Competitive Project 2022 – 2023

2021 KEY 00003

Competitive project, financed by the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR).

Participation of the AiEM research group in the research project “System for energy rehabilitation of obsolete façade enclosures, capable of reducing the heat block effect in urban space. SATE_VEG”.

The project consists of the development of an SATE system -exterior thermal insulation system- with a vegetal finish, which does not require the incorporation of irrigation pipes. The proposed technology improves the thermal properties of the facade envelope, reducing the building’s energy consumption and reducing the heat block effect in the outdoor space near the rehabilitated facade.

This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union.

COMPETITIVE PROJECT 2021-2025

PID2020-116036RB-I100

This project focuses on the definition of environmental comfort parameters that can favor the presence of urban shelters where the population of vulnerable neighborhoods can find a space to satisfy the need for contact with nature, while contributing to reduce the impact of the heat island in the city.

The project aims to characterize these possible urban shelters and, based on existing vulnerability indicators with some incorporations such as energy, identify urban areas that do not have comfortable spaces. Thanks to this, guidelines can be given to help make decisions that increase the resilience of the city.

Urban sites in vulnerable neighbourhoods: environmental behaviour of public space for the resilient city. Coch, H., Lopez-Besora, J., Isalgue, A., Pages, A., Pardal, C., Crespo, I., Garcia-Nevado, E.

In the last 60 years, the growth of the urban population has increased from 33% to 55% and is expected to reach 70% by 2050. Compact Mediterranean cities have shown to be efficient models in terms of energy use in building and transport. But this high efficiency of compactness, from an energy point of view, can lead to low resilience of the urban environment. In extreme situations, such as those related to climate change, or currently with the pandemic due to Covid-19, the weak points of any system, including the urban system, are highlighted. The requirements related to health and comfort in indoor spaces have been extensively studied, but in the current situation, the need for citizens to relate to outer space has been seen. An example of this need has been the large influx of inhabitants of cities into intermediate spaces, such as balconies or rooftops, in search of contact with air and the sun. The urban space is the external space that citizens have access to and that we want to focus on.

Urban areas with quality spaces have welcomed local people; but this has not been possible in neighbourhoods with degraded or scarce spaces, which mostly have a high population density. This project focuses on the definition of external environmental comfort parameters that can favor the presence of urban shelters where the population of vulnerable neighborhoods can find a space to satisfy the need for contact with nature, while contributing to reduce the impact of the heat island in the city. The project aims to characterize these possible urban shelters and, based on existing vulnerability indicators, with some incorporations such as energy, identify urban areas that do not have comfortable spaces. All this in order to favor these places, taking advantage of the existing urban irregularities that in previous projects have been considered spaces of opportunity. The urban climate of these shelters will be addressed from the perspective of the impact on the environmental perception of users. The evaluation will focus on the effect they have on the urban climate (thermal, acoustic, light and air quality) immediately on the pedestrian, that is, at street level.

The environmental impact of certain characteristics such as soil permeability, vegetation type, urban morphology, building type, scooping, ventilation, lighting, mobility, anthropogenic heat or surface albedo will be evaluated, in immediate space and in the effect of urban heat island. The innovation that this project brings is to include in the same georeferenced database the vulnerability indicators currently already mapped with the microclimatic data of the selected case studies. With this, guidelines can be given to help in decision-making in favour of the implementation of spaces that increase the resilience of the city (urban shelters) in places where its effect is most beneficial for the population (vulnerable neighborhoods) and for the urban system as a whole (heat island).

MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION. State Agency for Research, Development and Innovation oriented to the challenges of society.

UNESCO Classification:

3305 – CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY

6201 – ARCHITECTURE

Project type: Type B

Duration: 4 years

Principal Investigator 1: Helena Coch Roura

Principal Investigator 2: Judit López Besora

Competitive project 05/2019 – 10/2019

2018 LLAV 00011

Competitive project, funded by the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR)

Participation of the AiEM research group in the research project “Design of a filtering and photocatalytic lamella system for the sanitation of the ventilation air of buildings (L2D)”.

The project consists of the development of a double air purification slat to be integrated into double-skin facade configurations.

This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union within the framework of the ERDF Operational Program of Catalonia 2014-2020

Strategy: Research and innovation strategy for smart specialisation in Catalonia (RIS3CAT)

Year of the call: 2019

Funding body: Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR)

COMPETITIVE PROJECT 2016-2020

BIA2016-77675-R

This project aims to advance the energy efficiency of Mediterranean cities, identifying the parameters of edificatory morphology that allow characterizing the irregularities and exceptions of different urban plots and their influence against energy demand. The objective is to provide knowledge and tools for decision-making in the planning and management of consolidated Mediterranean cities.

MINISTRY OF ECONOMY AND COMPETITIVENESS. State Program of Research, Development and Innovation Oriented to the Challenges of Society.
UNESCO Classification:
3305 – CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY
6201 – ARCHITECTURE
Project type: Type B
Duration (in years): 4
Principal investigator: Helena Coch Roura
Principal Investigator 2: Antonio Isalgué Buxeda

Coch, H.; Isalgue, A.; Crespo, I.; Roset, J.; Pardal, C.

The growing displacement of the world population towards urban areas proposes alternatives that contemplate the consolidated city itself as a place of action to solve the accommodation of this population instead of continuing to occupy the surrounding territory with more building and invading the fertile land close to the original settlements.

To optimise existing urban planning, it will be essential to have a body of doctrine on environmental and social issues that takes into account aspects of energy consumption and resources, as well as those of comfort and personal well-being.

Previously, the incidence of urban morphology was studied as a modifier factor of local climatic conditions to evaluate the characteristics attributable to Mediterranean cities, as a compact city model (BIA2013-45597-R). The results showed new elements that opened the field of work in the following terms: On the one hand, the importance of the irregularities and exceptions of urban plots to improve the energy response according to irregularities at the scale of building, neighborhood or urban fabric.

On the other hand, the need to analyze the incidence of the various physical parameters that affect energy flows (thermal, light and acoustic) once the different residential typologies have been characterized. And finally, the focus on urban-scale rehabilitation as a system for filling existing cities in contrast to territorial expansion.

Consequently, having obtained systematic characterization parameters of the compact Mediterranean city, it is intended to deepen the irregularity of building and plots. Once the aspects of this city model in terms of its environmental behaviour have been analyzed, the constructive and energy parameters that affect the living conditions of its inhabitants must be defined with the aim of laying the foundations for establishing appropriate intervention criteria.

COMPETITIVE PROJECT 2013-2016

BIA 2013-45597

MINISTRY OF ECONOMY AND COMPETITIVENESS. State Program for Research, Development and Innovation Oriented to Society Challenges
UNESCO Classification:
3305 – CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY
6201 – ARCHITECTURE

Project TIpus: Type B
Duration (in years): 3
Principal investigator: Helena Coch Roura
Principal Investigator 2: Isabel Crespo Cabillo

Roset, J.; Crespo, I.; Pardal, C.; Cecere, C.; Pages-Ramon, A.; Beckers, B.; Rogora, A.; Coch, H.

Borderline Metropolis. by Labics

The city is a complex system in which many parameters converge. The large number of these parameters greatly hinders not only an accurate analysis of all of them, but also the assessment of the phenomena that occur in the city and its impact on the environment. Urban planning is one of the challenges facing society today. It involves both architects and planners and also other social and professional groups. All of them converge in this common area of energy and environmental exchange

The world’s population is moving to urban areas in an increasing proportion. Consequently, these areas become potential points of conflict, so they must be planned carefully. To optimize urban planning, it is essential to have a body of doctrine in environmental and social issues taking into account aspects such as energy consumption, resources, comfort and well-being.

This project aims to improve the energy efficiency in buildings in Mediterranean cities by identifying those parameters of the shape of the buildings which allow us to describe the different urban fabrics and their influence on the buildings envelope performance regarding energy demand. This will change our energy system reducing our dependence of solid fuels and optimizing the use of solar energy as a clean, safe and efficient energy.

Nowadays, a reasonable way to simulate the environmental performance of urban structures does not exist. This project aims to identify and define the urban parameters required for a geometric description of the different urban fabrics, in order to facilitate an approach to its environmental performance.

A first parameter to deal with focuses on describing the relationship among buildings skin (interior-exterior interchange), interior volume (inside living space) and outer volume (outside urban area). The idea of urban/built density is conceptualized in a single parameter. Otherwise, this dichotomy makes it difficult to be applied in many works already done, as they become a difficult case to generalize.

The parameters will be validated using GIS (Geographic Information System) in some of the cities with an available appropriate cartography data. Results will be compared with the simulated heat island effect. Consequently, general laws about buildings skin performance will be deduced in order to improve its efficiency. The improvement in the overall performance involving certain materials applied to the rehabilitation of buildings skins in warm climates will be checked in the laboratory and in possible real cases. The final result of the project is a tool based on Geographic Information Systems, which will provide us with objective data on which to base for design and urban planning criteria.

In addition, this research will allow us to identify the most appropriate and effective strategies for acting in the building stock, in order to improve the envelope of the existing buildings (for example using solar controllers, insulating material, transparent insulation, etc.). Moreover, this research will help to take the appropriate urban planning policies related to future design and growth of cities

 Garcia-Almirall, Pilar; Burns, M.; Marmolejo, C.; Biere, R.M.; Marambio, A.; Moix, M.; Carceller, F.; Arellano, Blanca; Aguilar, A.; Coch, H.; Cuchi, A.; Isalgue, A.; Alonso, C.; Corso, J.M.; Pages-Ramon, A.; Roset, J.; Crespo, I.; Perez, I.; Roca, J.
Competitive Proyect

Font, A.; Cuchi, A.; Rueda, S.; Carrera, J.M.; Kourkoutas, K.; Calderon, A.; Carrasco, M.; Mes, S.; Llop, C.

BIA2012-35306
2013-2015
Government of Spain. Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Mineco

Competitive project

FINANCING ENTITY: MICINN
PROJECT REFERENCE: ENE2009-11540
2010-2012
CALL: National
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Helena Coch Roura
Number of researchers: 6
Development and validation of related theoretical models
with urban behavior. Planting of
physical parameters and influence factors in a method of
urban valuation.

FINANCING ENTITY: European Commission, Intelligent Energy Executive Agency
EIE/05/196/SI2.419861
PARTICIPATING ENTITIES: HABIT HABIT
(2006-2007)
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Serra, R. No. researchers: 4

FINANCING ENTITY: Commission of the European Communities, DG TREN
EIE-2003-172-EULEB
(2003 -2006)
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Coch, H. Number of researchers: 4+12
Selection and study of the 5 Spanish buildings to be shown as representative of one
efficient architecture and with aesthetic added value confirmed by competitions or publications in which they refer. Existing data analysis and comparison with buildings
selected in other climatic areas of Europe.