Costing, Adobe Technique as a Sustainable Construction System in the City of Cuenca

Adobe is an old material used in construction but over time, this construction system has lost space and preference among population. Hence, the need to seek alternatives as professionals in the construction area to encourage the use of the Adobe technique has raised. Thus, the present study made a cost of the items involved in the construction of houses from the adobe based on the theoretical references. In addition, it established a unit price analysis that identifies the particularities of this system focusing on an analytical, descriptive-conclusive methodology whose data are analysed from the results of applying a survey (n = 96) to the inhabitants of the rural sector of Cuenca and construction experts (n = 11). The average price of the construction of houses with Adobe is $ 38,357.23 dollars for a house of 150 m2 taking into account that the real costs and the construction activity are sensitive to changes in the population and market prices.

Evaluation and Analysis of Unit Prices of a Rammed Earth Construction System

The tapial is part of the traditional construction worldwide, which uses environmentally friendly materials of natural origin such as raw earth, wood and water for its manufacture. The construction technique was used for the construction of habitable spaces, which are part of the ancestral construction system of our country; Despite the above, no updated studies on the costs required in the construction process have been identified in Ecuador. This is mainly due to the constant development of new technologies that introduce new construction systems to the market that use industrialized materials for their manufacture. Therefore, this document evaluated and analyzed the unit prices of the items involved in the construction of works using mud as its main component. Field and exploratory research was applied, through the application of surveys to a sample of 97 professionals of Civil Engineering and Architecture in the city of Cuenca, as well as 30 professionals with experience in construction of the indicated construction system. The Unit Price Analysis determined that the average cost of a 140 m2 typical house is $ 46,236.64 with an estimated cost of $ 330.26 per square meter; Similarly, the study determined a maximum cost of $ 53,172.14 USD with a value of $ 379.80 USD per square meter and a minimum value that represents $ 39,301.14 with a cost per square meter of $ 280.72.

Thermal performance of a novel lightweight emergency construction system in different climates

Prefabricated, lightweight construction systems, thanks to their quicker construction processes, cheapness, higher portability, and adaptability, are increasingly proposed all around the world as emergency architectures (after natural disasters, pandemics, etc.), and as affordable housing solutions in countries with increasing housing demand. Due to their low thermal inertia, however, these buildings are often characterized by poor thermal performance in hot climates due to indoor overheating. The possible application of passive cooling measures is often investigated to improve their thermal performance. Among others, cool materials present some advantages in terms of ease of application and costs. However, few studies investigated the impact of this passive strategy on the thermal performance of emergency buildings. For this reason, this work evaluates the impact of cooling materials on the thermal performance of a novel lightweight prefabricated construction system (HOMEDONE) based on the assembly of reinforced-EPS panels. First, a numerical model of an experimental mock-up was created and calibrated on experimental data. Then, the thermal performance of a typical temporary housing solution was numerically evaluated under different climatic locations. Finally, the effectiveness of cooling finishing materials is investigated. The potential of cooling materials in reducing the energy demand for the studied construction system is then highlighted.