M. Osmani

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Loughborough University

The construction industry faces increasingly more significant pressure to reduce resource consumption, minimise waste, and enhance environmental performance. Towards the transition to a circular economy in the construction industry, one of the challenges is the lack of a standardised assessment framework and methods to measure circularity at the pr...

The longevity and viability of construction components in a circular economy demand a robust, data-informed framework for reuse decision-making. This paper introduces a multi-level grading and classification system that combines Bayesian probabilistic modeling with scenario-based performance thresholds to assess the reusability of end-of-life modul...

The development of information technologies has been exponentially applied to the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries. The extent of the literature reveals that the two most pertinent technologies are building information modeling (BIM) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The radical digitization of the AEC indus...

Construction and demolition in the UK currently generates more than 1.3Mt of plasterboard waste each year. Working with Saint Gobain, as representatives of the industry, the ICEC-MCM has co-created a Circular Economy Business Model for plasterboard, to enable productive recovery of this valuable material.

Recent years have seen an increasing interest in 3D concrete printing (3DCP); however, its sustainability challenges, particularly regarding environmental concerns, require close attention. To mitigate sustainability-related problems of technology, new realm of research has emerged: sustainable 3DCP. However, this field currently lacks a classifica...

Despite the growing awareness of healing hospitals, they are still far from being globally widespread, and traditional hospital building models are increasingly unable to address the serious resource constraints and environmental stresses that we face today. In addition, sustainable development concepts have become key driving forces in the constru...

At present, the progress of business model stages supported by a variety of technology categories may unclear, and the integration of technology application and business model innovation (BMI) is hard due to operational practices in various industries and research areas, which block the view of the integration of smart city technology (SCT) and BMI...

Research currently focuses on immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). However, there is limited exploration of their application in sustainable smart cities with Building Information Modeling (BIM), and there remains a lack of interdisciplinary integration within this domain aimed at fosteri...

The construction industry, business models, and smart cities are recognized as pivotal domains with profound implications for fostering sustainability, prompting extensive research endeavors. However, there remains a dearth of interdisciplinary integration within this sphere aimed at fostering sustainable development. Nevertheless, current studies...

Background Contaminants and water-soluble salts present in mechanically recycled gypsum from refurbishment and demolition (post-consumer) plasterboard waste limit its use as a secondary raw material in plasterboard manufacturing. This research addresses this limitation, developing a novel acid leaching purification technology combined with an impro...

Plasterboard, which serves as a nonstructural building material, is widely employed for lightweight wall construction and surface finishing in walls and ceilings. Amid mounting concerns regarding product sustainability and the adoption of Net Zero strategies, evaluating the environmental performance of materials has become crucial. This study aims...

This investigation constitutes the fourth phase of a conceptual framework designed to produce circular concrete upon the main principals of circular economy reduce, reuse and recycle. Comparative life cycle assessment is carried out for conventional and circular concrete mixtures to identify biases in the results of common life cycle assessments. T...

At present, increased modes of transport have facilitated daily life. Building information modeling (BIM) integration has become a key strategy to foster efficiency, collaboration, and sustainability in the fields of buildings, transport, and facilities. Currently, there is a scarcity of comprehensive examinations of the performance of integrated B...

Industries are required to utilize treatment technologies to reduce contaminants in wastewater prior to discharge and to valorize by-products to increase sustainability and competitiveness. Most acid leaching gypsum purification studies have obviated the treatment of the highly acidic wastewater produced. In this work, acidic wastewater from acid l...

Background Contaminants and water-soluble salts present in mechanically recycled gypsum from refurbishment and demolition (post-consumer) plasterboard waste limit its use as a secondary raw material in plasterboard manufacturing. This research addresses this limitation, developing a novel acid leaching purification technology combined with an impro...

The transition from a linear economy (LE) to a circular economy (CE) is not just about mitigating the negative impacts of LE, but also about considering changes in infrastructure, while leveraging the power of technology to reduce resource production and consumption and waste generation, and improve long-term resilience. The existing research sugge...

Industries are required to utilize treatment technologies to reduce contaminants in wastewater prior discharge and valorize by-products to increase sustainability and competitiveness. Most acid leaching gypsum purification studies have obviated the treatment of the highly acidic wastewater produced. In this work, acidic wastewater from acid leachin...

Background: Contaminants and water-soluble salts present in mechanically recycled gypsum from refurbishment and demolition (post-consumer) plasterboard waste limit its use as a secondary raw material in plasterboard manufacturing. This research addresses this limitation, developing a novel acid leaching purification technology combined with an impr...

At present, incorrect or aggressive conservation efforts harm not only the building heritage, but also its cultural significance and authenticity. There is an urgent need to investigate existing studies that utilise proper methods and processes of the digital economy and technology to promote sustainable architecture and building heritage conservat...

Currently, sport is considered an entertainment and leisure industry and includes activities such as athletics, water, and skiing. The influence of a sport event exceeds the event itself, which indicates the importance of a sport facility to the building and construction. A sport facility refers to a facility related to the sport industry, mainly i...

Post-consumer plasterboard waste sorting is carried out manually by operators, which is time-consuming and costly. In this work, a laboratory-scale hyperspectral imaging (HSI) system was evaluated for automatic refurbishment plasterboard waste sorting. The HSI system was trained to differentiate between plasterboard (gypsum core between two lining...

Sustainable development, which has become the priority study of architectural design, is receiving increasing attention with global climate change. At the same time, the building industry is urgently changing towards intelligent and digitalized tendencies. As a result, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and the Internet of Things (IoT) make crucia...

The sustainable development of the furniture industry is experiencing the challenges of energy consumption and waste disposal. Product–service systems (PSSs) have the potential to promote sustainable development and the opportunity to transition to a circular economy (CE). PSSs can bring a series of benefits to sustainable furniture, but there are...

By and large, the electrical and electronic (E&E) sector operates in a predominantly linear economy driven by traditional business model (BM) canvases. Evidence has revealed that E&E manufacturers remain unsure of the potential benefits of circular economy business models (CEBMs). Additionally, cohesive insights into E&E product manufacturers' impl...

Governments across the world are taking actions to address the high carbon emissions associated with the construction industry, and to achieve the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement towards carbon neutrality. Although the ideal of the carbon-emission reduction in building projects is well acknowledged and generally accepted, it is proving more...

Despite the large quantities of secondary materials flowing within the built environment, their actual volume and respective waste management processes are not accurately known and recorded. Consequently, various sustainability and material efficiency policies are not supported by accurate data and information-reporting associated with secondary ma...

In the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), people’s social mentality and mental health have been severely affected, which has hindered or even reversed the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, there is a lack of investigation into the potential relationship between social mentality and hea...

At present, the smart city offers the most desired state of urban development, encompassing, as it does, the concept of sustainable development. The creation of a smart city is closely associated with upgrading the construction industry to encompass many emerging concepts and technologies, such as Construction 4.0, with its roots in Industry 4.0, a...

In the face of the health challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, healing and therapeutic design (HTD) as interventions can help with improving people’s health. It is considered to have great potential to promote health in the forms of art, architecture, landscape, space, and environment. However, there are insufficient design approaches to add...

The adoption of circularity indicators in the electrical and electronic sector is understood to play a critical role in organisational decision making during the transition from a linear to a circular economy. Yet, it is widely recognised that there is no standardised method of measuring circularity performance. Additionally, the extent of literatu...

Circular economy has become central in the European policy arena, and the Member States have promoted a number of initiatives and programs to shift from their traditional linear economy towards a circular economy. This is particularly relevant for the construction sector, which is the highest producer of waste and one of the main causes of resource...

Considering the physical, and psychological impacts and challenges brought about the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), art therapy (AT) provides opportunities to promote human health and well-being. There are few systematic analysis studies in the fields of AT, which can provide content and direction for the potential value and impact of AT. The...

Housing represents a critical sector globally in the drive to reduce carbon emissions with many countries adopting building energy standards to lower the carbon emissions of new build housing. However, ambition is often inadequate when considering the long-life time of homes built today. Globally, many regional or local authorities are taking actio...

At present, a smart city from the perspective of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasizes the importance of providing citizens with promising health and well-being. However, with the continuous impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the increase of city population, the health of citizens is facing new challenges...

Faced with a scarcity of materials, increasing quantities of waste, and low rate of recovery, the electrical and electronic equipment sector has become a key focus in the drive for a transition to the circular economy. An increasing body of work has addressed the integration of the circular economy at a business model level but there is a limited u...

Circular economy (CE) is a concept actively advocated by the European Union (EU), China, Japan, and the United Kingdom. At present, CE is considered to grant the most traction for companies to achieve sustainable development. However, CE is still rarely adopted by enterprises. As the backbone of the fourth industrial revolution, the digital economy...

A successful transition to a Circular Economy, as promoted by the European Commission, requires solid information on the future availability of anthropogenic resources. Anthropogenic resources are human-made material stocks and flows, such as old landfills, buildings or different waste streams. A case study approach was adopted in this paper to inv...

‘Smart cities’ are a new type of city where stakeholders are jointly responsible for urban management. City Information Management (CIM) is an output tool for smart city planning and management, which assists in achieving the sustainable development of urban infrastructure, and promotes smart cities to achieve the goals of stable global economic de...

Although the literature revealed the challenges and drivers to implement Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the building design industry in general, to date, there are few established methods and processes to overcome challenges of BIM adoption in building design, especially in sustainable building design for managing the project. At the presen...

Construction and demolition activities in the European Union (EU) are responsible for generating 850 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste (CDW) per year. As a result, the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) set a recovery target to attain 70% CDW recycling by 2020. CDW management in individual EU Member States (MS) has been widely explor...

At present, sustainable design is experiencing energy consumption and cost-effectiveness challenges in the building industry. A recent body of literature argues that the development of emerging smart digital technologies, such as Building Information Management (BIM) and blockchain (BC), offer immediate benefits to the industry. However, the curren...

There is a lack of decision-making tools for water efficiency design and construction to maximize project benefits and water conservation. An increasing number of research studies indicate that building information modelling (BIM) can enhance the cooperation, improve work efficiency, and conduct simulation and analysis of sustainability performance...

The United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC) is an international system for classifying minerals and energy resources. This document specifies the UNFC terminology and principles to enable its application to Anthropogenic Resources. Anthropogenic Resources can be found in a variety of sources, including: mine tailings, buildings...

Securing the future supply of materials is fundamental for economic development and prosperity. While the use of primary raw materials still dominates in terms of quantity, secondary raw materials are increasingly important for the diversification of sources. However, the stakeholders striving for a circular economy lack harmonized information on m...

The application of the concept of circular economy thinking in construction, which is in its infancy, has been largely limited to construction waste minimisation and recycling. Little research on circular economy from a systems perspective including how new business models might enable materials to retain high residual values has been undertaken. U...

Reduction in construction waste is a pressing need in many countries. The design of building elements is considered a pivotal process to achieve waste reduction at source, which enables an informed prediction of their wastage reduction levels. However the lack of quantitative methods linking design strategies to waste reduction hinders designing ou...

In the south of Algeria, many indigenous settlements have been built using local earth construction techniques; in the north, despite the availability of suitable earth, only a few rural contemporary settlements have been built using ‘improved’ earth construction. This paper adopts a case study approach to examine and compare structural deficiencie...

At present, there are insufficient design decision making tools to support effective construction waste minimisation evaluation and implementation throughout all design stages. A limited but growing body of recent literature suggests that Building Information Modelling has the potential to assist architects to minimise design waste on their project...

The conservation of built heritage is recognized as a vehicle for sustaining local identity and a powerful instrument for urban regeneration. The problem of how to engage local culture in this process, however, has received comparatively little attention, despite the recognition of ‘stakeholders’ and the importance of their involvement. This resear...

The aim of this work was to explore the impact of local cultural dynamics on the conservation of the built heritage of Suakin, an abandoned historic port on the Red Sea coast of Sudan, through a collaborative stakeholder approach. Key representatives of local stakeholder groups attended a two-day workshop and took part in a series of collaborative...

Conference Objective and Philosophical Framework The International Conference on Sustainable Development is inspired from the critical challenge of human, environmental, and economic sustainability concerning the present and future generations in a global-scale context The 2° ICSD 2014 will be held at the Piazza di Spagna- Roma Eventi, Via Alibe...

The UK Government has been using a combination of regulation, economic instruments and voluntary agreements to meet targets of ethical, social and environmental performancein driving the climate change agenda. The UK is the first country worldwide to set a legally binding 80% greenhouse-gas emissions reduction target by 2050. The built environment...

Many developed countries are using a challenging Zero Waste concept to change current waste management practices to more sustainable methods of managing waste, including household waste. The concept includes waste prevention; high levels of recycling and recovery of all resources from waste; and behavioural change. This research provides a case stu...

EU and UK Government targets for minimising and recycling household waste has led the responsible authorities to research the alternatives to landfill. In the work reported here the local waste collection authority (Charnwood Borough Council) has adopted the aspirational strategy of becoming a “Zero Waste Borough” to lead the drive for public parti...

In 2004, the UK government published requirements for Site Waste Management Plans (SWMPs). These formed a voluntary code of practice. In 2008, they became mandatory regulations for construction projects costing more than £300 000. The aim of SWMPs is to divert waste from landfill by increasing on-site reuse and recycling rates. The onus is on the c...

The UK housing sector accounts for approximately 30% of total energy demand and accounts for 27% of carbon emissions. The uptake of low energy retrofit (LER) within the existing housing stock is piecemeal and currently not sufficient to achieve the 80% carbon reduction legally binding commitment by 2050 in the UK. Literature reveals that improving...

Over the last few years there has been an increasing demand for more efficient ways of procuring materials in terms of reducing their impacts on the environment. The UK Strategy for Sustainable Construction introduced a voluntary target of 25% of all resources in the construction industry to be responsibly sourced by 2012. At the time of writing th...

At a local Government level there have been many interventions and changes made to household waste collection services to meet new regulatory requirements. These changes include separate collection of recyclable and organic materials. This paper has used a time series model to quantify the success of interventions introduced by a LA. The case study...

Charnwood Borough Council (CBC), an English local authority, recently introduced a Zero Waste Strategy encompassing targets for waste minimisation and recycling of household waste above UK Government baselines. To achieve these targets various areas of household waste management need to be amended to improve recycling performance. The bulky waste c...

Improving project performance in the construction industry poses several challenges for stakeholders. Recently, there have been frequent calls for the importance of adopting standardisation in improving construction design as well as the process and a focus on learning mapping from other industries. The Saudi Ministry of Interior (SMoI) has adopted...

An ever-increasing amount of global research on construction waste has been conducted over the past two decades, ranging from 'soft' mapping and management, reduction tools and methodologies to 'hard' material and recycling technologies. However, the current state of research is largely dominated by endeavours to manage waste that has already been...

Recent figures published by the UK Government reveal that construction and demolition waste in the UK is around 120 million tonnes per annum, including an estimated 13 million tonnes of unused material. Furthermore, the introduction of new legislation, the emergence of new technologies and practices in both waste disposal and recovery, and the risi...

Purpose ‐ At present Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) waste recycling is very limited due to its intrinsic thermoset composite nature and non-availability of viable recovery options. The purpose of this paper is to assess the recycling potential of GRP waste powder and fibre in concrete, cement and rubber composites. Design/methodology/approach ‐ Ext...

Household waste recycling rates vary between 20-60% across the UK. Legislative and financial measures introduced to reduce landfill disposal of waste in the UK, have impacted on the way Local Authorities operate their household waste and recycling collection services. This paper reports on the performance of Charnwood Borough Council (CBC), a Loca...

It is widely acknowledged that the UK building sector is one of the key contributors to carbon emissions, as it is accountable for around 50% of carbon emissions, 27% of which are a product of domestic building construction and operation. As a result, the UK government announced that all new houses are to be zero carbon by 2016. However, the curren...

The built environment consumes more natural resources than necessary and therefore generates a large amount of waste. This chapter sheds light on the idea of rethinking construction waste management by reengineering processes and practices to reduce construction waste at source. It examines the concept of waste and definitions. Rethinking waste man...

The UK has a legally binding commitment to reduce CO2 levels by 80% by 2050 relative to the 1990 emissions baseline. The existing housing stock, which accounts for approximately 30% of total UK energy demand, has the potential to provide significant opportunities for this reduction; however, currently there are no legislative measures driving wides...

Glass fibre reinforced plastic (GRP) wastes are often disposed off in landfills, incinerated or processed into powders. GRP waste powders can be recycled as filler in virgin polymers and should be characterised before they are added to avoid processing problems. A GRP waste powder was characterised using advanced measuring and analytical techniques...

A comprehensive laboratory experiments were conducted to improve the mechanical properties of glass fibre reinforced plastic (GRP) waste powder filled concrete using superplasticiser for widening the scope for GRP waste recycling for different applications. It is imperative to note that the 28days mean compressive strength of concrete specimens dev...

!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Efforts were made to recycle Glass reinforced plastic (GRP) waste powder in concrete products and assess its compressive strength to comply with British Standards for use in construction applications. More than 90 GRP waste-filled concrete specimens were developed using the co...

In the United Kingdom, most glass reinforced plastic (GRP) waste is currently sent to landfill due to its intrinsic thermoset composite nature, lack of information relating to its characteristics and insufficient knowledge of potential recycling options. Experimental attempts were made to recycle GRP waste in concrete composites and cement. As such...

The UK government set itself a 60% reduction of carbon dioxide emissions target on 2000 levels by 2050. This commitment will require carbon reductions to be made by all industries including the housing sector which presently accounts for 27% of carbon dioxide emissions. The house building industry is the subject of numerous government policies and...

At present glass fibre reinforced plastic (GRP) waste recycling worldwide is very limited due to its intrinsic thermoset properties, lack of characterisation data and non availability of viable recycling and recovery routes. In the present study, efforts were made to recycle GRP waste powder and fibre in concrete and cement composites and assess it...

Products made of glass fibre reinforced polymers are often disposed off in landfills, incinerated or processed into waste powders at the end of their service life. Waste powders can be recycled as fillers for use in virgin polymers. The effects of up to 50 parts per hundred rubber by weight thermoset polyester resin waste powder on the viscosity, c...

Housebuilders in England have been the target of numerous government policies in recent years promoting increased productivity and affordability. As a result, the housebuilding industry is currently faced with objectives to improve the affordability and sustainability of new homes whilst also increasing production rates to 240,000 per year by 2016....

While it is recognised that Construction Procurement Systems (CPS) and waste reduction have an effect on achieving sustainability, little research has been undertaken in the evaluation of the impact of CPS on construction waste generation. The research presented in this paper aims to investigate the impact of CPS on waste generation. A postal quest...

The construction, demolition and excavation waste arising in the UK is estimated at 109 million tonnes per year. Much had been published on ways to improve on-site waste management and recycling activities but very few attempts made to address design generated waste. This paper examines previous studies on architects’ approach towards construction...

The construction, demolition and excavation waste arising in England was estimated at 91 million tonnes in 2003. The current thinking on construction waste minimisation is heavily focussed on several issues relating to physical construction waste and recycling guides. Indeed, much had been published on ways to improve on-site waste management and r...

The NHS has one of the largest property portfolios in the UK; comprising hospitals, clinics, dental offices, out-patient surgery centres, birth centres and nursing homes. Additionally, it is experiencing historic levels of growth with the largest programme of investment the country has ever seen where: 25 per cent of hospitals are being replaced or...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is threefold; to investigate the potential impact of energy conservation policies and legislation on building design; examine energy conservation practices in the building industry; and identify associated barriers to an integrated low energy architectural design process. Design/methodology/approach A survey of UK...

This article was published in the journal, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Engineering Sustainability [© Thomas Telford Publishing] and is also available at: http://www.thomastelford.com/journals/ Zambian cities are experiencing a massive influx of people from rural areas resulting in high demand for housing and the growth of squ...

This article was published in the journal, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Waste and Resource Management [© Thomas Telford] and is also available at: http://www.thomastelford.com/journals/ Around 420 million t of materials are used each year in the construction industry in the UK; however, only 360 million t are incorporated into...

This book chapter is Restricted Access. Algiers is a complex and confused city that is experiencing constant change at the administrative, political, social and economic levels. Its administrative status changed in 2000 from that of a region managed by a Governor Minister to that of a simple Wilaya (County). This change has meant that the new plan...

It is widely acknowledged that the construction industry has a major impact on the environment, both in terms of resource consumption and waste production. The construction industry is responsible for producing a whole variety of different onsite wastes; the amount and type of which depends on factors such as the stage of construction, type of cons...