Oriol Pons

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

AbstractMany 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, w...

Multi-criteria decision-making model for assessing the sustainability index of wind-turbine support systems: application to a new precast concrete alternative

AbstractA multi-criteria decision-making system based on the MIVES method is presented as a model for assessing the global sustainability index scores of existing wind-turbine support systems. This model is specifically designed to discriminate between tower systems in order to minimize the subjectivity of the decision and, thus, facilitate the task of deciding which system is best for a given set of boundary conditions (e.g., height, turbine power, soil conditions) and economic, social and environmental requirements. The model’s versatility is proven by assessing the sustainability index of an innovative new precast concrete tower alternative also described in this paper. As a result of this analysis, some points of improvement in the new system have been detected.

Improving the learning process in the latest prefabricated school buildings

Since 2000 hundreds of school centers have been constructed in Catalonia using industrialized technologies. These centers are modern, useful, educational edifices built using advantageous prefabricated technologies that improve the building process and reduce the environmental impact of the building. This article analyses whether these technologies can have a positive influence upon learning activities. For example, it studies the viability of carrying out educational projects about the school building itself in the near future. First, there is an introduction about the prefabrication of hundreds of schools since 2000. Next, there is an analysis of the main architectural features that belong to these industrialized school buildings. The following part studies if these architectural features could have an impact on the learning process and/or affect the curriculum. The next part analyses this teaching process by interviewing several schools’ teaching staff. Finally, conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made for future educational projects.

Suitability of Different Decision-Making Methods Applied for Analysing Sustainable Post-disaster Temporary Housing

Increasing population of urban areas by 2050, especially in areas highly prone to natural hazards, could potentially threaten vulnerable cities in the face of future disaster events. Alternative temporary housing (TH) needs to be assessed as an important element of local resiliency. In this regard, there are some interrelated factors that can have antithetical impacts on the different cases of TH. Thus, proper decision-making models can be highly useful to deal with this complex multifaceted process. These models should be flexible and adaptable to existing local and boundary conditions since a TH strategy could lead to different satisfactions and perceptions. This chapter aims to present a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method for choosing the most sustainable temporary housing alternative. To this end, general requirements of the decision-making process for dealing with temporary housing selection are specified and organized based on the assessed cases. Finally, all possible decision-making methods are assessed to determine the most suitable one based on correspondence between the methods and the requirements. As a result, this study concludes that a robust MCDM method should incorporate concept method to objectively measure the satisfaction degree of every stakeholder involved. In this sense, the Integrated Value Model for Sustainable Assessment (MIVES) is a suitable method for assessing the sustainability of temporary housing since this includes the value function method (based on the utility theory).

Rooftop greenhouses in educational centers: A sustainability assessment of urban agriculture in compact cities

Today, urban agriculture is one of the most widely used sustainability strategies to improve the metabolism of a city. Schools can play an important role in the implementation of sustainability master plans, due their socio-educational activities and their cohesive links with families; all key elements in the development of urban agriculture. Thus, the main objective of this research is to develop a procedure, in compact cities, to assess the potential installation of rooftop greenhouses (RTGs) in schools. The generation of a dynamic assessment tool capable of identifying and prioritizing schools with a high potential for RTGs and their eventual implementation would also represent a significant factor in the environmental, social, and nutritional education of younger generations. The methodology has four-stages (Pre-selection criteria; Selection of necessities; Sustainability analysis; and Sensitivity analysis and selection of the best alternative) in which economic, environmental, social and governance aspects all are considered. It makes use of Multi-Attribute Utility Theory and Multi-Criteria Decision Making, through the Integrated Value Model for Sustainability Assessments and the participation of two panels of multidisciplinary specialists, for the preparation of a unified sustainability index that guarantees the objectivity of the selection process. This methodology has been applied and validated in a case study of 11 schools in Barcelona (Spain). The social perspective of the proposed methodology favored the school in the case-study with the most staff and the largest parent-teacher association (social and governance indicators) that obtained the highest sustainability index (S11); at a considerable distance (45%) from the worst case (S3) with fewer school staff and parental support. Finally, objective decisions may be taken with the assistance of this appropriate, adaptable, and reliable Multi-Criteria Decision-Making tool on the vertical integration and implementation of urban agriculture in schools, in support of the goals of sustainable development and the circular economy.

Improving the Metabolism and Sustainability of Buildings and Cities Through Integrated Rooftop Greenhouses (i-RTG)

Food security in cities is an increasing concern due to the impact of climate change and the concentration of world population in cities. Urban agriculture (UA) aims at enhancing food production in urban areas, providing potential environmental advantages by reducing food transport, packaging and waste generation. Among UA alternatives, rooftop greenhouses (RTGs) are greenhouses built on top of urban roofs, in which mainly soil-less agriculture systems are used to produce food. When RTGs are integrated into the metabolism of their buildings, they exchange CO2, energy and water to improve their performance. This alternative is called integrated RTG (i-RTG). This chapter analyses the use of i-RTGs to improve buildings and cities’ metabolism and its particular application in the area of Barcelona. This analysis aims to define a new agricultural system from a technological and sustainability approach focusing on Mediterranean cities. Our research is based on the development and results of the Fertilecity project. A particular experimental analysis was conducted at ICTA’s i-RTG lab located near Barcelona. The main factors of interest are architectural and engineering requirements, urban integration, CO2 emissions management, energy consumption, food production, social integration and rainwater harvesting. This analysis has used different methods such as life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC) and semi-quantitative assessments. Multiple integrated results were obtained both at the building and city scale. For example, we proved that the i-RTG and its flow exchanges with the building could help to save heating energy, waste generation, water consumption and CO2 emissions.