scholarly journals Sustainable acoustic insulation for prefabricated concrete homes in Andean zones

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 496-508
Author(s):  
Marcel Paredes ◽  
Alexis Andrade ◽  
Valeria Arroba ◽  
Tito Castillo ◽  
Fausto Lopez

The construction sector is undoubtedly one of the main promoters for economic and social development. The modern concept of the prefabrication of elements originated from the industrial revolution to reduce costs and increase production through the mechanization of work, increasing the quality and ease of control in the plant. Prefabricated concrete homes are aimed at the popular sectors, however, when talking about acoustic habitability comfort we refer to constructive solutions used in a building to minimize the transmission of sounds (noise pollution) from outside or from an adjoining enclosure. This is achieved with the use of acoustic insulation materials. In the present research, through a bibliographic review, the updated state-of-the-art search methodology is developed, supported by the Delphi and AHP (hierarchical analytical process) methods and with the opinion of experts to compare the properties of acoustic insulating materials; in order to publicize the best acoustic insulators to be installed inside prefabricated concrete homes. Within the bibliographic review, new technologies with sustainable materials found as feasible prototypes were investigated in Ecuador, where thanks to its diversity of ecosystems and the necessary existing technology, the natural fibers used in the prototypes for insulation/absorption are easily found acoustics in homes.

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Valente ◽  
Abbas Sibai ◽  
Matteo Sambucci

Additive manufacturing is one of the main topics of the fourth industrial revolution; defined as Industry 4.0. This technology offers several advantages related to the construction and architectural sectors; such as economic; environmental; social; and engineering benefits. The usage of concrete in additive technologies allows the development of innovative applications and complexity design in the world of construction such as buildings; housing modules; bridges; and urban and domestic furniture elements. The aim of this review was to show in detail a general panoramic of extrusion-based additive processes in the construction sector; the main advantages of using additive manufacturing with the respect to traditional manufacturing; the fundamental requirements of 3D printable material (fresh and hardened properties), and state-of-the-art aesthetic and architectural projects with functional properties.


2019 ◽  
Vol 887 ◽  
pp. 90-97
Author(s):  
Jiří Zach ◽  
Jitka Hroudová ◽  
Azra Korjenic

The trend of achieving sustainable development in the area of new, eco-friendly materials remains topical for many experts concerned with developing new materials applicable worldwide in civil engineering as well as elsewhere. Our research team has for many years been developing non-traditional materials that meet the current requirements. These materials are made with organic fibers – waste natural fibers produced by agriculture or waste industrial (locally produced) fibers. Their thermal and acoustic insulation properties are very close to those of conventional insulation materials (expanded polystyrene, extruded polystyrene, mineral wool, polyurethane foam), which are still finding broad use in the Czech Republic despite their harmful impact on the environment. The paper focuses on the various uses of several types of textile fibers (mainly by-products) in the development of modern insulation materials with a high value added. These materials bear several specific advantages over conventional insulations, which enable, among others, easier installation. Some of the newly developed insulations can also be used as core insulations in the manufacture of vacuum insulation panels (VIP).


2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2110004
Author(s):  
Giulia Scialpi ◽  
Daniela Perrotti

Soil has been used as building material for thousands of years with a decrease in popularity after the industrial revolution. Nowadays, there is a growing interest in the implementation of unfired soil-based building solutions for their low environmental impact, performances and availability. Traditional soil construction techniques have recurrently included vegetal fibres to enhance soil performance and recent studies highlight a predominant use of agro- and non-agro-waste for unfired soil construction. The article reviews the state-of-the-art of the use of excavated soil and biowaste in the construction industry including a novel focus on urban-only waste and on building technologies using the integration of these two secondary construction material flows. Our literature review highlights a lack of references about the joint use of these secondary resources. Finally, future research orientations are suggested to promote their implementation in the building sector, which could improve urban waste management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-226
Author(s):  
Ricardo M. Piñeyro Prins ◽  
Guadalupe E. Estrada Narvaez

We are witnessing how new technologies are radically changing the design of organizations, the way in which they produce and manage both their objectives and their strategies, and -above all- how digital transformation impacts the people who are part of it. Even today in our country, many organizations think that digitalizing is having a presence on social networks, a web page or venturing into cases of success in corporate social intranet. Others begin to invest a large part of their budget in training their teams and adapting them to the digital age. But given this current scenario, do we know exactly what the digital transformation of organizations means? It is necessary? Implying? Is there a roadmap to follow that leads to the success of this process? How are organizations that have been born 100% digital from their business conception to the way of producing services through the use of platforms? What role does the organizational culture play in this scenario? The challenge of the digital transformation of businesses and organizations, which is part of the paradigm of the industrial revolution 4.0, is happening here and now in all types of organizations, whether are they private, public or third sector. The challenge to take into account in this process is to identify the digital competences that each worker must face in order to accompany these changes and not be left out of it. In this sense, the present work seeks to analyze the main characteristics of the current technological advances that make up the digital transformation of organizations and how they must be accompanied by a digital culture and skills that allow their successful development. In order to approach this project, we will carry out an exploratory research, collecting data from the sector of new actors in the world of work such as employment platforms in its various areas (gastronomy, delivery, transportation, recreation, domestic service, etc) and an analysis of the main technological changes that impact on the digital transformation of organizations in Argentina.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seeram Ramakrishna ◽  
Alfred Ngowi ◽  
Henk De Jager ◽  
Bankole O. Awuzie

Growing consumerism and population worldwide raises concerns about society’s sustainability aspirations. This has led to calls for concerted efforts to shift from the linear economy to a circular economy (CE), which are gaining momentum globally. CE approaches lead to a zero-waste scenario of economic growth and sustainable development. These approaches are based on semi-scientific and empirical concepts with technologies enabling 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and 6Rs (reuse, recycle, redesign, remanufacture, reduce, recover). Studies estimate that the transition to a CE would save the world in excess of a trillion dollars annually while creating new jobs, business opportunities and economic growth. The emerging industrial revolution will enhance the symbiotic pursuit of new technologies and CE to transform extant production systems and business models for sustainability. This article examines the trends, availability and readiness of fourth industrial revolution (4IR or industry 4.0) technologies (for example, Internet of Things [IoT], artificial intelligence [AI] and nanotechnology) to support and promote CE transitions within the higher education institutional context. Furthermore, it elucidates the role of universities as living laboratories for experimenting the utility of industry 4.0 technologies in driving the shift towards CE futures. The article concludes that universities should play a pivotal role in engendering CE transitions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas Theisgen ◽  
Florian Strauch ◽  
Matías de la Fuente ◽  
Klaus Radermacher

AbstractRisk classes defined by MDR and FDA for state-of-the-art surgical robots based on their intended use are not suitable as indicators for their hazard potential. While there is a lack of safety regulation for an increasing degree of automation as well as the degree of invasiveness into the patient’s body, adverse events have increased in the last decade. Thus, an outright identification of hazards as part of the risk analysis over the complete development process and life cycle of a surgical robot is crucial, especially when introducing new technologies. For this reason, we present a comprehensive approach for hazard identification in early phases of development. With this multi-perspective approach, the number of hazards identified can be increased. Furthermore, a generic catalogue of hazards for surgical robots has been established by categorising the results. The catalogue serves as a data pool for risk analyses and holds the potential to reduce hazards through safety measures already in the design process before becoming risks for the patient.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-211
Author(s):  
Patricia Bazan ◽  
Elsa Estevez

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the state of the art of social business process management (Social BPM), explaining applied approaches, existing tools and challenges and to propose a research agenda for encouraging further development of the area. Design/methodology/approach The methodology comprises a qualitative analysis using secondary data. The approach relies on searches of scientific papers conducted in well-known databases, identifying research work related to Social BPM solutions and those contributing with social characteristics to BPM. Based on the identified papers, the authors selected the most relevant and the latest publications, and categorized their contributions and findings based on open and selective coding. In total, the analysis is based on 51 papers that were selected and analyzed in depth. Findings Main results show that there are several studies investigating modeling approaches for socializing process activities and for capturing implicit knowledge possessed and used by process actors, enabling to add some kind of flexibility to business processes. However, despite the proven interest in the area, there are not yet adequate tools providing effective solutions for Social BPM. Based on our findings, the authors propose a research agenda comprising three main lines: contributions of social software (SS) to Social BPM, Social BPM as a mechanism for adding flexibility to and for discovering new business processes and Social BPM for enhancing business processes with the use of new technologies. The authors also identify relevant problems for each line. Practical implications Some SS tools, like wikis, enable managing social aspects in executing business processes and can be used to coordinate simple business processes. Despite they are commonly used, they are not yet mature tools supporting Social BPM and more efficient tools are yet to appear. The lack of tools preclude organizations from benefitting from implicit knowledge owned by and shared among business process actors, which could contribute to better-informed decisions related to organizational processes. In addition, more research is needed for considering Social BPM as an approach for organizations to benefit from the adoption of new technologies in their business processes. Originality/value The paper assesses the state of the art in Social BPM, an incipient area in research and practice. The area can be defined as the intersection of two bigger areas highly relevant for organizations; on the one hand, the management and execution of business processes; and on the other hand, the use of social software, including social media tools, for leveraging on implicit knowledge shared by business process actors to improving efficiency of business processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 10448
Author(s):  
Riccardo Karim Khamaisi ◽  
Elisa Prati ◽  
Margherita Peruzzini ◽  
Roberto Raffaeli ◽  
Marcello Pellicciari

The fourth industrial revolution is promoting the Operator 4.0 paradigm, originating from a renovated attention towards human factors, growingly involved in the design of modern, human-centered processes. New technologies, such as augmented reality or collaborative robotics are thus increasingly studied and progressively applied to solve the modern operators’ needs. Human-centered design approaches can help to identify user’s needs and functional requirements, solving usability issues, or reducing cognitive or physical stress. The paper reviews the recent literature on augmented reality-supported collaborative robotics from a human-centered perspective. To this end, the study analyzed 21 papers selected after a quality assessment procedure and remarks the poor adoption of user-centered approaches and methodologies to drive the development of human-centered augmented reality applications to promote an efficient collaboration between humans and robots. To remedy this deficiency, the paper ultimately proposes a structured framework driven by User eXperience approaches to design augmented reality interfaces by encompassing previous research works. Future developments are discussed, stimulating fruitful reflections and a decisive standardization process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Sedikova

High growth rates of natural resources consumption in recent years, pollution of the environment contribute to the development of theories regarding the future provision of natural resources on the Earth. Thepurpose of the article is to study the concept of sustainable development and the need for its introductioninto economic activity, definition of ideas influencing the modern concept of the circular economy. The concept of stable development and circular economy is analyzed, common features and differences are defined.It has been established that the circular economy is a prerequisite and driver of the fourth industrial revolution. The basis of the circular economy are closed supply chains. They combine the usual processes of adirect supply chain with reverse logistics processes, ranging from product recovery, disassembly and reuseof individual parts.


Author(s):  
Ewa Suknarowska-Drzewiecka

The digital revolution, also called the fourth industrial revolution, constitutes another era of change, caused by the development of computerisation and modern technologies. It is characterised by rapid technological progress, widespread digitisation and an impact on all areas of life, including the provision of work. The changes affecting this area are so significant that there are proposals to remodel the definition of the employment relationship in the Labour Code. New forms of employment, which do not fit the conventional definition of an employment relationship, are emerging and gaining importance. An example could be employment via digital platforms. At the same time, there are also employment forms that do fit that definition, but deviate from the conventional understanding of the terms and conditions for performing work, which have undergone modification due to the use of new technologies. Teleworking, or working outside the employer’s premises, are examples of that. Employers get further opportunities to organise and control work, which often raises concerns due to the employee’s right to privacy, the protection of personal rights and personal data.


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