Reptes actuals per a la funció i la formació docent del professorat universitari a la UPC

Peer Reviewe

Integrated value model for sustainable assessment of school centers construction

Hundreds of new school centers were built in Catalonia between 2000 and 2009. It was a governmental decision in order to solve an endemic lack of centers that in the early 2000s had worsen. Masonry and poured on site reinforced concrete structures were used to build most of these schools as it had been done previously. The novelty was the use of interesting off site construction processes such as prefabricated concrete, steel and wood technologies. These school edifices and their building processes were analyzed in the author’s thesis in 2009. Later in 2011 the author analyzed the lyfe cycle process of the construction of these centers. In this paper the authors assess the sustainability of these schools using a dynamic evaluation tool optimized for this case study. This tool has been defined using the Integrated Value Model for Sustainable Assessment (Modelo Integrado de Valor para una Evaluación Sostenible - MIVES).Postprint (published version

Evolución de las tecnologías de prefabricación aplicadas a la arquitectura escolar

Postprint (published version

Arquitectura escolar prefabricada a Catalunya

Since 2002 over a hundred public schools have been built in Catalonia using prefabricated systems. Most of them serve as examples of a well-constructed prefabricated architecture and they have drawn the author's interest.The author chose these schools as his thesis topic, and during his research the author has found 138 sample prefabricated schools. Half of these samples were built between 2002 and 2006, as a specific project by the Catalan Education Department. But the other half had been built between 1970 and 1983, together with hundreds of other schools that had been built all over Spain according to govern deals called "Pactos de la Moncloa".Mainly, this thesis studies kindergarten and elementary centers built almost entirely out of prefabricated pieces between the years 1970 and 2006. More concretely, the author limited his study to schools built in Catalonia, which permitted a more in-depth study of the sample buildings and their systems by means of the resources at hand. Moreover, the schools built from 2006 to 2008 were discarded because they didn't improve the sample, and this was the way to get an historical view of the centers selected.This investigation started with three hypotheses: the schools included in the sample are a kind of building well-suited to prefabrication, prefabricated technology will prove to be the only one capable of producing these schools within time frame and budgetary constraints, and this prefabricated architecture has had a positive but irregular evolution.These hypotheses have been corroborated in this project, which has been developed in three main parts. First, samples are catalogued; second, samples are analyzed, and finally, the author draws his conclusions.In the process to catalogue the educational centers selected, the author carried out field research. This research allowed the author to catalogue this documentation, what has been done into three types of files: a general study of the 138 schools; a detailed catalogue of the 12 construction systems used to build these centers; and an in-depth study of the most representative school built with each construction system.Following this catalogue, the author presents his analysis, which starts with a historical review of prefabricated Spanish schools, with emphasis on the details developed in Catalan schools. In continuation, the author analyzes the samples from the same three points of view used previously while cataloging the sample schools. This methodology has been successfully applied and is considered appropriate for use in other studies of prefabricated buildings.The third section of this thesis presents the conclusions based on the analyses undertaken; from these, the author draws some recommendations for the construction of prefabricated schools in the future. Both proposals presented are based on rationality and they avoid subjective approaches to the prefabricated world. Furthermore, the author considers that the majority of his recommendations and conclusions can be applied to constructing prefabricated schools throughout the country. This research project proves that prefabricated construction systems are well-suited for schools, and their evolution has been positive but irregular. As well, the author recommends a revision be undertaken on the currently available systems in order to maximize their outcome. This redesign should consider the previous experiences and adapt these systems according to future necessities, based on teamwork by all the professionals who have worked in constructing schools with prefabricated materials.Finally, this thesis shows the qualities of a new technology for today's architecture, one closer to the values of our society: security, temporality, environmental awareness.The current crisis in construction could be an ideal moment to reflect on the need to design and build employing a more up-to-date, innovative construction technology

Evolución de las tecnologías de prefabricación aplicadas a la arquitectura escolar

Postprint (published version

Multicriteria decision-making method for sustainable site location of post-disaster temporary housing in urban areas

Many people lose their homes around the world every year because of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes. In the aftermath of a natural disaster, the displaced people (DP) have to move to temporary housing (TH) and do not have the ability to choose the settlement dimensions, distributions, neighborhood, or other characteristics of their TH. Additionally, post-disaster settlement construction causes neighborhood changes, environmental degradation, and large-scale public expenditures. This paper presents a new model to support decision makers in choosing site locations for TH. The model is capable of determining the optimal site location based on the integration of economic, social, and environmental aspects into the whole life cycle of these houses. The integrated value model for sustainable assessment (MIVES), a multicriteria decision making (MCDM) model, is used to assess the sustainability of the aforementioned aspects, and MIVES includes the value function concept, which permits indicator homogenization by taking into account the satisfaction of the involved stakeholders.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

El Terreny i l'estudi geotècnic

Descripció del recurs: 4 de maig de 2015Aquest manual esta dedicat a l’estudi geotècnic, o sigui a la informació quantificada de les característiques del terreny necessària per al projecte dels fonaments i dels murs de contenció. La primera part tracta de la classificació, formació, identificació i característiques del sòl com a material de fonamentació, conjuntament amb els valors més representatius. La segona està dedicada als assaigs necessaris per a obtenir-los, incloent-hi els que es fan a l’obra i els de laboratori, esmentant els resultats que proporcionen i la idoneïtat de la seva utilització . La tercera part exposa en detall els continguts de l’estudi geotècnic i de la campanya de reconeixement necessària per realitzar-lo, amb indicació de les incidències que es poden presentar en cada una de les seves parts. Es completa amb l’especificació de una campanya de reconeixement i un qüestionari destinat a la revisió de l'estudi geotècnic per facilitar-ne la lectura i l’aprofitament

Sustainability assessment model for mass housing's interior rehabilitation and its validation to Ekbatan, Iran

Mass housing (MH) buildings from the ‘60s to the ‘80s, after decades of continuous use and inadequate maintenance, cause several sustainability issues and need rehabilitation. Most current conventional rehabilitation approaches have long been criticized because they consider neither sustainability requirements nor contemporary building standards. In this regard, the assessment and selection of suitable approaches for rehabilitating MH interiors, from a holistic sustainability viewpoint, is a crucial issue that faces several challenges since this is a multidisciplinary and multi-criteria process. On this subject, the present study develops a novel MCDM model based on the MIVES and Delphi methods for the holistic sustainability assessment of MHs’ interior rehabilitation considering involved stakeholders' preferences. This MIVES-Delphi model relies on a comprehensive literature review, experts' seminars, on-site surveying, LCA, BIM, user/expert-based questionnaires, bias reduction, and sensitivity analysis. The model was first applied in the Ekbatan MH case study, the largest MH in Iran, to assess the sustainability of four different interior rehabilitation scenarios, including three common rehabilitation scenarios plus an innovative one. Consequently, the new model was validated, and the most sustainable scenario was selected. The specific results regarding these scenarios' evaluation disclosed that none of the common rehabilitation scenarios could either meet the minimum sustainability target value or serve as proper solutions for MH's interior rehabilitation. Contrarily, the fourth scenario, with a global sustainability index of 0.71, could meet the standard minimum target. This outcome provides a possibility for innovative rehabilitation processes to have positive effects on increasing the sustainability performance in MH buildings.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

User-friendly conceptual design of standardized glass complex shaped façades

This research study aims to design, apply and optimize a new mechanism that improves curved façades design and construction processes. In this sense, this investigation has the objective of designing an optimization algorithm that: a) is capable of optimizing complex geometric curtain wall paneling so that resulting panels are standardized; b) has a responsive feedback system that visualizes the standardization process and enables users to intervene in this process, permitting an intuitive conceptual design; c) permits the introduction of BIM to the panels and d) is based on broad application strategies so that is a tool applicable as a general working strategy. The new algorithm has been designed combining physics simulations that act on a conventional CAD system with a polygonal comparative mathematical algorithm. Then it has been applied to Mias Architects’ honorable mention proposal for the contest designed for the future Passenger Service Centre at the Kinmen Port in Taiwan. Finally, this application has been compared to the application of two similar existing software tools analyzing numerous parameters such as mesh density, previous programming time, mesh definition and optimization time, panels’ standardization time, maximum deviation, molds savings and standardization error margin among others. The new algorithm stands out because is based on glass production and construction information modeling, permits users to standardize paneling if extra time is dedicated to do so and allows users a detailed edition of the mesh. This research project concludes that the investigation has accomplished the initial objectives and the new algorithm is a useful mechanism for conceptual design processes because of their user-friendly environment and their capacity to incorporate glass construction technical knowledge, which overcomes the existing tools.Postprint (published version

Sustainability Assessment of Household Waste Based Solar Control Devices for Workshops in Primary Schools

Part of the large amounts of waste generated by human activities could have a second use while solving social problems. In this sense, the authors are carrying out a research project involving the participative development of innovative solar control devices integrated into school architecture using household waste. In general, the objectives of this research project are to: (a) optimize pupils’ learning process by improving lighting and thermal comfort levels and (b) reduce the generation of Spanish household waste by reusing part of it and increase the teaching community’s awareness about this waste. This research article reports on the steps taken to achieve these objectives by characterizing the most sustainable types of the waste-based solar control device. In this sense, this research paper defines and applies a new methodology which combines General Morphology Analysis (GMA), a new tool based on The Integrated Value Model for Sustainable Assessment and Focus groups. First, up to 96 different types of solar control devices composed of household waste have been defined using GMA and, second, these 96 types and conventional roller shutters have been assessed using this new tool. Based on these article results, one of the best alternatives has been prototyped during an initial workshop.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version