Both in new constructions and in the refurbishment of existing buildings there is a great use of fastening systems, essential to connect structural elements and to support ancillary components. The environmental impact of fastening systems is considerable because fasteners are spread everywhere in buildings and they are mostly made out of non-recycled material, nor follow a consolidated path of sustainable production processes. At the moment, there is a total lack of laws, codes or guideline to assess the environmental impact of these products, and also of a specific circular economy model for the fasteners sector which would support policymakers, manufacturers or end users, as well as any authority entitled to assess the suitability of such products.It is proposed to establish procedures to define the impact indicators for fastening systems in the construction sector, with a specific focus on the possibilities of recovery and / or reuse of the products, with the final goal of implementing such procedures in European codes or guidelines. To establish a circular economic model, several issues need to be addressed, as impact assessment on increasing the amount of recycled material, possibility to migrate towards alternative materials, reconsider the concept of fasteners performance in construction, currently strongly based on marketing needs, rather than on actual design needs, which should also include environmental performance criteria.

Open minded person with technical background in civil engineering, open to transversalapproach between academic, industrial and social topics.

Besides the Principal Investigator, the Research Team currently counts on 3 research assistants (post-docs) and 7 PhD students. All the activities in the team are carried out in close relationship with the industrial and professional sectors (having cooperated with more than 20 industrial companies in Europe to develop specific fastening solutions), as well as international research groups in Europe and US. The basic and applied research have a strong experimental basis. R&D in the specific field of seismic behavior of fastening to concrete represents one of the key specializations of the group at international level, which is significantly active in codes and guidelines development.