A model for quantifying construction waste in projects according to the European waste list

The new EU challenge is to recover 70% by weight of C&D waste in 2020. Literature reveals that one major barrier is the lack of data. Therefore, this paper presents a model which allows technicians to estimate C&D waste during the design stage in order to promote prevention and recovery. The types and quantities of CW are estimated and managed according to EU guidelines, by building elements and specifically for each project. The model would allow detection of the source of the waste and to adopt other alternative procedures which delete hazardous waste and reduce CW. Likewise, it develops a systematic structure of the construction process, a waste classification system and some analytical expressions which are based on factors. These factors depend on technology and represent a standard on site. It would allow to develop a database of waste anywhere. A Spanish case study is covered. Factors were obtained by studying over 20 dwellings. The source and types of packaging waste, remains, soil and hazardous waste were estimated in detail and were compared with other studies. Results reveal that the model can be implemented in projects and the chances of reducing and recovery C&D waste could be increased, well above the EU challenge.Consejería de Vivienda y Ordenación del Territorio de la Junta de Andalucí

Development and validation of a building design waste reduction model

Reduction in construction waste is a pressing need in many countries. The design of building elements is considered a pivotal process to achieve waste reduction at source, which enables an informed prediction of their wastage reduction levels. However the lack of quantitative methods linking design strategies to waste reduction hinders designing out waste practice in building projects. Therefore, this paper addresses this knowledge gap through the design and validation of a Building Design Waste Reduction Strategies (Waste ReSt) model that aims to investigate the relationships between design variables and their impact on onsite waste reduction. The Waste ReSt model was validated in a real-world case study involving 20 residential buildings in Spain. The validation process comprises three stages. Firstly, design waste causes were analyzed. Secondly, design strategies were applied leading to several alternative low waste building elements. Finally, their potential source reduction levels were quantified and discussed within the context of the literature. The Waste ReSt model could serve as an instrumental tool to simulate designing out strategies in building projects. The knowledge provided by the model could help project stakeholders to better understand the correlation between the design process and waste sources and subsequently implement design practices for low-waste buildings

Estudio comparativo de indicadores de sostenibilidad en sistemas leed y hades

Actualmente son diversas las evidencias que demuestran el daño que producen las actividades humanas en el medioambiente, donde la organización territorial y nuestra forma de vida juegan un papel fundamental. En la literatura especializada se reconoce como clave, para estos sistemas, el rol de los indicadores ambientales a la hora de evaluar los edificios. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo general el estudio de los indicadores que usan los sistemas HADES y LEED para la evaluación de edificios de uso residencial, a partir del análisis de 2 edificios construidos en Andalucía. Los mismos serán evaluados utilizando estos sistemas de evaluación ambiental, el Sistema LEED (LEED (Spain Green Building Council) y la herramienta HADES (Green Building Council de España, sistema VERDE). Finalmente nos centraremos en el estudio de sus indicadores y criterios de evaluación, mediante la clasificación de instrumentos de evaluación, el estudio comparativo de aspectos y pesos relativos otorgados

Clinically relevant medicine label-based exercises: a friendly bridge between medicinal chemistry and pharmacotherapeutics

[EN] Aims. To make the students of Medicinal Chemistry (MC) course for doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) understand how strongly connected the chemical properties of drugs are to their clinical profiles and therapeutics, and determine students’ satisfaction degree. Design. Students in the spring 2013 section of the MC course were taught in a traditional teacher-centered manner. Students in the spring 2015 and 2016 ones had additional guided clinically relevant medicine label-based exercises. They worked in structured self-selected teams and chemically explained the clinical aspects of the selected drugs during oral communication sessions. They were given a 1 to 4 Likert-type scale satisfaction questionnaire, the data were collected and statistically treated. Results. The project was useful to show the connection between the chemical aspects of drugs and their clinical profiles (mean=3.33±0.65) and globally satisfactory (mean=3.07±0.47). The additional didactic material helped the students in the spring 2016 make the most of the MC course (mean=3.38±0.74, p=0.002). Conclusions. Medicine label-based exercises seem to be helpful to understand the connection between medicinal chemistry and pharmacotherapeutics. Feedback from students is generally quite favourable. The approach taken will continue to be modified and expanded.http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Giorgi, G.; Bravo Llatas, MDC. (2018). Clinically relevant medicine label-based exercises: a friendly bridge between medicinal chemistry and pharmacotherapeutics. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 865-872. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.8100OCS86587

Implementing Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment during design stages in Building Information Modelling: From systematic literature review to a methodological approach

The construction sector is a major producer of greenhouse gas and waste. Several studies reveal the close relationship between the design phase and the reduction of environmental impacts caused during the life cycle of buildings, along with better economic and social performance. In order to achieve increasingly eco-efficient buildings, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is an objective method to assess and reduce the impact buildings exert on the environment. Nevertheless, current environmental challenges require comprehensive solutions for the integration of the three pillars of sustainability, for which Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) is recognised as an appropriate holistic concept. The present paper conducts a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) which aims to detect opportunities to integrate the LCSA into the building design process and in Building Information Modelling (BIM). The results show that the harmonisation of the three dimensions and the data requirements are main achievements. Based on results obtained, a methodological approach to help on the LCSA implementation in BIM is presented. This proposed LCSA-BIM approach is applied to the Spanish architect's workflow and design stages, to exemplify its purpose.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. BIA2017-84830-

Comparative BIM-based Life Cycle Assessment of Uruguayan timber and concrete-masonry single-family houses in design stage

The use of wood and engineered wood products is today considered an opportunity for the mitigation of negative building environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions. However, the literature provides evidence that the quantification and generalization of the environmental benefits of wood during the whole building life cycle can be difficult. This paper presents a quantitative method based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to compare, during their design stages, the environmental impacts produced by a timber-frame single-family house versus those of a concrete-masonry-based house built in Uruguay. The method, conceived as a decision-oriented tool, integrates Building Information Modelling (BIM) and LCA to quantify and compare the environmental impacts of one of the most common dwelling typologies in Uruguay. The results of the cradle-to-grave assessment show that the timber-frame building produced the lowest impacts in Global Warming Potential, Human Toxicity, Acidification Potential, Ozone Depletion Potential, and Freshwater Ecotoxicity, but yielded the highest impacts in Eutrophication Potential. The findings also show that the method developed herein facilitated the comparison and contrast between the pros and cons of both design options during their design stages

Critical review of BIM-based LCA method to buildings

Current environmental problems arising from the building sector require tools to help reduce resource consumption and environmental impact. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a widely used tool to quantify the environmental impacts of the building sector. The literature recognizes the need to simplify the method application, especially to reduce and optimize data acquisition. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is defined as a virtual 3D building model which integrates with a database of their building elements. Several studies recognize that the integration of BIM and LCA can simplify data acquisition of the building as well as provide both tools with feedback. This paper reviews recent studies centered on BIM-based LCA, and also carries out a methodological analysis of their integration, focusing on the way that BIM can contribute to simplifying data input, and optimize output data and results during the LCA application in buildings. The results show the viability to develop methods based on BIM models for organizing building information used to estimate environmental and energy consumption impacts based on LCA, including: templates and plug-ins for BIM software, and the integration of automated processes combining different data and software. Reviewed papers are simplified LCA applications, mostly focused on CO2 emission calculation during the early stages of design. Finally, methodological challenges and recommendations for BIM and LCA tools are propose

Simplification in life cycle assessment of single-family houses: a review recent developments

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is globally recognized as one of the most complete methods for environmental assessment of buildings. Literature assumes that its applications in the building sector are prejudiced regarding complexity and difficulty. However, simplification is necessary, since it can facilitate LCA application in buildings. Moreover, growing interest on reducing environmental impact in the building sector, as well as the relevance of single-family houses on CO2 emissions have become key points on the wide spread of LCA. Therefore, this paper presents a research study about simplification in LCA recent studies applied to singlefamily houses. The review focuses on 20 cases that were analyzed according to ISO 14040, ISO 14044, EN 15978, and EN 15804 standards. The main objective was to identify the simplification strategies assumed in each paper, to clarify and to help to promote further developments on LCA. This paper examines system boundary definition, data sources, life cycle phases included, and environmental impact indicator calculated in case studies. Results show the variety of simplifications identified. They affect physical model definition, life cycle scenario definition and communication of results. In most cases, the functional unit was the complete building, the life cycle scenario definition included production, use and demolition phases, and the most considered environmental impact indicator was GWP. Finally, new challenges and recommendations were defined in order to establish common criteria to develop simplification strategies that allow results comparability in LCA of single-family houses

How to Obtain Accurate Environmental Impacts at Early Design Stages in BIM When Using Environmental Product Declaration. A Method to Support Decision-Making

The construction sector plays an important role in moving towards a low-carbon economy. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is considered one of the most effective methods of analytically evaluating environmental profiles and an efficient tool for calculating the environmental impacts in building design-oriented methodologies, such as building information modelling (BIM). At early design stages, generic LCA databases are used to conduct the life cycle inventory (LCI), while detailed stages require more detailed data, such as environmental product declarations (EPDs), namely documents that provide accurate results and precise analyses based on LCA. Limitations are recognized when using EPDs in BIM elements at different levels of development (LOD) in the design stages, especially related to the data consistency and system boundaries of the LCA. This paper presents a method of achieving accurate LCA results, that helps with decision-making and provides support in the selection of building products and materials. The method is validated by its application in the structural concrete of an office building located in Germany. The method defines a safety factor adopted for embodied impacts (“cradle-to-gate”), based on EPD results to predict the environmental impact of BIM elements at different LODs. The results obtained show that by integrating the method to conduct the LCA, the range of errors and possible inconsistencies in the LCA results can be reduce

Evaluación de la eficiencia de los procesos operativos para determinar el logro de los objetivos de la auditoría de desempeño en la oficina de programación multianual de inversiones, municipalidad distrital de La Coipa, periodo 2017

Es sabido que la corrupción que existe en la gestión pública no es de los últimos años y está lejos de extinguirse. Pero, ¿qué hacemos contra ello? ¿Los funcionarios y servidores públicos están preparados para enfrentar los actos de corrupción? ¿Dónde está la ética pública? ¿Dónde están los valores?. Una de las desviaciones principales en definitiva está en la ética pública, la misma que si bien se encuentra en la letra, es decir, en las normas y en las reglamentaciones, no está arraigada en los funcionarios de las instituciones públicas ni en los encargados de dirigir a las entidades del Estado quienes, muchas veces, tampoco tienen en claro los objetivos nacionales e institucionales de sus centros de trabajo. Ante esta realidad, es vital realizar un control preventivo que nos permitan identificar las áreas críticas, deficiencias y prevenir que la Oficina de Programación Multianual de Inversiones incurra en desviaciones que impidan o limiten la correcta ejecución de determinadas operaciones o actividades. Se realizó una evaluación de los procesos operativos de la Oficina de Programación Multianual de Inversiones de la Municipalidad Distrital de la Coipa, encarga de evaluación, programación y seguimiento a la inversión pública. Los resultados obtenidos indican que las áreas críticas son la formulación, ejecución y seguimiento; deficiencias que requieren medidas correctivas. Por esta razón necesita mecanismos que permitan obtener un mejor control de los procesos con el fin de optimizar el uso de los recursos públicos y un mayor impacto socio-económico. Cómo recomendación, la Municipalidad Distrital de la Coipa, para evitar actos de corrupción debemos tener servidores públicos, funcionarios y autoridades verdaderamente llenos de valores y principios éticos que les permitan tener en claro que sólo son personas que están encargadas recursos públicos del Estado y que sus cargos son temporales