Kick-Off Meeting for the Horizon Europe Project DISCOVER
The Horizon Europe project DISCOVER, funded by the European Union with a total budget of €5,997,208.50, has officially launched. Coordinated by Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – Barcelona Tech (UPC), the project’s kick-off meeting took place from July 16 to July 17, 2024.
About DISCOVER
DISCOVER project aims to revolutionize the construction and demolition industry by developing an advanced system for the autonomous, synchronous, and continuous identification and analysis of materials in end-of-life built environments.
The project will provide to key stakeholders, including academia research performers, along with construction industry representatives data-driven insights to make deconstruction more efficient, optimize the use of resources, improve the environmental footprints and enhance the circularity of construction and demolition, unlocking the potential of end-of-life built works, which will become material banks.
The expected outcomes include an autonomous robotic platform coupled with continuous identification tools to scan built works and provide synchronous quantitative and qualitative data from different materials. Artificial intelligence algorithms will allow a rapid analysis of the properties and characteristics of components and feed the automated scan-to-BIM model creation. The multidimensional BIM, including selective demolition processes, labour productivity, and technical planning, will become a Digital Twin of the demolition site optimized by social, economic, and environmental multi-criteria assessments. This approach will highly contribute to significantly increasing the supply of traceable and sustainable construction materials and products for enhancing their wider market acceptance, following the waste hierarchy.
The ambitions of the project are:
- Developing rapid and autonomous on-site material identification methods
- Advancing robotics in pre-demolition inspection and identification
- Unlocking the potential of AI and BIM-based tools for sustainable deconstruction
- Transforming demolition practices through decision-making tools for optimal resource recovery
- Pioneering circular economy in construction by bridging multi-LCA/LCC, demolition digitalization and traceability of recovered products
- Integrating deconstruction and construction: increasing direct material reuse in construction
DISCOVER Consortium
The DISCOVER consortium comprises 14 partners from eight EU countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain). The consortium includes a balanced mix of SMEs, large companies, academia, research institutions, and associations active in international and national platforms and networks. The partners are:
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Spain
- Fundació Centre d’ innovació i tecnologia de la UPC, Spain
- Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Portugal
- Technische Universiteit Delft (TU Delft), Netherlands
- Institut Mines-Télécom (IMT), France
- Fundación Tecnalia Research & Innovation (TECNALIA), Spain
- Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek N.V. (VITO), Belgium
- C5Lab – Sustainable Construction Materials Association (C5Lab), Portugal
- Hercal Zero SL (H-ZERO), Spain
- DigitalTwin Technology GmbH (DTT), Germany
- Tree Capital Sp. z o.o. (TREE), Poland
- Panellinia Enosi Diplomatouchon Michanikon Ergolipton Dimosion Ergon (PEDMEDE), Greece
- Holcim Innovation Center SAS (HIC), France
- Tracimat vzw (Tracimat vzw), Belgium
Project Duration
The DISCOVER project officially began in June 2024 and will span four years, aiming to make significant contributions to the construction and demolition industry through innovative technology and sustainable practices.