Construction supply chain: when hard work contributes to meet real life challenges

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is proud to announce that a new project, the creation of the Brussels Construction Consolidation Centre (BCCC), has recently been accepted by the Brussels Government and the Brussels innovation agency InnoVIRIS and it is partly because of the successful results of the H2020 research project “Sustainable Urban Consolidation CentrES for conStruction” (SUCCESS).

Freight transport in urban centres: from investigation to implementation

The construction industry is not only one of the biggest freight transport ‘consumers’ in urban centres, but also one of the biggest ‘producers’: construction, despite the recent industry crisis, is still the economic backbone for all EU cities. SUCCESS investigated an alternative approach to managing the construction supply chain. In this context, LIST’s researchers developed several tools and methods to allow construction companies, transport companies and authorities to evaluate the benefits of different optimisation measures on their future construction projects.

Francesco Ferrero, SUCCESS’ project coordinator and Lead partnership officer for mobility, logistics and smart cities at LIST, explains: “The most important result of our work is that the project’s results are already having a practical impact, the latest one being the creation of the first Construction Consolidation Centre in Brussels (BE).”  As mentioned in an interview for the European Research Magazine: “We have put a lot of effort into analysing the conditions and understanding how consolidation centres could work.” Ferrero goes on: “We need to find the right balance. While we want materials to be transported quickly and efficiently, it’s also important to consider the environmental impact. (…) We have simulated the impact of these consolidation centres in the pilot locations”.

SUCCESS, from theory to practice

SUCCESS was coordinated by LIST and gathered 11 European partners from France, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain. The project aimed to improve the efficiency and reduce the negative impacts of the construction supply chain by exploring and testing reliable and innovative solutions. This was based on the analysis of data collected in four real and diverse construction projects in the Neudorf district in Luxembourg City, in Paris (FR), Valencia (ES) and Verona (IT). The final report sent by the European Commission proves that the H2020 project - that was part of the CIVITAS initiative - could not have been given a better name. Indeed, its evaluation report is highly complimentary stating that the project achieved all its objectives delivering “exceptional results with significant immediate or potential impact”.

The results of the H2020 project drew the attention of many actors across Europe and the United States. In the framework of a call launched in Belgium by InnoVIRIS “Test it – Living Labs – Smart Mobility Challenge”, the Belgian Building Research Institute (BBRI), together with other academic and industrial partners (VUB, Shipit, Urbantz and CCB-C), will create, exploit and analyse the first Construction Consolidation Centre for the Brussels Capital-Region. According to Romnée Ambroise, Project leader, Sustainable development laboratory at the BBRI and coordinator of the BCCC project: “The project will be an experimental living lab about the smart mobility and logistics of construction materials in urban areas. The huge work carried out in the SUCCESS project was an essential element to set up this project. The results of SUCCESS have been a valuable source of relevant and qualitative information for the development of the operating scenario for the Brussels Construction Consolidation Centre (BCCC) project”.

This type of collaboration is one example of the results of the successful work achieved as part of SUCCESS. Another being the collaboration between LIST and the Compagnie Luxembourg d’Entreprises (CLE). A building company based in Luxembourg, CLE has recently signed a partnership agreement with LIST. This Institute will provide CLE with a preliminary study for the construction of a CCC in Luxembourg.

> More information on these new collaborations will be shared soon. For any further detail about this topic, contact Cindy Guerlain or Francesco Ferrero via email.