Georgios Triantafyllidis
About
I am a Registered Architect and Researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), currently working on the HEU CIRCULess project, where I focus on the design and development of new building products from secondary raw materials originating from construction and demolition waste. My research explores how digitalization, material innovation, and systemic design can enable circular and regenerative transitions in the built environment.
I hold a Ph.D. from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), where my doctoral research focused on digitalization and systemic design for the circular built environment. My thesis, Designing a Circular City Twin, explored the use of digital twins to support the circular economy in architecture and urban planning. In this work, I developed semantic and interoperable frameworks that integrate BIM, GIS, and environmental data across scales (from building component and material to city) and domains (design, planning, and resource management) to enable co-design, collaboration, and data-informed decision-making in sustainable urban transformation.
My interdisciplinary expertise lies at the intersection of architecture, urban planning, and information modelling, combining systems thinking, design methods, and semantic web technologies to bridge the spatial, material, and digital dimensions of the built environment. I am particularly interested in how integrated data ecosystems and digital twins can link design practice, policy, and research to advance sustainability and circularity goals.
Before joining CIRCULess, I served as a Teaching Assistant in the Master’s Program in Digital Construction Processes at NTNU and as a University Assistant and Researcher at the Institute of Architecture Technology, Graz University of Technology (TU Graz).
I earned my Master’s degree in Architecture from the University of Florence, and postgraduate qualifications in Design Research from the Bauhaus Foundation Dessau, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, and the Interdisciplinary Laboratory “Image–Knowledge–Gestaltung” at Humboldt University of Berlin. I also hold an Erasmus Mundus M.Sc. in Building Information Modelling (BIM) from Politecnico di Milano.
My research interests include circular and regenerative design, digital twins for sustainable cities, ontology-based data integration, urban material and energy flows, and the digital and systemic transformation of the built environment.
Research
Circular City
CIRCULess
Publications
2025
-
Triantafyllidis, Georgios;
Nore, Kristine;
Wuyts, Wendy.
(2025)
SirkTRE Magazine.
SirkTRE
SirkTRE
Report
-
Aalto, Pasi;
Dittrich, Nils Maximilian;
Triantafyllidis, Georgios;
Mutale, Lombe;
Stolz, Beatrice Alexandra Pauline.
(2025)
Mapping Trondheim’s building stock.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
-
Triantafyllidis, Georgios;
Mueller, Daniel Beat;
Wellinger, Steffen;
Huang, Lizhen.
(2025)
Accelerating circular cities with semi-automatic building information modeling for existing buildings.
Journal of Cleaner Production
Academic article
-
Triantafyllidis, Georgios;
Mahnert, Karl-christian;
Huang, Lizhen.
(2025)
BIM to GIS: Multi-Criteria Queries for Material Tracking in Circular Built Environments.
Journal of Circular Economy
Academic article
-
Triantafyllidis, Georgios;
Mueller, Daniel Beat;
Wellinger, Steffen;
Huang, Lizhen.
(2025)
Accelerating circular cities with semi-automatic building information modeling for existing buildings.
Journal of Cleaner Production
Academic article
2023
-
Triantafyllidis, Georgios;
Huang, Lizhen.
(2023)
A framework for semi-automated creation of Building Information Models for existing buildings.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS)
Academic article
Journal publications
-
Triantafyllidis, Georgios;
Mueller, Daniel Beat;
Wellinger, Steffen;
Huang, Lizhen.
(2025)
Accelerating circular cities with semi-automatic building information modeling for existing buildings.
Journal of Cleaner Production
Academic article
-
Triantafyllidis, Georgios;
Mahnert, Karl-christian;
Huang, Lizhen.
(2025)
BIM to GIS: Multi-Criteria Queries for Material Tracking in Circular Built Environments.
Journal of Circular Economy
Academic article
-
Triantafyllidis, Georgios;
Mueller, Daniel Beat;
Wellinger, Steffen;
Huang, Lizhen.
(2025)
Accelerating circular cities with semi-automatic building information modeling for existing buildings.
Journal of Cleaner Production
Academic article
-
Triantafyllidis, Georgios;
Huang, Lizhen.
(2023)
A framework for semi-automated creation of Building Information Models for existing buildings.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS)
Academic article
Part of book/report
-
Aalto, Pasi;
Dittrich, Nils Maximilian;
Triantafyllidis, Georgios;
Mutale, Lombe;
Stolz, Beatrice Alexandra Pauline.
(2025)
Mapping Trondheim’s building stock.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
Report
-
Triantafyllidis, Georgios;
Nore, Kristine;
Wuyts, Wendy.
(2025)
SirkTRE Magazine.
SirkTRE
SirkTRE
Report
Teaching
Supervision
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
BSc. Thesis
Role: Main Supervisor, Examiner
Title: Wood-based fire walls under new regulations (1998–2021)
Interaction between safety and CO2 footprint.
Thesis Description: The thesis explores how digital tools and parametric design can support sustainable construction by quantifying the CO₂ footprint of timber-based fire-rated walls. I guided the student in building parametric evaluation systems and integrating LCA data within Revit-based BIM environments. Building parametric BIM families in Revit, integrated SimaPro data, and performed embodied carbon LCA at the component level within the BIM workflow. The study also examined how evolving building regulations affect material demands and how these changes influence CO₂ emissions over time. - Krigsskole, Norway (Norwegian Military Academy)
BSc. Thesis
Role: External Supervisor
Title: Building Viability Assessment for Life Extension and Adaptive Reuse: A Case Study in the Norwegian Defence Sector.
Thesis Description: Information Management, Parametric Design and Sustainability; This bachelor's thesis examines the viability model as a tool for assessing existing buildings' potential for conversion and life extension. The study evaluates how buildings can be systematically categorized based on their suitability for current use and adaptability for future needs, enabling better long-term investment decisions. Through a case study approach, it demonstrates how this assessment framework can support more sustainable building management by identifying which structures are worth preserving and upgrading, rather than replacing.
Outreach
2025
-
InterviewWang-Svendsen, Mads; Triantafyllidis, Georgios; Huang, Lizhen. (2025) Slik skal det bli enklere å resirkulere hus | Kretsløpet. https://kretslopet.no/ https://kretslopet.no/ [Internet] 2025-08-22
-
InterviewWang-Svendsen, Mads; Triantafyllidis, Georgios; Huang, Lizhen. (2025) Making it easier to recycle your house. https://gemini.no/ https://gemini.no/ [Internet] 2025-08-20
-
InterviewWang-Svendsen, Mads; Triantafyllidis, Georgios; Huang, Lizhen. (2025) Slik skal det bli enklere å resirkulere huset ditt | Tu.no. Teknisk Ukeblad Teknisk Ukeblad [Internet] 2025-08-20
-
Academic lectureGedde, Kristina Bringedal; Triantafyllidis, Georgios; Huang, Lizhen; Mueller, Daniel Beat. (2025) Enhanced Material Intensities Considering Building-Specific Characteristics. Circular Building Sector Conference , Lund 2025-06-01 - 2025-06-03
2024
-
PosterGedde, Kristina Bringedal; Triantafyllidis, Georgios; Ross, Lone; Huang, Lizhen; Müller, Daniel. (2024) How to select representative building typologies for updating material intensities? In the context of studying the building stock for urban mining, recycling, and refurbishment. Gordon Research Conference Industrial Ecology , Les Diablerets 2024-05-26 - 2024-05-31
-
Academic lectureTriantafyllidis, Georgios; Huang, Lizhen. (2024) BIM to GIS: Multi-Criteria Queries for Material Tracking in Circular Built Environments. Circular Economy: The pathway towards a Sustainable Development , Chania 2024-09-11 - 2024-09-13
2023
-
PosterTriantafyllidis, Georgios; Huang, Lizhen. (2023) A framework for semi-automated creation of Building Information Models for existing buildings. CISBAT 2023 - The Built Environment in Transition , Lausanne 2023-09-13 - 2023-09-15
-
Academic lectureTriantafyllidis, Georgios; Huang, Lizhen. (2023) A Novel Data Acquisition Method for Existing Building Information Modelling. International Conference on Industrial Ecology , Leiden 2023-07-02 - 2023-07-05