multi-disciplinary group of academic research experts. Each question submitted by an organisation is workshopped by research and industry Construct Innovate members, with the aim of forming collaborative research pathways to solutions.

Construct Innovate workshops in the first session:

Construct Innovate industry members posted four challenge questions for academia and other members to be brainstormed:

EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE INCREASED USE OF RECYCLED MATERIALS IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY.

Question Area: Sustainability & Circular Economy

Autor of the question: Circol ELT

Increasing circularity in the Construction industry, especially circularity of materials is an important step in reducing the carbon footprint of Ireland’s built environment. Is it worthwhile to look at specific cases and explore opportunities, such as how can we use recycled tyre rubber in the construction industry while taking advantage of the material properties such as tensility & resilience?

Circol ELT currently managed in excess of 40k tonnes of waste tyre rubber in Ireland. Much of this material is exported for processing into Reclaim Rubber, Fossil Fuel Replacement,

Possible areas for consideration include:

Rubberised Concrete
Soundproofing and Acoustic Barriers
Flooring Materials and Roofing Materials
Shock Absorbers & Pavement Underlay
Recycled rubber mats or sheets can be used as underlayment for pavements
Green Building Materials: Incorporating recycled rubber into construction materials aligning with sustainable building practices,

Background information available here.

HOW TO EXPEDITE THE INTRODUCTION OF EMBODIED CARBON THRESHOLDS FOR NEW BUILDS AND RELATE THEM TO NATIONAL EMISSIONS TARGETS?

Question Area: Sustainability

Autor of the question: COILLTE

The EPBD will require disclosure of GWP by 2028 for larger buildings and all by 2030.The new Danish regulations already require disclosure through Lifecycle Assessment Calculation. For new buildings greater than 1,000m2, a threshold limit value of 12kg CO2-eq/m2/year is now in force. This threshold value comprises all building related greenhouse gas emissions. New constructions smaller than 1,000m2 are required to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment but without a threshold limit value for now. Over time, and at two-year intervals, this limit becomes mandatory, and the threshold is lowered for all buildings. Other countries already have similar regulations or are very close to implementing them.

Building on the work of the Construct Innovate project Indicate which is developing national Whole life carbon baselines and the development of the national methodology UPFront CO2e what additional research is required to accelerate the introduction of limit values for Ireland ahead of the 2028 and to link them to national carbon targets?

WHAT POTENTIAL ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS TO CERTIFICATION OF INNOVATIVE/NEW PRODUCTS/SYSTEMS EXIST?

Question Area: Quality and Safety

Autor of the question: MMC Eco Homes

NSAI Agrement is the primary accepted certification process for new/innovative products/systems onto the market in Ireland, but it is costly & time consuming. This is a significant barrier for new/innovative products/systems getting onto sites quickly, is blocking innovation in the industry and increasing costs. The industry has a need for alternative accepted routes to proving compliance with Building Regulations. There may exist the potential for a number of bodies to exist in Ireland that will stand over the compliance of new systems onto the market. This could drive innovation and inward investment in the construction sector, with particular focus on MMC.

The first step could be a comparison between Agrement and other potential routes to certification in other jurisdictions to see the benefits and drawbacks of the current system in place, with particular context to Ireland. The full ecosystem of stakeholders of the Irish Building Regulation compliance system would need to be engaged.

WHAT ARE THE ROADBLOCKS/HOTSPOTS RELATING TO FIRE COMPLIANCE WHEN APPLIED TO MODERN METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION (MMC)?

Question Area: Quality and Safety (Fire)

Autor of the question: Ryan Consulting Engineers

There are a number of areas relating to fire compliance, engineering and construction that are a consistent source of uncertainty when applied to the area of MMC. There may be opportunities to focus on some of these areas through discussion with the aim to develop research proposals. Eg:
Are the NSAI certs given for Modern Methods of construction actually demonstrating full compliance with Part B? Have they been proven by test?
Should there be a consistent approach across local authorities for acceptance of prescriptive codes and engineering solutions? As opposed to individual fire officers interpretation?

With increased use of modern methods of construction and the introduction of updated Part B (2024) – what are the implications of the long term viability of MMC?

Request More information

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

Construct Innovate working groups in the second workshop’ session:

Construct Innovate facilitates several thematic working groups throughout the year. Thematic working groups are an essential part in understanding, discussing particular challenges faced by stakeholders in the Irish construction industry and translating them into research-based activities. The working groups enhance collaboration, information sharing and networking between members of Construct Innovate.

1. Modern Methods of Construction (MMC)

Chaired by Dr Daniel McCrum (UCD)

2. Sustainable Concrete and Cements

Chaired by Prof Roger West (TCD) and Ciaran Hanley (UCC)

3. Mass Timber construction

Chaired by Dr Patrick McGetrick (University of Galway)

4. Materials and Technology Testing

Chaired by Dr Paul Moran (University of Galway)

5. Innovative material and technology adoption

Chaired by Prof Alan O’Connor (TCD)

6. Whole Lifecycle Carbon (WLC) accounting

Chaired by Dr Oliver Kinnane (UCD) and Stephen Barrett (IGBC)

7. Lean Construction and Digital Tools

Chaired by Dr Ciaran McNally (UCD) and Derek Sinnott (SETU)

8. Sustainable Planning and Construction

Chaired by Dr Marguerite Nyhan (UCC)

9. Overheating in Irish Dwellings

Chaired by Dr Magdalena Hajdukiewicz (University of Galway)

Request More information

Next step?

During the workshop sessions, academic and industry members brainstorm the defined challenge questions posed by industry. The format allows members exchange ideas and knowledge and translate them into research-based activities. The AIMday provides an atmosphere of networking, collaboration and trust-building among Construct Innovate members and ensures the Centre, and its research programme, is industry-led.

Following the Construct Innovate AIMday workshops, members are encouraged to use the outcomes of their discussions to form research consortia, scope research projects and seek research funding, such as Construct Innovate Seed Fund 2024, to carry out those projects.

Seed fund Application