Are Cave Houses a Sustainable Real Estate Alternative?

The high level of energy consumption of buildings has outlined the need for more sustainable and environmentally friendly constructions, which has led to cave houses now being more highly valued. This study looks to study whether sustainable constructions, such as cave houses, have an economic impact with regard to other construction types in the real estate market in Granada. Moreover, this study looks to determine whether energy rating is a relevant characteristic for the price of cave houses and whether the price determinants vary according to whether the house in question is a cave house or a single-family one. To develop this study, a final sample of 61,573 properties was used. A regression model estimated by ordinary least squares was performed. This study shows that cave houses are being marketed at higher prices than single-family houses. It was noted that energy rating is not an important characteristic for estimating the price of a cave house. Finally, in this type of housing, refrigeration equipment is not one of the determining characteristics for the price

Calificación energética y precio de la vivienda. Una relación cada vez más importante

Uno de los objetivos principales de la regulación de la certificación energética a nivel europeo, de acuerdo con las directivas, era el de convertirse en un parámetro de venta diferenciador para el usuario. En este artículo se observa el impacto que ha tenido en la provincia de Alicante con un estudio sobre más de 50.000 viviendas multifamiliares

Calificación energética y precio de la vivienda

Uno de los objetivos principales de la regulación de la certificación energética a nivel europeo, de acuerdo con las directivas, era el de convertirse en un parámetro de venta diferenciador para el usuario. En este artículo se observa el impacto que ha tenido en la provincia de Alicante con un estudio sobre más de 50.000 viviendas multifamiliares.La autora María Francisca Céspedes López fue beneficiaria en la I edición de las Ayudas a doctorandos Arquitectos Técnicos que se promueven desde el CGATE

The influence of housing location on energy ratings price premium in Alicante, Spain

Location is, along with other aspects, one of the most important characteristics when determining the sale or rental price of a residential property. Energy rating is one of the characteristics involved in determining the rent or sale price of a house. Past research has shown the importance of this attribute in numerous studies. Moreover, these studies have found mixed results regarding the magnitude, direction, and statistical significance of energy rating price premiums. This research aims to determine whether housing location influences energy rating price premium. To achieve this objective, a least squares regression model and a multilevel model were estimated using a sample of 70,170 different residences that were offered for sale in the province of Alicante. The multilevel models show that, once the differences due to the location (comarca) had been eliminated, the energy rating label itself had an effect on the asking price and also that there was an effect for the relationship of the energy rating with the location characteristics (comarca). On the other hand, the variables that defined the energy ratings were not those responsible for the differences between the average asking prices of the residences in the comarcas

Taxonomía de los estudiantes del grado en Arquitectura Técnica

Se pretende realizar un estudio que permita reconocer y clasificar los distintos perfiles de los estudiantes del grado en Arquitectura Técnica en función de sus resultados académicos. Existen estudiantes con mayores habilidades en el lenguaje escrito, en matemáticas o en dibujo, favoreciendo mejores resultados en unas asignaturas más afines a esas habilidades. Para ello se han recogido los resultados académicos de los estudiantes en las asignaturas del primer curso de la titulación, se ha realizado un estudio de correlación entre los resultados de las asignaturas y un posterior análisis de conglomerados que permite agrupar a los estudiantes en distintas agrupaciones o clases (taxonomía). Esta clasificación permite identificar en qué asignaturas destaca cada grupo de estudiantes y en cuáles tienen mayores dificultades. El conocer estos perfiles puede ayudar en la toma de decisiones para la orientación académica de los estudiantes, ayudando a identificar futuras debilidades en función de las características del alumnado

Housing Price Prediction Using Machine Learning Algorithms in COVID-19 Times

Machine learning algorithms are being used for multiple real-life applications and in research. As a consequence of digital technology, large structured and georeferenced datasets are now more widely available, facilitating the use of these algorithms to analyze and identify patterns, as well as to make predictions that help users in decision making. This research aims to identify the best machine learning algorithms to predict house prices, and to quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on house prices in a Spanish city. The methodology addresses the phases of data preparation, feature engineering, hyperparameter training and optimization, model evaluation and selection, and finally model interpretation. Ensemble learning algorithms based on boosting (Gradient Boosting Regressor, Extreme Gradient Boosting, and Light Gradient Boosting Machine) and bagging (random forest and extra-trees regressor) are used and compared with a linear regression model. A case study is developed with georeferenced microdata of the real estate market in Alicante (Spain), before and after the pandemic declaration derived from COVID-19, together with information from other complementary sources such as the cadastre, socio-demographic and economic indicators, and satellite images. The results show that machine learning algorithms perform better than traditional linear models because they are better adapted to the nonlinearities of complex data such as real estate market data. Algorithms based on bagging show overfitting problems (random forest and extra-trees regressor) and those based on boosting have better performance and lower overfitting. This research contributes to the literature on the Spanish real estate market by being one of the first studies to use machine learning and microdata to explore the incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic on house prices

Virtual learning environment in the "Construction of non-structural elements" Technical Architecture subject

By creating a virtual learning environment for the “Construction of non-structural elements” Technical Architecture subject, various activities were adapted to the European Higher Education Area with the aim of promoting practices that would help students develop their skills and abilities through both group and individual work. The main aim was to determine which learning tools help to improve teaching quality and help how teaching work is managed. The process of implementing the platform and the degree of its success are described through teachers’ experiences and by the data gathered from surveys administered to the students involved. The results obtained indicate that the needs of the subject are best suited to workshop activities, as they foster students’ critical sense and increase the quality of the final document produced

Estimating the workload of a student adapted to the EHEA in the "Construction of non-structural elements" Technical Architecture subject

The new ECTS credit accumulation and transfer scheme, established for adaptation to the European Higher Education Area, entails changing from the old approach to a more student-centred learning approach, measuring the time students spend on study and encouraging independent learning and more active participation. Consequently, student workload includes the hours corresponding to attendance at lectures (theoretical and/or practical sessions), study, seminars, assignments, work experience or projects, and those required for the preparation and sitting of examinations and assessment tests. The aim of this research is to estimate the workload of a student in the third-year “Construction of non-structural elements” subject on the current Technical Architecture degree course (currently being phased out) and adapt it to the demands of the Building Engineering degree course. The descriptive and experimental methodology uses a survey-type tool to gather the data sought. The results obtained indicate the need for the length of course activities to be reconsidered so as to reduce student workload and adjust the time spent on activities to the established limits. The need is also detected to correct low class attendance so as to improve both teaching quality and academic results.This research is based on the findings of the Research Network on implementation of ECTS in the Technical Architecture subject "Building Non-Structural Elements", and was conducted within the context of the call for proposals issued by the "University Teaching Research Networks Project 2010-2011", supported by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Strategic Planning and Quality and the Institute of Education Sciences at the University of Alicante

Method for quality evaluation of digital learning tools

The students´ overcrowding in classrooms and the offer of digital media courses imply the need of new learning objects in education, as these reusable electronic tools allow objective evaluation in large groups by using few resources. The aim of this research is a proposal for a massive assessment in the quality of digital learning tools used in the students´ learning process, by using statistical methods (cluster analysis). This method facilitates the classification and identification of gaps within the assessment and self-learning instruments from different psychometric indicators. The research corresponds to a study case using a learning virtual platform (moodle) where different digital learning objects were implemented and used by students as tools for learning and assessment. Teachers analysed the results applied to objective evaluation and self- assessment tests, which determined whether they were properly designed learning activities and their discriminatory properties. In conclusion, the use of statistical methods massively detected failures or errors in the design of objective tests, allowing an important improvement in the quality and reuse of these resources.This research is based on the findings of the “Research in the use of Learning Object for academic teaching”, and was conducted within the context of the call for proposals issued by the "University Teaching Research Networks Project 2012-2013", supported by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Strategic Planning and Quality and the Institute of Education Sciences at the University of Alicante

The Influence of Energy Certification on Housing Sales Prices in the Province of Alicante (Spain)

This work examines the implementation of energy labelling by the residential real estate sector. First, it considers the interest by real estate sellers in not publishing energy certification information, and then, it quantifies the impact of the housing’s energy certification on the asking price. The results are compared with those obtained from other studies conducted in distinct European countries. The study’s final sample was collected, including information from 52,939 multi-family homes placed on the real estate market in the province of Alicante (Spain). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used, as well as an ordinary least squares regression model. This study highlights the fact that, in the current market, owners and sellers have no incentive to reveal the energy certification, since this permits them to sell homes with low energy ratings at prices similar to those of more energy efficient homes. In addition, it was found that homes with better energy ratings (letters A and B) are not sold at higher prices than homes with other rating letters, unlike the case of other European countries that were examined.This research and the ACP were partially funded by Universidad de Alicante (http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100009092)