Browsing by Author "Orellana Castro, Daniel Alejandro"

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Assessing sustainable urban densification using geographic information systems.
(2017) Orellana Castro, Daniel Alejandro; Cabrera Jara, Natasha Eulalia; Hermida Palacios, María Augusta
Facing the expansive growth of cities and the wasteful consumption of resources, cities must be measured in its immense complexity, and its parts and layers must be observed so as to assess its ability to support such pressures. Cities should look at themselves and define how far away they are from a sustainable model, which means a greater sense of community, mixed uses, higher densities, better public space, higher quality of life, less energy consume, among others. This paper presents a toolbox for assessing sustainable urban densification using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The toolbox uses spatial analysis and cartographic representation techniques to characterize and analyze the spatial distribution of a set of indicators using an orthogonal grid. The toolbox includes the automatic computation of 20 indicators of urban sustainability organized in four themes: compactness, diversity of uses, urban green, and socio-spatial integration. It also computes a Sustainable Urban Densification Index for each cell of the grid allowing to explore and discover spatial patterns of urban sustainability. The toolbox includes options for parameterization of both the indicators and the index, offering flexibility for adapting it to different realities and needs. These features allows the application of the toolbox for a wide variety of studies, such as comparative analysis of different cities or urban fabrics, monitoring of performance of urban policies, assessment of the impact of urban densification and urban sprawl, and future scenario evaluation. The toolbox is publicly available to researchers, practitioners, urban officials, technicians and students interested in urban sustainability. © International Journal of Sustainable Building Technology and Urban Development.
Diseño de una vivienda bajo el concepto de Powerhouse a través de plataformas BIM en la ciudad de Cuenca-Ecuador
(Universidad de Cuenca, 2022-11-11) Astudillo Gomezcoello, Joan Alejandra; Orellana Castro, Daniel Alejandro; Zalamea León, Esteban Felipe
The growth of cities has given rise to multiple situations, one of them is the increase in the demand for household electricity worldwide, which has been supplied mainly through the consumption of fossil fuels, seriously affecting the climatic conditions of the planet and increasing atmospheric pollution at an accelerated level; as a result of this remarkable emergency, the creation and implementation of clean energy generating sources from renewable resources has become evident; this is the reason for the emergence of sustainable energy standards oriented to construction, being one of them the Powerhouse concept; it was born in Norway and it is a model of buildings that operates with energy produced by PV cells, whose objective is to be a micro power plant with the capacity to provide energy to neighboring buildings and that at its construction are used materials with low embodied energy. It is obvious that by having less polluting and more efficient alternatives, it is sought to globalize its implementation, which is why this degree work seeks to determine the feasibility and potential of a house that applies in its design all the concepts of the Powerhouse standard in Cuenca-Ecuador as a representative case of an andean city. The methodology implemented to determine the potential application of a house under the Powerhouse concept is through the use of BIM tools that help determine the production of electrical energy from PV cells and the comfort inside the house as a result of the strategies implemented in the design. The results obtained from the energy model show that it is more than feasible to implement a Powerhouse in the study site and cities with similar climatic conditions
Housing Development through the BIM Methodology to Reach the Powerhouse Standard by Applying Rammed-Earth Techniques and Solar Energy
(2024) Zalamea León, Esteban Felipe; Orellana Castro, Daniel Alejandro; Astudillo Gomezcoello, Joan Alejandra
As cities and economies grow, energy demands also grow, especially in developing countries, given the material production, construction, and operational processes of buildings and cities. Since the recent Powerhouse standard assumes that a building can generate as much energy as it will require during its lifespan, the present study aimed to implement this building standard in the Andean equatorial climate. For this purpose, a building energy model (BEM) integrated into a building information modeling (BIM) process design method was proposed, developing a prototype with vernacular technology, high solar potential, and local or regional data on embodied energy in accordance with a life cycle assessment (LCA) from cradle to grave. Solar potential estimations were complemented by system advisor model (SAM) tool projections. Because of the low energy content of the vernacular architecture proposal and prototype development with a high generation capacity, this standard can be met six times faster in the Andean equatorial climate than in extreme seasonal climates (8.53 years versus 60.0 years). The main goal of our research was to propose a methodological approach that integrates the BEM tool with vernacular concepts and materials and architectural formal criteria for high solar exploitation that, with background data from the literature, makes it possible to decipher the capability of the proposed energy standard.