Master student internship in Sustainable materials (M/F)

The successful candidate will join the "Environmental Research and Innovation" (ERIN) department. With a team of more than 170 scientists and engineers from life science, environmental science, and IT science, the department has the necessary interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to tackle major environmental challenges our society is facing today: climate change mitigation, ecosystem resilience, sustainable energy systems, efficient use of renewable resources, environmental pollution prevention and control.

Trainee mission and related project

Trainee main task will be to Set-up a database for a sustainable materials selection in Hollerich Village. He/she will intervene in the framework of the Hollerich Village project which is described as follows:

The Hollerich Village project is driven by a vision: Building a model district at a site where once ranged craft activities and to create a place where people can live and work in harmony with the planet's resources, a district with 100% renewable energy, virtually no waste, a rich community life committed to inspiring its inhabitants and its companies... an eco- district that will become a reference for future districts in Luxembourg and the Greater Region (www.hollerichvillage.lu).

Hollerich Village takes shape gradually under the leadership of its creators, the Schuler Group and the associated partners: Polaris, architects and urban planners; BioRegional, an international NGO; Goblet Lavandier & Associés, an engineering office; the natur & ëmwelt Foundation and Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST). Over the steps that will stake the project until its construction, Hollerich Village is expected to grow through a participatory approach with the imagination and support of its future residents and all those who wish to share the vision.

In the frame of the eco-district project Hollerich Village, LIST, the Schuler Group and Luxinnovation will supervise trainees in the fields of sustainable construction and resource management. Students from all over Europe will have the opportunity to deepen the concepts of sustainable building and smart cities in connection with key topics such as construction materials, mobility, circular economy, or zero carbon. These topics are at the heart of the 'One Planet communities' principles whose are guiding the development of 'Hollerich Village'.

In the one planet community action plan developed for the eco-district Hollerich Village in the city of Luxembourg, the use of sustainable materials is a major objective [A]. Based on a life-cycle perspective, the used materials have to be sustainable from cradle-to-grave, including production, installation and end-of-life. Besides the required environmental performance, the materials have to be suitable from a technical point of view; healthy for humans and of more than 50% from local sources by weight (i.e. producers and suppliers should be located within a 150 km radius).

The aim of this internship project is to set-up a database for all potentially used construction materials in the frame of the One Planet Hollerich Village project. A special focus will be on interior materials and finishes (i.e. paintings, floor coverings) and non-structural elements (i.e. inner walls, suspended ceilings). The materials list will be established based on materials used in former building projects of the Schuler Group, such as Solarwind and Horizon and other lighthouse projects in Luxembourg and the Greater-Region (e.g. office buildings, stores and residential areas). The database will provide information per material (a) including environmental impacts, resource depletion and non-renewable primary energy, (b) end-of-life aspects, (c) circular economy performance criteria (e.g. toxic compounds, multiple functionality potential, loss in value, retrofitting potential, fitness for circularity, local sourcing) and (d) covering the sustainable materials targets in the one planet action plan for Hollerich Village [A, B]. The research includes as well the development of solutions and methodologies to fill data gaps, e.g. for materials life cycle data that are not available in existing databases or Environmental Product Declarations (EPD).

References
[A] Groupe Schuler (2013). Plan d'action One Planet Communities Hollerich Village. Luxembourg. To download in French: www.hollerichvillage.lu/pdf/HV_brochure.pdf
[B] Hild, P. (2013). One Planet Hollerich Village - Sustainable Materials Targets. CRP Henri Tudor: Luxembourg (unpublished).