UTFacultiesEEMCSDisciplines & departmentsPSNewsInnovating for a Greener Built Environment - Our Contributions to Business Informatics Week 2024

Innovating for a Greener Built Environment - Our Contributions to Business Informatics Week 2024

Members of our research group recently traveled to Vienna to present their work at the Business Informatics Week 2024. This year’s event featured the 26th International Conference on Business Informatics (CBI 2024) and the 28th International Conference on Enterprise Design, Operations, and Computing (EDOC 2024).

Fatemeh Massah, an EngD-candidate in our group, shared her ongoing research as part of the ECOLOGIC project. Her work focuses on leveraging digital twin technologies to enhance the resilience of construction logistics. By presenting her progress, she received valuable feedback from senior researchers and attendees, further refining her approach to this complex challenge.

Rob Bemthuis presented a collaborative effort aimed at improving sustainability on construction sites. His talk, titled “An IoT-Based Architecture for Real-Time Emission Monitoring at Construction Sites”, introduced a novel system for monitoring environmental emissions using Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. The architecture and proof-of-concept implementation support real-time tracking of key pollutants like CO2 and particulate matter, providing actionable insights to address both environmental sustainability and operational efficiency on construction sites. This system, called "EcoWatch", demonstrates how customizable and scalable IoT solutions can help construction stakeholders comply with environmental regulations and proactively manage their environmental impact.  

In addition to his presentation, Rob chaired the session “Enterprise and IT Architecture 2”, contributing to the broader discussion of digital transformation in enterprise systems. This work was co-authored by several members from the UT community, including Thomas Sepanosian, Xander Küpers, Paola Joza, and Fatemeh Massah.

A special acknowledgment goes to our bachelor students, who contributed as co-authors, highlighting the collaborative ethos of our group. Their involvement began with the Technical Computer Science Design project, offering them the opportunity to make early contributions to scientific research. We are especially proud of Thomas Sepanosian, who not only co-authored the emissions monitoring paper but also presented his own work in collaboration with researchers from Australia at the BI Week 2024. Achieving such a scientific milestone as a bachelor student is a remarkable accomplishment, and we wish him success as he continues his studies at the University of Twente.

The ECOLOGIC project, in which this work is embedded, aims to reduce CO2 and NOx emissions in the construction industry, with the added goal of improving human health outcomes in built environments.