LibGuides: Illinois School of Architecture Fall 2022 Lecture Series: Confronting Climate: Mariana Palumbo

Publications

Research

Design and construction on environmental high performance Hybrid Engineered Timber Buildings Immediate actions need to be taken to reach the sustainability target for 2050 of the European Commission for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and net zero carbon (CO2) emissions. The HybridTim project meets the huge need for solving sustainability issues and creating sustainable solutions for the design, construction and related sectors to tackle future environmental challenges. It promotes sustainable, environmentally friendly design and construction of hybrid timber buildings. The majority of today’s buildings are designed and constructed in concrete and steel, producing large amounts of greenhouse gases, i.e. carbon dioxide (CO2), into the atmosphere and contributing to climate change and global warming. Experts agree that CO2 absorbing timber is an ideal construction material, when grown in sustainable managed forests, for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Use of engineered wood combines a potential for prefabrication and rapid construction with lower embodied energy and potential delay of carbon emissions during the building’s lifetime. Timber is being used more and more in the construction sector, both in the EU and worldwide. Future sustainable hybrid timber buildings will be designed and constructed with sustainable engineered timber components, but some amount of steel and concrete construction materials will remain because buildings must satisfy structural, fire prevention, moisture absorption and economic requirements. Timber is best used in combination with other materials, taking advantage of the attributes of each material. Utilizing the high strength to weight ratio of timber, hybrid construction can combine engineered timber with concrete and/or steel to create cost-effective and sustainable building systems. Using the combination of wood, concrete and steel provides a sustainable solution to building structures as well as potential to improve building performance and design. Architects and engineering companies have already started designing hybrid timber buildings of up to 30 or even more stories. It is assumed that hybrid timber buildings will be the buildings of the future. However, now EU higher education mostly focuses on design and construction of buildings in steel and concrete and only in 1 to 4 storey buildings in timber. Therefore, in order to satisfy the needs of the labour market, it is necessary to prepare students with innovative applied skills in the area of design, construction and onsite construction management of hybrid timber buildings. To educate new generation of students in sustainable design and construction of hybrid engineered timber buildings, it's necessary to develop and integrate an innovative multi-disciplinary BSc/BA study module at participating and other HEIs, based on project based learning, learning by doing and blended learning approaches. Project HybridTim aims to fulfill the future demands in higher education of students in design and construction of high environmental performance hybrid engineered timber buildings by trans-disciplinary innovative student-centered learning approaches. OBJECTIVES: To develop and deliver new trans-disciplinary module on design and construction of engineered hybrid timber buildings, which meets the needs of the HEIs and labour market representatives. To improve competencies of students and teachers in problem solving and teamwork, innovative thinking, motivation, awareness of cross-professional project input and project management by using project based learning, learning by doing and blended learning approaches. To educate all participants (students, teachers, entrepreneurs) in the field of the engineered hybrid timber construction. To ensure open awareness of the project results to local, national, EU level and international target groups.
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Haurie Ibarra, Laia (scientific coordinator);
Lacasta Palacio, Ana Maria (researcher);
Palumbo Fernandez, Mariana (researcher);
Gaspar Fabregas, Kàtia (researcher);
Segues Aguasca, Edgar (researcher);
Giraldo Forero, Maria Del Pilar (researcher);
Avellaneda López, Alina (researcher)
StructurAción de una filial para la Valorización transfronteriza de las cañas de mAiz y de giraSol para la COnstrucción The SAVASCO project aims to structure a cross-border construction sector based on maize and sunflower stems. Today, insulating building materials are in fact mainly derived from non-renewable raw materials of mineral or petroleum origin, whose extraction and transformation induce major environmental impacts, particularly in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse and energy consumption. However, the physical characteristics of some agricultural waste such as corn stalks and sunflower give them thermal insulation performance and hygric regulation sought to formulate building materials. In addition, these biobased raw materials have many environmental advantages: they are renewable, local and constitute carbon sinks. Thus, the main objective of SAVASCO would be to contribute to the development, on the cross-border territory, of an innovative and sustainable economic sector in the building sector. Cross-border cooperation has created a consortium of laboratories and companies with complementary skills to achieve the following results: - development of low-cost rod collection and transformation processes. - the multiphysical, environmental and economic characterization of the plant aggregates produced. - the formulation, implementation and characterization of the use and environmental performance of innovative building materials developed. - the construction of two instrumented cells valued as tools for research, training and communication from a constructive solution mostly biobased. - the identification and networking of the various actors in the sector (agricultural cooperatives, designers, craftsmen, construction companies, material distributors, research laboratories and training organizations)
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Palumbo Fernandez, Mariana (scientific coordinator);
Lacasta Palacio, Ana Maria (researcher);
Haurie Ibarra, Laia (researcher);
Rodriguez Cantalapiedra, Inmaculada (researcher);
Avellaneda López, Alina (researcher);
Navarro Ezquerra, Antonia (researcher)
Cohabitem Barcelona: cinc casos d’estudi a Ciutat Vella per a la reutilització urbana i el foment de models productius innovadors La crisi sociosanitària desencadenada per la pandèmia viral de la Covid-19 ha agreujat les conseqüències provocades per les carències habitacionals de la ciutat i també les grans dificultats que troba l’emprenedoria local per a créixer a Barcelona, alhora que ha deixat en segon terme, la luita contra el canvi climàtic que poden abanderar les nostres ciutats. Aquest projecte s’adreça a millorar la gestió de la “reutilització urbana” per a facilitar el camí a la ciutat d’esdevenir més resilient en les diferents necessitats temporals de la ciutadania per ser capaç de respondre més eficientment tant en situacions d’emergència com l’actual, alhora que convertir-se en un espai d’oportunitat per al desenvolupament local de forma sostenible. Per a assolir aquest objectiu, la idea és promoure un nou model de fer ciutat , capaç de cartografiar edificis i espais infrautilitzats, elaborar un index de reutilització i fer coincidir aquests espais amb diferents activitats temporals i mixtes com start-ups, allotjaments, laboratoris, residències artístiques, etc. Donant vida a nous centres experimentals, innovadors i capaços de contenir i compartir una gran diversitat d’usos.
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Domenech Rodriguez, Marta (scientific coordinator);
Lopez Lopez, David (scientific coordinator);
Cornado Bardon, Cossima (scientific coordinator);
Garcia Almirall, Maria Pilar (researcher);
Ravetllat Mira, Pere Joan (researcher);
Piasek, Gonzalo (researcher);
Martin Garcia, Estefania (researcher);
Tarrega Klein, Monica (researcher);
Palumbo Fernandez, Mariana (researcher);
Godoy Muñoz, Alfonso de Jesus (researcher)
Knowledge Alliance for Sustainable Mid-Rise and Tall Wooden Buildings KnoWood project aims to fulfil the future demands in higher education including entrepreneurial approaches to teaching and learning, innovation, sustainability, transnational, trans-disciplinary understanding in sustainable mid-rise and tall wooden buildings, which will increase sustainable growing forestry, employment in the wooden construction industry, a large reduction of greenhouse gasses and will create new innovative sustainable knowledge and courses in academia. Project will promote cooperation and innovation among European HEIs, researchers, business partners, associations, networks and broader society to foster design and construction of mid-rise and tall wooden buildings.
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Haurie Ibarra, Laia (scientific coordinator);
Rodriguez Cantalapiedra, Inmaculada (researcher);
Lacasta Palacio, Ana Maria (researcher);
Monton Lecumberri, Joaquin (researcher - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya);
Avellaneda López, Alina (researcher);
Gaspar Fabregas, Kàtia (researcher);
Palumbo Fernandez, Mariana (researcher);
Giraldo Forero, Maria Del Pilar (researcher);
Segues Aguasca, Edgar (researcher)
GRUP INTERDISCIPLINAR DE CIÈNCIA I TECNOLOGIA A L'EDIFICACIÓ (GICITED) Lacasta Palacio, Ana Maria (scientific coordinator); Bosch González, Montserrat (researcher); Rosell Amigo, Juan Ramon (researcher); Navarro Ezquerra, Antonia (researcher); Monton Lecumberri, Joaquin (researcher - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya); Alvarez Ciudad, Aleix (researcher); Haurie Ibarra, Laia (researcher); Ramirez Casas, Judith (researcher); Formosa Mitjans, Joan (researcher - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya); Rodriguez Cantalapiedra, Inmaculada (researcher); Gómez Soberón, José Manuel Vicente (researcher); Hormias Laperal, Emilio (researcher); Ruiz Merida, Francsico (researcher); Segues Aguasca, Edgar (researcher) Palumbo Fernandez, Mariana (graduated student in training); Giraldo Forero, Maria Del Pilar (researcher); Saldaña Márquez, Héctor (researcher - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya)
Projecte de reestructuracio i rehabilitació de l’Hospital Public d’Ambanja Ambanja és una ciutat d'aproximadament 195000 habitants i l'hospital públic dóna servei a aquesta població, més a la població que viu en una extensa zona rural de la província on només hi ha alguns centres mèdics, però cap altre hospital de referència. La construcció de l'hospital és dels anys 30 durant l'època colonial francesa. Recentment l'estat de Madagascar a arribat a un acord per transferir la gestió de l'hospital al consorci on col·labora la contrapart amb la que treballarem a Madagascar i que dirigeix el pare Stefano Scaringella. Aquest consorci s'està encarregant de la construcció de nous edificis i de la rehabilitació dels edificis existents. En el moment que nosaltres vam visitar Ambanja feia pocs mesos que havien inaugurat el bloc de post-operatori i que havien rehabilitat el bloc de maternitat. Aquest projecte s'emmarca en aquesta línia d'actuació dels gestors de l'hospital que cerquen millorar i ampliar l'hospital públic d'Ambanja.
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Haurie Ibarra, Laia (scientific coordinator);
Giraldo Forero, Maria Del Pilar (researcher);
Palumbo Fernandez, Mariana (researcher);
Sustainable building envelope solutions The project Sustainable Building Envelope Solutions is a continuation of the Project MEDULA - Use of plant pith to improve building hygrothermal behaviour (BIA2014-52688-R). One of the aims of the present project is to achieve an integration of the bio-based thermal insulation panel developed in the MEDULA project into constructive systems that incorporate all the elements to guarantee a successful behaviour under real conditions. The final goal of the project is to minimize the environmental impact of the building sector. In order to achieve this objective, both, the energetic demand of buildings and the consumption of resources should be reduced. In this project we propose a strategy that attacks the problem to be solved from different perspectives. On the one hand, we maintain the research line on insulation systems with low environmental impact, low cost and totally biodegradable formulated from crop by-products. On the other hand, we have added a line to deepen the knowledge about green envelopes. Preliminary studies of the group in this area have shown some of the benefits of green envelopes in relation to the reduction of the energy demand of buildings, but they have also highlighted the need for applied research in each climate zone since the species and substrates employed have a great influence on the performance of the system. Throughout the project we will also investigate green envelopes that provide other benefits such as water treatment or food production. A global aspect in the project is to guarantee that the proposed systems, not only contribute to a more sustainable architecture, but also maintain fire safety performance. For this reason one of the topics of the project is the experimental characterization of fire behaviour of lignocellulosic materials and the computational simulation of fire propagation trough the façades.
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Lacasta Palacio, Ana Maria (scientific coordinator);
Haurie Ibarra, Laia (researcher);
Monton Lecumberri, Joaquin (researcher - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya);
Rodriguez Cantalapiedra, Inmaculada (researcher);
Bosch González, Montserrat (researcher);
Ramirez Casas, Judith (researcher);
Rosell Amigo, Juan Ramon (researcher);
Correal Modol, Eduard (researcher - Centre Tecnològic Forestal de Catalunya);
Palumbo Fernandez, Mariana (researcher);
Niubo Eslava, Maria (researcher);
Avellaneda Diaz-grande, Jaime (researcher)
Network to promote wood and other lignocellulosic materials in the construction sector. The LIGNOMAD network aims to advance in the research and exchange of knowledge and experiences between the different multidisciplinary research groups. These groups are located in different regions of the country and have common research objectives and interests. The actions developed by the network seek to promote the use of local renewable resources in the construction field, more specifically, timber and agricultural products and by-products. This network aims to progress in the development of constructive elements and materials with good performance and low environmental impact. Another goal is that these developments reach the productive sector. It is also an important purpose of LIGNOMAD to transfer the knowledge generated in the network towards other national and international research groups.
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Lacasta Palacio, Ana Maria (scientific coordinator);
Palumbo Fernandez, Mariana (researcher);
Haurie Ibarra, Laia (researcher);
Monton Lecumberri, Joaquin (researcher - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya);
Hormias Laperal, Emilio (researcher);
Giraldo Forero, Maria Del Pilar (researcher);
Rodriguez Cantalapiedra, Inmaculada (researcher);
Rosell Amigo, Juan Ramon (researcher);
Bosch González, Montserrat (researcher);
Segues Aguasca, Edgar (researcher);
Navarro Ezquerra, Antonia (researcher)
New bio/based insulation material made of vegetal pith and natural binders
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Lacasta Palacio, Ana Maria (scientific coordinator);
Palumbo Fernandez, Mariana (researcher);
Avellaneda Diaz-grande, Jaime (researcher);
Giraldo Forero, Maria Del Pilar (researcher);