Traditional LCC (Life Cycle Costing) models try to provide insight into the costs of (infrastructure) assets through quantifying the costs of the different life phases of the construction (1. Design and construction, 2. Maintenance during functional life, and 3. End of life - depreciation, repair and or demolition phase). Current TCO (Total Costs of Ownership) models, based on so-called LCV (Life Cycle Valuing) principles, go a step further by also determining the economic (residual) value of constructions over time. These types of models are especially useful for the owner or manager (asset manager), but provide little to no insight into the value of the construction for society and environment. LCV models should therefore be further expanded to also include environmental value assessments as the environmental footprint of structures are becoming increasingly important in our society. For example, requirements for new constructions are already set with regard to environmental impact in the form of the use of finite raw materials and the emission of harmful substances. Circular use of raw materials and elements (semi-finished products) is generally seen as a way to decrease the environmental footprint of structures as this practice reduces the need of primary raw materials and emissions of harmful substances to the environment. In part, the environmental impact of products can now be quantified using LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) methods, but these are as yet not suitable for properly determining the environmental value of circular reusable products. Circular building therefore potentially increases the social value of assets, but the question is how these can be realized in practice. The problem of the current asset manager is the lack of suitable valuation models that can quantify the costs, the economic value, the sustainability, and the social value of assets in their full circularity. The specific task of the PhD candidate within this project is therefore to develop and validate the proposed 'next generation' asset valuation management 'Total Cost for Society (TCM)' tool, using quantitative methods such as NPSV (net present societal valuing). The TCM tool comprises the classic LCC (life cycle costing) and LCA (life cycle assessment) methods and integrates novel LCV (life cycle valuing) and specifically LCCV (life cycle circularity valuing) concepts to provide the asset manager with a society-inclusive asset valuing tool. The TCS tool is specifically suitable for making socially balanced investment decisicons. The domain of applications will be both buildings and infrastructural assets.

The candidate should have experience with life cycle engineering, mathematical modelling of engineering systems, and have a background in engineering or econometrics (or applied mathematics).

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

TU Delft offers PhD-candidates a 4-year contract, with an official go/no go progress assessment after one year. Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2325 per month in the first year to € 2972 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. For international applicants we offer the Coming to Delft Service and Partner Career Advice to assist you with your relocation.

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers both in business and in a social context. TU Delft offers 16 Bachelor’s and 32 Master’s programmes to more than 23,000 students. Our scientific staff consists of 3,500 staff members and 2,800 PhD candidates. Together we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale.

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Faculty Civil Engineering & Geosciences

The Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences (CEG) is committed to outstanding international research and education in the field of civil engineering, applied earth sciences, traffic and transport, water technology, and delta technology. Our research feeds into our educational programmes and covers societal challenges such as climate change, energy transition, resource depletion, urbanisation and the availability of clean water, conducted  in close cooperation with a wide range of research institutions. CEG is convinced that Open Science helps to achieve our goals and supports its scientists in integrating Open Science in their research practice. The Faculty of CEG comprises 28 research groups in the following seven departments: Materials Mechanics Management & Design, Engineering Structures, Geoscience and Engineering, Geoscience and Remote Sensing, Transport & Planning, Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences.

The position is located within the department of Materials, Mechanics, Management & Design (3MD). 3MD focusses on the design, construction and management of civil infrastructures and buildings. A multi-scale research approach is followed, starting at micro-scale (materials), to meso-scale (structures) and to macro-scale (infrastructures/systems). The department governs the entire life cycle of materials/structures/systems from design, management, maintenance to demolition or reuse. The department has strong competences in modelling and design for both civil infrastructures as well as buildings. The Engineering Asset Management (EAM) and Sustainability (SUS) groups are some of the three groups within the department.

Engineering Asset Management (EAM) is dedicated to the development and application of engineering and managerial solutions to make physical assets as part of (public) infrastructures safe, effective, economic efficient and environmentally-friendly. EAM is all of the activities and processes used to ensure that new and existing infrastructural systems provide balanced performance levels, for a specified time frame, accounting for the entire life-cycle phases (from design to demolish).

The EAM group provides research and education in the field of open & service-life design, engineering management systems optimization, system information modelling and construction management of civil infrastructures and buildings in all phases of the life cycle. EAM follows a quantitative, simulation and engineering development driven approach both for physical ssets and manegerial organization problems. EAM's R&D and education are strongly linked to the construction industry domain. EAM carries out research for NWO/TTW with industry partners. EAM's education has been embedded within several masters such as CEG (several tracks), CME, ODE, TIL.

The Sustainability group (SUS) focuses on the development of sustainable cementitious materials based on biological (by) products. Such materials include bacteria-based self-healing concrete and repair products, biomass ash-based binders and natural fibre-based mortars. Furthermore, interactions between the living and built environment are studied, e.g. by integrating free ecosystem functions in the built environment but also by studying detrimental effects of (micro)organisms on construction materials. The sustainability performance of civil engineering materials and constructions is quantified by life-cycle-assessment (LCA) tools.

The PhD candidate will be working both with the EAM and the SUS groups.