Cette étude concerne la conception de structures dans le cadre des nouveaux critères de développement durable et d'hygiène et sécurité via la valorisation des matériaux à empreinte écologique réduite et favorisant les économies d'énergie. Les travaux de thèse portent sur l'étude théorico expérimentale de panneaux sandwich mettant à profit des composites textile-mortier TRC (Textile Reinforced Concrete) de dernière génération. Il s'agit plus précisément du développement d'une modélisation du comportement mécanique de panneaux sandwich intégrant une approche analytique-numérique innovante et de prévision du comportement de panneaux sandwich intégrant les non-linéarités matérielles et compatibles avec des schémas de chargement complexes. Sur la base d'un ancrage expérimental conséquent, tant au niveau du matériau qu'à l'échelle du composant de structure, il a été possible de valider le modèle par la considération de plusieurs critères tels que l'analyse du comportement global (charge-flèche) mais aussi de la faculté de restituer les déformations et modes d'endommagement et de rupture. Enfin, en se fondant sur l'identification expérimentale des propriétés mécaniques vieillies des éléments constitutifs du panneau sandwich, via une procédure de vieillissement accéléré, des simulations, reposant sur le modèle préalablement valide, ont été entreprises pour évaluer l'incidence sur le comportement et les mécanismes d'endommagement de l'élément de structure considéré. Il a été possible de mettre en évidence la probabilité de la modification des modes de rupture assortie de pertes sensibles des propriétés globales tels que la rigidité initiale et la capacité portante. Ces résultats devront faire l'objet à terme de validation sur des panneaux vieillis mais sont susceptibles d'éclairer les démarches de dimensionnement / This work fits in the context of the structural design under new sustainable development, health and safety criteria through material recovery to reduced environmental damage and promoting energy savings. This thesis focuses on the theoretical and experimental study of sandwich panels taking advantage of new generation textile - cement matrix composites: TRC ( Textile Reinforced Concrete). It is specifically the establishment of an analytical-numerical approach to predict the behavior of sandwich panels incorporating material non-linear behavior and compatible with different and complex loading combinations. Based on an experimental campaign both at the material and structure level, it was possible to validate the model by several criteria such as the ability approximate the global behavior (load deflection) but also the ability to reproduce the local deformations and failure modes. Finally, based on the experimental identification of the mechanical properties of aged sandwich panel components, by an accelerated aging procedure, simulations were made based on the previously validated model to assess the impact on the behavior and damage mechanisms of the studied structural element. It was possible to demonstrate the probability of the failure mode change accompanied with significant losses of the global properties such as the initial stiffness and bearing and deflection capacity. These results will be eventually subject of validation on natural-aged panels but are likely to inform the design approach

Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar os conceitos de sustentabilidade consolidados na prática em projetos e empreendimentos de construção na América Latina e, em particular, no Brasil. Para tanto foi utilizado como referência os projetos participantes do Primeiro Concurso Internacional para Construção Sustentável Holcim Awards 2005, com base no qual foi feito um levantamento estatístico das práticas de diferentes ações incorporadas nos projetos. Com este levantamento, pode-se traçar um perfil do projetista brasileiro e latino-americano. Sobretudo, este estudo permite identificar as lacunas nas práticas de sustentabilidade. Conclui-se que o conceito de preservação ambiental está consolidado para os projetistas latino-americanos e brasileiros; porém, o conceito de sustentabilidade não está. Faltam mais ações relacionadas às dimensões sociais e econômicas nos projetos que se ocupam predominantemente com a dimensão ambiental. Dentro da dimensão ambiental, os conceitos mais consolidados estão associados à energia, água e materiais. Nota-se que há lacunas na utilização de métodos modernos, intensivos em tecnologia e que envolvam o ciclo de vida da construção. Estes pontos servem de base para empreender ações que visem a maior inserção de sustentabilidade nos projetos de construção civil. / The aim of this work is to identify the consolidated practices with respect to sustainability utilized in construction projects in Latin America and especially in Brazil. This study is based on data obtained from projects submitted to the first International Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction 2005. A statistical study of this data was undertaken, the result of which is an outline of Brazilian\'s and Latin American\'s designers. Above all, this study can identify the gaps related to applications of sustainable design practices. The study shows that environmental preservation is a consolidated practice to Brazilian and Latin American designers while the concept of sustainability is not. The projects that focus mainly on the environmental dimension should incorporate more actions related to social and economical dimensions. Within the environmental dimension the dominating practices deal with energy, materials and water. Gaps are identified in the lack of use of modern, technology intensive methods and in the scarcity of dealing with the whole life cycle of the building. These results can be used as a basis for actions that aim at inserting higher levels of sustainability in construction projects

Thesis (M.S.)--California Polytechnic State University, 2009. / Mode of access: Internet. Title from PDF title page; viewed on Jan. 11, 2010. Major professor: Daniel C. Jansen. "Presented to the faculty of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo." "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree [of] Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering." "December 2009." Includes bibliographical references (p. 176-180).

This thesis summarizes the results from several studies with connection to sustainability in construction and management of real estate. Here, the concept sustainability includes environmental, social and economic dimensions and focus is on the actors with the best possibilities to impact real estate, namely the real estate owners and the developers. The thesis consists of six papers. Real estate owners’ perception of and incentives and strategies for sustainability was studied in four ways: incentives for energy efficiency and other sustainability issues in connection to renovation (papers I and II), factors that characterize firms with an ambitious approach to energy efficiency (paper V) and economic incentives for energy efficiency (paper VI). Developers’ behavior and impact on sustainability was studied in two ways: how developers’ planning and construction methods may influence energy consumption for future residents (paper III) and how developers relate to requirements for building environmental certification levels (paper IV). The first paper aims to clarify how housing firms see and treat energy efficiency matters in connection to renovation of multi-family buildings constructed during the 1960’s and 70’s. Interviews with housing firms resulted in four ideal housing firm types illustrating that housing firms have more or less incentives to improve energy efficiency. The second paper aimed to study a model for renovation of buildings in a residential area in peripheral Stockholm and to assess how it considers environmental, social and economic sustainability as well as technical concerns. Paper V builds on the results in paper I and aims to identify factors, on a firm level as well as in the surroundings of the firm, that characterize housing firms who own multi-family buildings from the 1960’s and 70’s and who have an ambitious approach to energy efficiency. Paper VI uses information from energy performance certificates to study whether better energy performance increases the selling price of single-family homes, which would increase owners’ incentives to improve energy efficiency. Paper III takes its starting point in an indicated shift in developers’ planning and construction practices for laundry facilities in owner-occupied multi-family buildings. The paper aims to clarify whether a shift has actually occurred from communal laundry rooms to in-unit laundry appliances and to illuminate the impact this could have on residents’ energy consumption for laundry. Paper IV reports the study of how developers who have adopted the environmental certification system LEED relate to the requirements for specific certification levels and how updated requirements risk undermining developers’ incentives for sustainable construction. / Den här avhandlingen sammanfattar arbetet från flera studier med koppling till hållbarhet inom bygg och förvaltning av fastigheter. Begreppet hållbarhet omfattar här tre dimensioner: miljömässig, social och ekonomisk hållbarhet, och fokus ligger på de aktörer som har mest möjlighet att påverka fastigheterna, nämligen fastighetsägare och projektutvecklare. I avhandlingen ingår sex uppsatser. Fastighetsägares uppfattning av och incitament och strategier för hållbarhet undersöktes på fyra olika sätt: incitament för energieffektivisering och andra hållbarhetsfrågor i samband med renovering (uppsats I och II), faktorer som karaktäriserar företag med ett ambitiöst förhållningssätt i energieffektiviseringsfrågor (uppsats V) samt ekonomiska incitament för energieffektivisering (uppsats VI). Projektutvecklares beteende och påverkan på hållbarhet undersöktes på två sätt: hur projektutvecklares planering och byggmetoder kan påverka energianvändningen för framtida boende (uppsats III) och hur projektutvecklare förhåller sig till kravnivåer i miljöcertifiering av byggnader (uppsats IV). Den första uppsatsen syftar till att belysa hur bostadsföretag ser på och behandlar energieffektiviseringsfrågor i samband med renovering av flerbostadshus byggda under miljonprogrammet. Baserat på intervjuer med bostadsföretag resulterade den explorativa studien i konstruktionen av fyra idealtyper av bostadsföretag med mer eller mindre incitament för att energieffektivisera. Den andra uppsatsen syftade till att undersöka en modell för renovering av miljonprogramshus i ett bostadsområde i Stockholms ytterområden och bedöma hur den tar hänsyn till miljömässig, social och ekonomisk hållbarhet tillsammans med tekniska överväganden. Uppsats V bygger på resultaten i uppsats I och syftar till att urskilja faktorer, såväl på företagsnivå som i företagets omgivning, som karaktäriserar bostadsföretag som äger flerbostadshus från miljonprogramsåren och som har en ambitiös hållning i energieffektiviseringsfrågor. Uppsats VI använder information från energideklarationer för att undersöka om bättre energiprestanda ökar försäljningspriset på småhus, något som skulle öka ägarens incitament för energieffektivisering. Uppsats III utgår från en indikerad förändring i projektutvecklares planering och byggmetoder av tvättinrättningar i flerbostadshus med bostadsrätt. Uppsatsen syftar till att klarlägga om en förändring har skett från gemensam tvättstuga till tvättmöjligheter i den egna bostaden och belysa vilken effekt det skulle kunna ha på de boendes energianvändning för tvätt. I uppsats IV klarläggs hur projektutvecklare som bygger enligt miljöcertifieringssystemet LEED förhåller sig till kraven för att uppnå nivåerna för att klassificeras och hur uppdaterade kravnivåer riskerar att undergräva projektutvecklarnas incitament för att bygga hållbart. / <p>QC 20141218</p>

In recent decades, the environmental issues from the construction sector have attracted increasing attention from both the public and authorities. Notably, the bridge construction is responsible for considerable amount of energy and raw material consumptions. However, the current bridges are still mainly designed from the economic, technical, and safety perspective, while considerations of their environmental performance are rarely integrated into the decision making process. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a comprehensive, standardized and internationally recognized approach for quantifying all emissions, resource consumption and related environmental and health impacts linked to a service, asset or product. LCA has the potential to provide reliable environmental profiles of the bridges, and thus help the decision-makers to select the most environmentally optimal designs. However, due to the complexity of the environmental problems and the diversity of bridge structures, robust environmental evaluation of bridges is far from straightforward. The LCA has rarely been studied on bridges till now. The overall aim of this research is to implement LCA on bridge, thus eventually integrate it into the decision-making process to mitigate the environmental burden at an early stage. Specific objectives are to: i) provide up-to-date knowledge to practitioners; ii) identify associated obstacles and clarify key operational issues; iii) establish a holistic framework and develop computational tool for bridge LCA; and iv) explore the feasibility of combining LCA with life cycle cost (LCC). The developed tool (called GreenBridge) enables the simultaneous comparison and analysis of 10 feasible bridges at any detail level, and the framework has been utilized on real cases in Sweden. The studied bridge types include: railway bridge with ballast or fix-slab track, road bridges of steel box-girder composite bridge, steel I-girder composite bridge, post tensioned concrete box-girder bridge, balanced cantilever concrete box-girder bridge, steel-soil composite bridge and concrete slab-frame bridge. The assessments are detailed from cradle to grave phases, covering thousands of types of substances in the output, diverse mid-point environmental indicators, the Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) and monetary value weighting. Some analyses also investigated the impact from on-site construction scenarios, which have been overlooked in the current state-of-the-art. The study identifies the major structural and life-cycle scenario contributors to the selected impact categories, and reveals the effects of varying the monetary weighting system, the steel recycling rate and the material types. The result shows that the environmental performance can be highly influenced by the choice of bridge design. The optimal solution is found to be governed by several variables. The analyses also imply that the selected indicators, structural components and life-cycle scenarios must be clearly specified to be applicable in a transparent procurement. This work may provide important references for evaluating similar bridge cases, and identification of the main sources of environmental burden. The outcome of this research may serve as recommendation for decision-makers to select the most LCA-feasible proposal and minimize environmental burdens. / <p>QC 20150311</p>

The buildings sector consumes approximately 40% of energy in the United States, and presents a major opportunity for reducing society's energy consumption and environmental impact. Given the potential downside impacts of climate change and resource depletion, it is imperative that the construction industry deliver buildings that meet owner requirements while using less energy and natural resources. In response to this challenge, the construction industry has adopted voluntary green building programs that provide guidelines for construction projects wishing to reduce their environmental impact. Green building programs also present the opportunity for those pushing beyond the status quo to receive increased recognition and market visibility; however, certification under these programs is not without an added cost. The added cost of certification varies by project, but building owners and builders must be able to justify this added cost through increased market recognition and sales and leasing prices. Given the relatively low recognition of a price premium for green certified residential properties by the real estate appraisal community and financial institutions, a need exists to demonstrate the added market recognition of these homes. Through the development of a hedonic regression pricing model this study isolates the effects of green building certification on housing sales prices, in order to prove the hypothesis that a significant increase in sales price is associated with green certified housing.

The entire comparative estimation comprises four sections: 1. Embodied environmental implications of different structural systems of wooden buildings; 2. Embodied ecological efficiency of diverse constructions composed of various materials; 3. LCA of building models comprising equivalent thermal performance; 4. LCA of building models exhibiting similar seismic behaviour. First, the LCA results for thirty realised buildings are analysed based on the inventory of each project. This evaluation is intended to quantify and compare the embodied environmental burdens caused by different structural systems of timber houses. The second section is a comparative evaluation of the embodied ecological impacts caused by different materials, when used in the same construction. This study aims to investigate the ecological efficiency of various materials in the form of whole structures. With regard to making a compatible and reasonable LCA comparison, however, the appraisal needs a more scientific framework. In order to address this insufficiency, the third and fourth LCA studies are carried out. The third section involves various buildings made of different materials but providing equivalent thermal performance. Within this estimation, the thermal performance of a building is simply represented by the thermal inertia of its outer walls. Constructions composed of alternative envelopes are established and LCA based on the inventories of these structures are carried out. The fourth section examines three structures composed of three building materials but exhibiting similar seismic behaviour. In this study, the horizontal stiffness of the entire building against earthquakes indicates its seismic performance. The simulation develops alternative multi-storey buildings according to the seismic performance. The environmental impacts of the three buildings are quantified and compared. Both the third and fourth sections take the recycling scenarios into account. The impact of disposal after the end-of-life and the contribution from reuse and recovery are integrated into the overall impact assessment. Defining the system boundary and scope is essential for LCA studies. Normally, LCA framework refers to a ‘from-cradle-to-grave’ scenario, including the manufacturing, utilisation and dismantling phases. In the studies here, however, the estimation is focused on the production and recycling stages, without the results for utilisation and maintenance. This appraisal is the so-called ‘from-cradle-to-gate’ plus ‘from-gate-to-grave’ system. Compared to former research, this dissertation raises a couple of innovative contributions to the sustainability appraisals of constructions: 1. The scopes are focused on the structural part of buildings, considering the congruent system boundary for LCA. 2. A series of LCAs compare various building materials in the form of construction, integrating diverse aspects about buildings like thermal and seismic performance. 3. These LCAs are based on consistent prerequisites and make it possible to compare the results comprehensively. 4. In addition to embodied implications, these LCA quantify the contribution from material recycling. 5. This study divides the timber buildings according to their structural systems and estimates them individually. / Die vergleichende Bewertung der Umweltleistung mehrgeschossiger Wohnbauten umfasst vier Abschnitte: 1. Ökologische Auswirkungen der Bereitstellung und Bearbeitung von Holz für verschiedene Tragsysteme; 2. Material- und herstellungsinduzierte (graue) Umwelteffizienz von verschiedenen Materialien und Bauweisen; 3. Ökobilanzierung von Gebäuden mit gleichen thermischen Eigenschaften; 4. Ökobilanzierung von Gebäuden mit ähnlichem seismischen Verhalten. Zunächst werden die Ergebnisse der Ökobilanz für dreißig realisierte Bauten auf der Grundlage der Sachbilanzen analysiert. Diese Auswertung vergleicht und quantifiziert die materialbezogene Umweltbelastung für verschiedene Tragsysteme mehrgeschossiger Wohnbauten aus Holz. Der zweite Abschnitt vergleicht die ökologischen Auswirkungen verschiedener Baustoffe, wobei jeweils der gleiche Konstruktionstyp zugrunde gelegt wird. Das Ziel dieser Studie ist die Untersuchung der Umwelteffizienz unterschiedlicher Materialien auf der Ebene der Gebäudeteile. In Hinblick auf die Kompatibilität und Plausibilität der Ökobilanz wird mit der dritten und vierten LCA ein einheitlicher Bewertungsansatz geschaffen. Der dritte Abschnitt handelt von verschiedenen Gebäudetypen mit gleichem Wärmestandard aber unterschiedlichen Baustoffen, wobei die Wärmeeffizienz vereinfachend durch den Wärmedurchgangswiderstand der Außenwände erfasst wird. Es werden Baukonstruktionen mit alternativen Gebäudehüllen entwickelt und auf der Grundlage der Sachbilanzen ökologisch bewertet. Der vierte Abschnitt untersucht drei Strukturen aus verschiedenen Baustoffen mit ähnlichem seismischen Verhalten. Diese Studie verwendet die horizontale Steifigkeit des Gebäudes gegen Erdbebenerschütterungen als Indikator für die seismische Leistungsfähigkeit. Auf der Basis dieses Indikators werden konstruktive Alternativen für mehrgeschossige Gebäuden entwickelt und deren Umweltwirkungen quantitativ ermittelt. Sowohl im dritten als auch im vierten Abschnitt werden unterschiedliche Recyclingszenarien berücksichtigt. Die Auswirkungen auf die Umwelt, die nach der Nutzungsdauer infolge der Abfallbeseitigung, des Materialrecycling oder die Wiederverwendung entstehen, werden in die gesamte Umweltwirkungsabschätzung integriert. Die Festlegung der Systemgrenzen und der Umfang der Betrachtung ist für die Ökobilanz unerlässlich. Normalerweise betrachten diese alle Lebenszyklusphasen eines Produkts, einschließlich Herstellung, Nutzung und Recyclings („from-cradle-to-grave“). Die hier betrachteten Untersuchungen beschränken sich jedoch auf die Phasen der Produktion und des Recyclings. Umweltauswirkungen infolge der Nutzung und Wartung des Gebäudes werden nicht berücksichtigt ( „from-cradle-to-gate“ und „from-gate-to-grave“). Im Vergleich mit früheren Forschungsergebnissen arbeitet diese Dissertation innovative Beiträge zur Umweltbewertung von Baukonstruktionen heraus: 1. Der Rahmen der Untersuchung erstreckt sich auf die Bauteile der Gebäudestruktur, was zu einer einheitlichen Systemgrenze für die Ökobilanzen führt. 2. Die Datenreihen der Ökobilanzen vergleichen verschiedenartige Baumaterialien auf der Ebene von Gebäudeteilen unter verschiedenen Aspekten. 3. Diesen Ökobilanzen liegen einheitliche Voraussetzungen zugrunde. Dadurch ist es möglich, die Ergebnisse umfassend zu vergleichen. 4. Neben den material- und herstellungsinduzierten Umweltauswirkungen quantifizieren diese Ökobilanzen direkt den Beitrag des Materialrecyclings. 5. Die Arbeit klassifiziert die mehrgeschossigen Holzbauten nach Tragsystemen und bewertet diese individuell.

[pt] A certificação Passivhaus de construção se estabelece como uma das principais certificações de eficiência energética alemã na arquitetura. Seu potencial não foi reconhecido somente na Alemanha, mas sim em toda a Europa. Sua metodologia de avaliação leva em consideração a arquitetura passiva da edificação, resultando em uma menor demanda energética para climatização do ambiente. Por se tratar de uma certificação voluntária, desenvolvida para países frios, surgiu a questão de aplicá-la em países de climas quentes, fazendo uso do resfriamento por absorção, resfriamento esse pouco utilizado atualmente devido ao seu baixo rendimento. Os resultados obtidos nesse trabalho comprovam a redução da carga térmica do ambiente através da arquitetura passiva, auxiliada pelo resfriamento por absorção, utilizando a energia solar. Representa avanços na redução do consumo de energia das edificações de forma passiva e por energias renováveis. / [en] The Passivhaus certification is established as one of the leading German energy efficiency certifications in architecture. Its potential was not only recognized in Germany, but across Europe. Its method of evaluation takes into account the passive architecture of the building, resulting in a lower energy demand for ambient conditioning. Since it is a voluntary certification developed for cold countries, it raises the question of its effectiveness when it is applied in countries with hot climates, making use of absorption cooling, which is underused today because of its low efficiency. The results of this work demonstrates that there is a reduction of the thermal load of the environment through passive architecture, aided by absorption cooling using solar energy. It represents progress in reducing the energy consumption of buildings by introducing passive cooling coupled with renewable energy sources.

Os canteiros de obras são causadores de diversos impactos ambientais relacionados ao grande consumo de recursos e à grande geração de poluição e incômodos que afetam toda sociedade. Dentre as fontes de poluição, está a emissão de material particulado na atmosfera, responsável por uma série de problemas respiratórios e cardíacos, danos à flora e à fauna, incômodos à vizinhança, danos ao solo, à água e à qualidade do ar, entre outros aspectos. Em vários países, os canteiros de obras são reconhecidos como uma das principais fontes de poluição por partículas. O objetivo deste trabalho é identificar as principais fontes emissoras de material particulado entre as diversas atividades de construção, as principais ferramentas de controle e prevenção de emissão e os principais métodos de monitoramento aplicáveis aos canteiros de obras de edifícios. Sua metodologia está baseada em compilação e análise de bibliografia nacional e internacional disponível.Como resultados, são identificadas as principais fontes de emissão de material particulado nas fases de demolição, movimentação de terra e serviços preliminares e serviços de construção. Mostra-se, também, que o monitoramento, associado a ações de prevenção e controle, é uma ferramenta eficaz para manutenção de níveis de emissão aceitáveis, utilizando equipamentos de custo relativamente baixo, fácil operação e implantação no canteiro de obras. Finalmente, o trabalho traz um conjunto de recomendações que podem ser utilizadas na composição de um plano de gestão para prevenção, controle e monitoramento de emissões de material particulado em canteiros de obras, a ser incorporado às práticas de gestão já em uso pela empresa construtora. O trabalho conclui que o controle de emissões nos canteiros de obras de edifícios pode ser aplicado por empresas construtoras, dentro da atual realidade brasileira. / The construction sites cause many environmental impacts related to high consumption of resources and high levels of pollutions emissions, affecting the whole society. Among these pollutions, it is the particulate matter emission in the atmosphere, responsible for heart and lung diseases, damages to animals, plants, soil, water and air quality and nuisances to neighbors. In several countries, the construction sites are recognized as one of the main sources of particle pollution. This work intends to identify the main emission sources of particulate matter among the great variety of construction activities, the main particle emissions control tools and the main monitoring methods available for building construction sites. The research is based on compilation of Brazilian and international bibliographies. As result, are identified the main sources of particulate matter emission on demolition, earthmoving and construction activities. The work presents that monitoring associated with prevention e control measures is an effective tool for maintenance of controlled emissions levels, through low cost, easy operation and easy implantation equipments. Finally, the work presents a set of recommendation to elaborate a management plan to prevent, control and monitoring particulate matters emissions in the construction sites, easily adapted to the current management practices of the contractors firms. The work concludes that the particulate matter emission control can be implanted by contractors firm within the current Brazilian reality.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar os conceitos de sustentabilidade consolidados na prática em projetos e empreendimentos de construção na América Latina e, em particular, no Brasil. Para tanto foi utilizado como referência os projetos participantes do Primeiro Concurso Internacional para Construção Sustentável Holcim Awards 2005, com base no qual foi feito um levantamento estatístico das práticas de diferentes ações incorporadas nos projetos. Com este levantamento, pode-se traçar um perfil do projetista brasileiro e latino-americano. Sobretudo, este estudo permite identificar as lacunas nas práticas de sustentabilidade. Conclui-se que o conceito de preservação ambiental está consolidado para os projetistas latino-americanos e brasileiros; porém, o conceito de sustentabilidade não está. Faltam mais ações relacionadas às dimensões sociais e econômicas nos projetos que se ocupam predominantemente com a dimensão ambiental. Dentro da dimensão ambiental, os conceitos mais consolidados estão associados à energia, água e materiais. Nota-se que há lacunas na utilização de métodos modernos, intensivos em tecnologia e que envolvam o ciclo de vida da construção. Estes pontos servem de base para empreender ações que visem a maior inserção de sustentabilidade nos projetos de construção civil. / The aim of this work is to identify the consolidated practices with respect to sustainability utilized in construction projects in Latin America and especially in Brazil. This study is based on data obtained from projects submitted to the first International Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction 2005. A statistical study of this data was undertaken, the result of which is an outline of Brazilian\'s and Latin American\'s designers. Above all, this study can identify the gaps related to applications of sustainable design practices. The study shows that environmental preservation is a consolidated practice to Brazilian and Latin American designers while the concept of sustainability is not. The projects that focus mainly on the environmental dimension should incorporate more actions related to social and economical dimensions. Within the environmental dimension the dominating practices deal with energy, materials and water. Gaps are identified in the lack of use of modern, technology intensive methods and in the scarcity of dealing with the whole life cycle of the building. These results can be used as a basis for actions that aim at inserting higher levels of sustainability in construction projects