Sustainability

EPFL researchers have built a footbridge prototype using reinforced-concrete blocks from walls of a building being renovated. The blocks were cut into individual pieces on site and assembled into a prestressed arch. This project, which marks the first time concrete has been reused in this way, is part of an initiative to substantially shrink the construction industry’s carbon footprint by adopting a circular economy approach. The footbridge will be inaugurated at a ceremony at the Smart Living Lab in Fribourg on 11 October.

Urban brownfields represent a major challenge to sustainable transition that remains difficult to overcome. A new reference work, based on over ten years of research carried out at EPFL, aims to outline the processes involved in transforming urban brownfields into sustainable neighborhoods. 

In the largest worldwide pricing experiment to date, researchers have demonstrated that road users change their behavior when they must pay for the social and environmental effects of their transportation. The study was led by researchers from the University of Basel, ETH Zurich and ZHAW.

By cleverly combining different technologies, manufacturers can produce plastic that is climate neutral over its entire life cycle. A new study by an international team of researchers has shown that this combination requires less energy than alternatives and costs the same – or even less.