Resources do not disappear – they move. The question is: do they follow an approximately linear path toward waste, or are they intelligently cycled?
Managing material and energy flows with the URBAN MENUS CircularityOptimizer
The URBAN MENUS CircularityOptimizer is particularly suited for implementing a circular alternative: Material and energy flows are actively managed and optimized. Waste is no longer treated as an endpoint but becomes the starting point for new cycles. By integrating technologies that enable circular economy principles, new forms of industrial–urban symbiosis can emerge.
Technology catalogue, impact assessment, and visualization combined
AEE – Institute for Sustainable Technologies (AEE INTEC) analyzed combinations of technologies while taking regional differences into account (Austria and China). These insights were structured into a digital technology catalogue to support urban and regional planning.
akaryon is responsible for the impact assessment component of the project. This enables the quantification of the effects of circular systems. Through the ESG-Cockpit API, various sustainability indicators, including greenhouse gas accounting, can be accessed and applied.
URBAN MENUS, developed by BUSarchitektur, supports participatory urban and regional planning by visualizing scenarios. Users can add or remove elements from the technology catalogue within a 3D map environment representing a scenario. The real-world impact of circular technologies becomes visible and understandable in context.
The project Circularity Optimizer is funded under the bilateral TECXPORT-FTI Call of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) (Call 2023).