Towards a Circular Economy for the City of Seville: The Method for Developing a Guide for a More Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism (GAUS)

Abstract

The article outlines the creation of a method for the development of tools to incorporate sustainability criteria in the field of architectural design. The aim of the research is to provide society with scientific knowledge related to sustainability, evaluating the environmental impact of their actions within the building sector, in a simple and direct manner through specific and contextualised tools. A specific tool is experimentally developed for the context of Seville, called Guide for a more Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism (GAUS), in its first document, GAUS-D1. Based on national and international documentary references, the method principles are defined, and an approach is adopted that prioritises communicative actions with the aim of reaching citizens, professionals, and researchers in the building sector. The specific experiment is developed with GAUS-D1, and an initial evaluation is made of its suitability and the validity of the proposed method. The approach followed ensures that the experience of developing this type of tool is internationally transferable to any other place. Further statistical verification of the use of the tool (which implies a defined testing strategy) is necessary so that the method can be consolidated as a national and international reference.

Decarbonization and Circular Economy in the Sustainable Development and Renovation of Buildings and Neighbourhoods

“…However, users are also participants on the sustainability of the building stock and the built environment, and they have an important role so tools are needed to transmit, in an understandable manner, how their decisions related to buildings can be sustainable. The article written by Milagrosa Borrallo-Jiménez, Maria Lopez de Asiain, Rafael Herrera-Limones and María Lumbreras Arcos [29] defines a method for the development of tools able to transmit to society scientific knowledge related to sustainability, evaluating the environmental impact of their actions in order to actively involve the actors towards a more sustainable built environment. They present a specific tool experimentally developed for the context of Seville prioritizing communicative actions in order to reach citizens and professionals, but also researchers in the building sector.…”

Space Efficiency in Contemporary Supertall Residential Buildings

“…It is also worth noting that, in the literature, concerns about the sustainability, ecologicality, or circular economy of supertall buildings have been raised in many studies (e.g., [19][20][21][22]). For example, according to Al-Kodmany [20], these buildings have features that hinder their social, economic, and environmental sustainability.…”

Verona Adapt. Modelling as a Planning Instrument: Applying a Climate-Responsive Approach in Verona, Italy

“…In turn, as the comprehensive master plan provided realizable scenarios for the simulation tools, climate experts were able to move their expertise from theoretical analyses to the applicability in real-life scenarios, improving in such ways the quality of research [1]. The interdisciplinary collaboration emphasized the necessity for knowledge exchange, but also the need for comprehensible and effective communication of this knowledge as has been highlighted before by other authors (e.g., [13,23,77,78]). Coming from different disciplinary backgrounds and even different paradigms, the dialogue between climate and planning was occasionally difficult.…”