Environmental impacts of repurposing phone booths as COVID-19 sampling stations

The presented research examines the repurposing of decommissioned phonebooth units to COVID-19 sampling stations as a meaningful attempt to promote environmentally sustainable and socially resilient cities by contributing to a circular economy transition. The repurposing approach is compared to an a...

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Main Authors: Martin Schoch, Sunaree Lawanyawatna, Shabbir H Gheewala
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:International Journal of Sustainable Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19397038.2023.2220361
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author Martin Schoch
Sunaree Lawanyawatna
Shabbir H Gheewala
author_facet Martin Schoch
Sunaree Lawanyawatna
Shabbir H Gheewala
author_sort Martin Schoch
collection DOAJ
description The presented research examines the repurposing of decommissioned phonebooth units to COVID-19 sampling stations as a meaningful attempt to promote environmentally sustainable and socially resilient cities by contributing to a circular economy transition. The repurposing approach is compared to an adequate new build design using a life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental implications and a time-cost comparison for their implementation. The results indicate that the remodelling of the phone booth improves environmental performance. The expanded need for refurbishment is offset by the need to use virgin material for the new stations. The benefit of finding reuse for the phone booths and extending their lifetime further supports this understanding, demonstrating the adaptive approach as a viable strategy for utilising an otherwise disused urban infrastructure with uncertain end-of-life. Cost-time results show that repurposing is less expensive due to the donated phone booths and low production numbers. On the other hand, new sampling stations take less time to produce. Future studies investigate user experiences and social benefits of the realised sampling station based on phone booth repurposing.
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spelling doaj.art-5d8ff94505c9441dbc009d6a302993882023-09-21T15:17:05ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Sustainable Engineering1939-70381939-70462023-12-0116112913910.1080/19397038.2023.22203612220361Environmental impacts of repurposing phone booths as COVID-19 sampling stationsMartin Schoch0Sunaree Lawanyawatna1Shabbir H Gheewala2King Mongkut’s University of Technology ThonburiKing Mongkut’s University of Technology ThonburiKing Mongkut’s University of Technology ThonburiThe presented research examines the repurposing of decommissioned phonebooth units to COVID-19 sampling stations as a meaningful attempt to promote environmentally sustainable and socially resilient cities by contributing to a circular economy transition. The repurposing approach is compared to an adequate new build design using a life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental implications and a time-cost comparison for their implementation. The results indicate that the remodelling of the phone booth improves environmental performance. The expanded need for refurbishment is offset by the need to use virgin material for the new stations. The benefit of finding reuse for the phone booths and extending their lifetime further supports this understanding, demonstrating the adaptive approach as a viable strategy for utilising an otherwise disused urban infrastructure with uncertain end-of-life. Cost-time results show that repurposing is less expensive due to the donated phone booths and low production numbers. On the other hand, new sampling stations take less time to produce. Future studies investigate user experiences and social benefits of the realised sampling station based on phone booth repurposing.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19397038.2023.2220361covid-19 sampling stationadaptive reuselife cycle assessmenttime-cost analysissocietal resilience
spellingShingle Martin Schoch
Sunaree Lawanyawatna
Shabbir H Gheewala
Environmental impacts of repurposing phone booths as COVID-19 sampling stations
International Journal of Sustainable Engineering
covid-19 sampling station
adaptive reuse
life cycle assessment
time-cost analysis
societal resilience
title Environmental impacts of repurposing phone booths as COVID-19 sampling stations
title_full Environmental impacts of repurposing phone booths as COVID-19 sampling stations
title_fullStr Environmental impacts of repurposing phone booths as COVID-19 sampling stations
title_full_unstemmed Environmental impacts of repurposing phone booths as COVID-19 sampling stations
title_short Environmental impacts of repurposing phone booths as COVID-19 sampling stations
title_sort environmental impacts of repurposing phone booths as covid 19 sampling stations
topic covid-19 sampling station
adaptive reuse
life cycle assessment
time-cost analysis
societal resilience
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19397038.2023.2220361
work_keys_str_mv AT martinschoch environmentalimpactsofrepurposingphoneboothsascovid19samplingstations
AT sunareelawanyawatna environmentalimpactsofrepurposingphoneboothsascovid19samplingstations
AT shabbirhgheewala environmentalimpactsofrepurposingphoneboothsascovid19samplingstations