Yifei Yu wins Overijssel PhD Award 2025

The Overijssel PhD Award for 2024 goes to Yifei Yu, who researched how the construction sector can make the transition to a truly circular economy in his thesis. The award will be presented during the Dies Natalis, the 64th anniversary of the University of Twente.

The construction sector plays an important role in the transition to circular working. The sector consumes almost half of all primary raw materials worldwide and produces large amounts of waste and greenhouse gases. This is no longer sustainable. The circular economy offers an alternative. It involves systems that restore and regenerate material flows, reducing the use of new raw materials.

Connecting material flows

In practice, circular strategies appear to be applied mainly to individual construction projects. However, the greatest gains can be achieved when projects collaborate. The core of a circular economy is a system in which material flows from multiple products and projects interact with each other. As a result, the residual product of one becomes the raw material for another. However, a lack of coordination, collaboration and 'material matchmaking' is hindering the large-scale introduction of circular construction.

Underneath every physical material flow lies a flow of information, but this appears to be highly fragmented and scattered across countless actors in the construction chain. "You cannot close a material cycle if the flow of information remains open," says Yu. That is why his research focused on collecting, connecting and improving those information flows to create a coherent whole.

Circularity Information Platform

Managing large-scale circular construction projects is complex. In response, Yu developed the Circularity Information Platform (CIP). This is a system that helps in making the right decisions. In this way, it becomes possible to exchange secondary materials between multiple (de)construction projects. CIP introduces a data-driven, ecosystem-wide way of working together. The platform supports stakeholders in digitally integrating information and coordinating systematically at different organisational levels.

Yu's thesis describes how he designed CIP and created a prototype. He then demonstrated and validated the system using a design science research methodology. This problem-solving approach focuses on developing digital solutions in a real-world context.

For this research, Yu worked closely with parties in the construction and demolition sector in the Twente region. They formed a field laboratory in which the platform's functionalities could be tested and validated, ensuring that the design meets actual operational needs. The research comprised two engineering cycles at different levels of detail.

Overijssel PhD Award

The Overijssel PhD Award is presented annually for a thesis of exceptional academic quality. Each faculty and research institute at the UT can nominate one thesis. The award is made possible in part by the Province of Overijssel and consists of a cash prize of €5,000 and a certificate.