The high demand for natural resources and increased industrial activity is driving the construction sector to search for new, more environmentally friendly materials. This research aims to analyse plaster mortars with the incorporation of construction and demolition waste (CDW) to move towards a more sustainable building sector. Three types of aggregates (natural, recycled concrete and recycled from ceramic walls) and two types of insulation waste (expanded polystyrene with graphite and mineral wool) have been added to the plaster matrix to evaluate its mechanical and physical properties and its suitability in the elaboration of prefabricated materials. The results show how plaster mortars made with recycled aggregates have higher mechanical resistance than conventional plaster without incorporating sand. The incorporation of crushed mineral wool residues improves the flexural strength of plaster mortars and their application in the execution of prefabricated panels. Likewise, the expanded polystyrene residues reduce the final density of mortars, improving their behaviour against water absorption and reducing the final thermal conductivity of plaster material.

Plaster is a construction material widely used for the production of prefabricated parts in building construction due to its high capacity for hygrothermal regulation, its good mechanical performance, and its fireproof nature, among other factors. Its historical use has been linked to ornamental elements, although more recent research is oriented towards the industrialisation of plaster composites and the design of prefabricated parts for false ceilings and interior partitions. In this work, the behaviour against water of four new plaster-based composite materials is studied, using additions of two types of super absorbent polymers (sodium polyacrylate and potassium polyacrylate) and a lightening material (vermiculite) in their manufacturing process. In addition, the transmission of water vapour through the samples was studied together with the water absorption capacity of the samples in order to check the suitability of the use of plaster-based materials exposed to these environments. The results of this study show that composites with the addition of super absorbent polymers as well as vermiculite significantly improve their water performance compared to traditional materials up to 7.3% water absorption with a minimal (13%) reduction in mechanical strength compared to current materials with similar additions. In this sense, a plaster material is obtained with wide possibilities of application in the construction sector that favours the development of sustainable and quality buildings, in line with Goal 9 for Sustainable Development included in the 2030 Agenda.

The environmental problems caused by industrial waste are of a universal nature. In this sense, achieving an adequate management of construction and demolition waste has become one of the great challenges of today’s society. This work studies the possibility of recovering mineral wool thermal insulation waste for its reincorporation into the manufacturing process of masonry mortar. To this end, an experimental campaign has been conducted with mortars made with natural aggregate and two types of recycled aggregates: concrete and mixed ceramic, in which mineral wool fibers are incorporated as a partial replacement of sand in percentages of 0%, 10% and 20%. The results show that, although the traditional mortars offer better technical performance, the mortars made with recycled aggregate present adequate viability for use on-site. Furthermore, it has been concluded that the incorporation of recycled mineral wool fibers in the mortar matrix decreases the thermal conductivity and shrinkage during the setting of these materials, increasing their mechanical flexural strength and durability.

Plaster is one of the most used and studied materials in the building process. This paper shows the result of the characterisation of a new plaster-based material enlightened and reinforced with polymers and end-of-life tyres’ recycled materials. As far as end-of-life tyres are a common waste item, this paper offers new recycling possibilities, as well as significant improvements in new building materials. Mechanical, thermal conductivity, sound absorption, fire reaction and environmental impact are studied and analysed. Three different end-of-life tyres’ recycled materials are used, two size rubber and textile fibres. A significant density reduction up to 17% was achieved mainly due to end-of-life materials lower density. Two thermal conductivity measurement methods, heat flux meter and guarded hot plate, were conducted and then compared. A 20% improvement with respect to the reference was achieved in those samples with textile fibre. The two methods’ measurements got a 1% difference in all samples analysed except textile fibre. Thus, this allowed to validate these methods and assure these measurements. Sound absorption was also measured. These materials reached α = 0.32 in high frequencies. Performance in low frequencies were lower. Fire tests led to no ignition results and no fire propagation. Finally, a basic global warming potential impact study based on environmental product declaration (EPD) is conducted. The most relevant result of this study is the potential 20–34% reduction of CO2 emissions with the elaboration of these composites.

Resumen-El diseño urbano es una cuestión que, hasta no hace más de 20 años, pertenecía al ámbito técnico, sin prestar demasiada atención al ámbito social, psicológico y medioambiental, dimensiones que sin duda afectan a la ciudadanía que la habita y transita. Hoy en día, desde el urbanismo feminista, el diseño de nuestras ciudades, de la movilidad y seguridad en sus calles, son cuestiones en boga, que atraen la atención de diversas ramas de la ciencia, desde la arquitectura hasta la sociología o antropología. Desde esta perspectiva, se ha realizado una revisión bibliográfica, para después, aplicar la teoría del modelo de urbanismo feminista a un caso concreto, el municipio de Alcorcón en Madrid (España). Para la implementación de dicha teoría, se ha elaborado una rúbrica de evaluación y, mediante la técnica de la observación, se han evaluado las calles más antiguas del barrio de San José de Valderas de dicho municipio. Para cerrar el artículo, se añaden propuestas de mejora económicamente viables, que amabilicen las calles observadas y tengan en cuenta en mayor medida las necesidades cotidianas de la ciudadanía.

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El presente documento presenta los resultados de un proyecto de investigación e innovación educativa llevado a cabo durante dos cursos académicos consecutivos. A través de la inclusión de herramientas como la rúbrica, y estrategias como la coevaluación y la autoevaluación, se ha investigado la mejora del rendimiento y la motivación en alumnos de primer año de grado en arquitectura de la universidad de Sevilla. concretamente en el temario del sistema axonométrico, las proyecciones ortogonales y la normalización. Esta investigación se ha desarrollado en cuatro grupos distintos de dos centros de enseñanza. Dos de los grupos recibieron en el curso académico 2018/2019 la formación de forma tradicional y los otros dos fueron sometidos al proyecto de innovación durante el curso académico 2019/2020. La motivación inicial de ambos grupos fue bastante similar. En el grupo experimental se observó una mejora significativa de la motivación tras la impartición del temario. Tras la aplicación del PIE, el aumento de la motivación ha sido más notable que el del rendimiento académico. La autoevaluación y la coevaluación han impactado de forma directa y positiva en la motivación de los alumnos, y se relaciona directamente con el rendimiento académicoAbstractThis document presents the results of an educational research and innovation project carried out during two consecutive academic years. Through the inclusion of tools such as the rubric, and strategies such as co-evaluation and self-evaluation, the improvement of performance and motivation in first year bachelor students has been investigated, specifically in the axonometric system syllabus, orthogonal projections, and normalization. This research has been developed in four different groups of two teaching centres. Two of the groups received traditional training in the 2018/2019 academic year and the other two were subjected to the innovation project during the 2019/2020 academic year. The initial motivation of both groups was quite similar. In the experimental group, a significant improvement in motivation was observed after teaching the syllabus. After the application of the PLE, the increase in motivation has been more remarkable than that of academic performance. Self-evaluation and co-evaluation have had a direct and positive impact on student motivation and are directly related to academic performance.

The effects of fire on construction materials and systems can affect buildings in many different aspects, ranging from minor surface damage to severe effects that can affect their dimensional stability and load-bearing capacity. The aim of this research is to characterise the effects of fire on a new plaster material specially designed for the manufacture of prefabricated elements. This plaster composite is made by incorporating superabsorbent polymers and perlite, which reduces its density and thermal conductivity. In the study, real direct fire exposure tests were carried out, in order to subsequently carry out a mechanical characterisation of the new plaster composites and check the effects that a fire would have on them. The incorporation of sodium polyacrylate and potassium polyacrylate as superabsorbent polymers together with the addition of perlite has been shown to improve the fire resistance of the plaster composites. Keywords: fire behavior, lightweight plaster, perlite, superabsorbent polymers.