A inovação tecnológica na construção civil no Brasil e em outros países ainda é bastante tímida, de modo que o setor é frequentemente apontado como tecnologicamente atrasado. O desenvolvimento insuficiente de novas tecnologias e sua pouca utilização, aliados ao desperdício de materiais, à informalidade e à qualidade de vida dos trabalhadores, tornam o custo da construção excessivamente alto. Apesar de ter havido nos últimos anos uma série de avanços na indústria de blocos de concreto, o que permitiu um grande desenvolvimento na qualidade deste produto, sua utilização ainda está restrita quase que exclusivamente a um procedimento artesanal, cuja qualidade final depende da qualidade da mão-de-obra. Neste contexto, a utilização de materiais de construção que permitam montagens rápidas e com qualidade se tornam necessárias. O presente trabalho apresenta componentes para alvenarias, de alto padrão, desenvolvidos no Laboratório de Materiais Avançados à Base de Cimento da Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos. Estes componentes são encaixáveis, com dimensões padronizadas, que permitem o assentamento sem necessidade de argamassa, facilitando sua utilização na construção. Os blocos possuem aberturas para colocação de armaduras e tubulações de telefonia, hidráulica, elétrica, gás, etc., de forma que possam atender às diversas exigências dos usuários. Para tanto, foi desenvolvido um componente para construção em concreto especial colorido, cuja baixa porosidade e permeabilidade e resistência permitem um perfeito acabamento, dispensando chapiscos, rebocos, emboços e pintura, eliminando assim diversas etapas construtivas. Os resultados alcançados apontam a viabilidade da utilização desse componente estrutural para um tipo diferenciado de construção. / The technological innovation for housing construction in Brazil is still quite tiny, so that, this economic sector is frequently noticed as technologically late. The insufficient development of new technologies and its little employ, allies to the waste of materials, informality and labor quality life, turns construction costs extremely high. Although the progresses in the concrete blocks industry in the last years, what allowed a great development on product quality, its use is still restricted almost exclusively to a craft procedure, which final quality depends on the labor quality. In this perspective, the use of materials that allows fast and quality constructions become necessary. This research presents high end masonry elements developed at the LMABC-SET-EESC-USP. These elements are interlockable, with standardized dimensions, what allows the establishment without mortar bedding, facilitating your use in the auto-construction. The blocks were designed with cores for placement of reinforcements or hydraulics, electric, telecom, gas, and other systems, so that they can assist the users several demands. For it, a special masonry component in colored concrete was developed, whose low porosity, permeability and resistance allows perfect finishes, sparing several constructive stages. The reached results points to the viability of the use as structural component for a distinct kind of construction.

In the current business context, the demand for energy efficiency in the wooden house construction has been increased due to higher requests for the service by society. Passive house standards can be considered as a key concept to increase the energy efficiency of the building. Improvements in energy efficiency have prompted new advances in the construction industry that focus on the building industry development.   Improving energy efficiency in wooden houses is one of the major targets of wooden house construction sector in Sweden. To accomplish this desire, energy efficiency improvements in the wooden building industry are required to develop their building and construction practices into a more sustainable and energy-efficient approach. The aim of this research is to investigate current processes and challenging factors related to the energy efficiency of wooden houses in Sweden and identify the methods to improve the energy efficiency of wooden houses in the passive house concept. The purpose of this research is to define the current problems and challenges within the energy efficiency wooden house construction industry and provide recommendations to improve the energy efficiency performance of construction process in upcoming wooden house construction projects in Sweden towards energy efficiency in passive house standards.   This study has been conducted through a qualitative approach; the data was collected through a semi-structured interview with five engineering professionals in the energy efficiency sector within the wooden building construction industry and all the data analysis was done by using thematic analysis.   The findings were that innovative materials and building envelope are the main consideration in the newly built wooden house and climate zone consideration, design complexity and practical difficulties in the construction phase are the main elements challenging to improve building the passive house with the Swedish energy efficiency building regulations. Supplier-led systemic innovation, formalization of wooden passive house certifications, and technological advancement to build a well-developed building envelope are the required improvements to increase the energy efficiency of wooden house construction in the passive house concept.

This diploma project investigates serial produced housing and the possibilities of type house construction. In spring 2020, the government report “Building and living at lower cost - proposals for better competition in housing construction” was published. It proposes a change in the building law that would allow planning permissions for serial produced multi-family houses despite the projects violating the detailed plan or area regulations. I used this report as a starting point for an analysis of affordable housing in Sweden. As a part of that analysis, I have focused the architectural research on Kombohusen sold by SABO, which has currently been reproduced on more than one-hundred sites across Sweden. Additionally, I did parallel research on the work of Walter Segal who developed a method of timber construction in the 70s that enabled cheap timber buildings to be constructed by non-professional self-builders as an alternative way of creating affordable housing.
 Both the research of the serial produced and the self-built revealed to me that their core architectural concepts lie in the detail drawing. That is why this diploma explores constructional details of a house that could potentially be mass produced. It proposes a system based on a lightweight sandwich unit made of timber. The unit forms the basis for larger elements that can be transported on site and erected rapidly.
 The design of the units evolved around a belief that one of the challenges of an architect lies in drawing and redrawing buildings that can serve society beyond the life cycle of their original shape. As such, the units, the elements, and the house should be easy to assemble, adjust and dismantle to ensure long-term maintenance and reusability.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

There is a clear change in the architectural qualities of builder's houses constructed before World War II and in the postwar years. The primary evidence is in the houses themselves and their architectural qualities. This study focuses on the first 20 years of Federal Housing Administration insured mortgage builders' houses constructed in the Pacific Northwest region, although expanded with some examples from across the nation to illustrate the general application of the thesis and that this was not a regional phenomenon.

No description available.

Riyadh city suffers from high housing and construction costs, which have increased by more than 200% over the last 7 years. This problem led to a significant interest from the government and the citizens of the city in understanding the causes of housing and construction cost escalation and the best strategies to address this problem in the short and long-terms, in order to find solutions for affordable housing. In response to the absence of research regarding this problem, the researcher has decided to conduct a scientific survey about the factors that might have led to this problem in Riyadh. While conducting the literature review, the researcher identified 16 possible factors that were mentioned as possible causes for this problem. Thus, the main objective of this study is to identify the main factors that affect housing cost escalation. All of the survey samples were collected from construction industry professionals and experts working in Riyadh. The sample size required was calculated using the statistical equation mentioned in Chapter 4, and based on an estimated level of confidence of 90%, standard error of 10%, and a standard deviation calculated from 30 random samples collected initially. The required sample size was estimated to be at least 215 surveys, and the researcher was able to collect a total of 237 surveys. After collecting the data, the researcher analyzed the data through Microsoft Excel software by applying descriptive statistics, means, modes, and standard deviations. Tables and figures have been used to show the results of the survey. After analyzing the data, the researcher identified the main factors based on the mode and mean averages. The researcher has identified four major impacting factors that affected housing and construction costs. The most impacting factors on housing and construction cost are the corruption in selling land, speculative purchases of land, high demand for housing, and the high population growth rate in Riyadh. The main recommendations that should help the government to solve this problem are: to apply an annual tax on large plots, prevent speculative purchases in housing areas, monitor the prices of consruction materials, and revive small cities around Riyadh to reduce congestion and crowding.

A crucial factor to enable low-income families to participate in the gradual development of their homes is to find a link between their building activities and those of the large-scale building sector. Amidst technological development and increasing demand for housing, the large-scale sector, such as government and private groups, resorted to industrialised housing to replace traditional and conventional building materials and methods. Industrialisation, however, resulted not only in expensive and inappropriate dwellings but also eliminated homeowners from the building process and management of their homes. To bring back the homeowners in the building process, the shift was towards the production of small components and partial prefabrication. / Following the same thrust, there have been numerous innovative building systems for housing developed in the Philippines in the last two decades. Private entrepreneurs develop these building systems either promoting locally invented systems or adapting imported versions. Seeing their potentials, government and private groups are trying to employ them in housing. Despite the growing number of the innovative building systems and the interest to use them, their integration in low-income housing is still limited. / Focusing on Metro Manila, the capital region of the Philippines, the thesis aims to develop a selection model for the effective integration of innovative building systems in low-income housing. The process of integration is not simply using the building systems for mass production of houses but also enabling homeowners to utilise, maintain and sustain them. The proposed model involves sets of selection parameters essential at each stage of the housing delivery based on the homeowners' progressive building process and their criteria for choosing building materials for their homes. To facilitate progressive building and enhance the homeowners' initiative to build, the model also includes design strategies when employing new building systems and suggests the necessary channels to ensure the availability of the building systems, technical assistance and information.

Abstract There have been complaints regarding the bad quality of the Finnish construction industry. Home buyers are also often dissatisfied with the level of quality of the housing unit they have bought. Finnish construction is regulated by the Land Use and Building Act and Decree together with supplementary construction regulations, norms and guidelines. This doctoral dissertation examines the quality mindset evident in Finnish construction regulations and its relationship to the defining characteristics of good construction quality. The selected methodological research approach is qualitative. Responding to the research question required that good construction quality be defined. This was approached by examining quality as a phenomenon and, with the help of a literature review, building an overview of the central characteristics of good quality. Based on this, central characteristics of good construction quality could be defined. The actual subject under research were Finnish construction regulations and their central goals regarding the quality of construction. The research question could be responded by comparing the quality point of view of the construction regulations with the central characteristics defining good quality. In order to verify the results, a questionnaire study directed at construction professionals was conducted. The study showed that the quality point of view of the construction regulations differed from the good quality objectives discovered through the theoretical examination. The construction regulations approach the quality question from the point of view of public interest requirements. The quality mindset therein is narrow, being based on regulations and the observation and supervision thereof. The actual quality work has been left for the parties of the construction project. One important novelty value of this study is that it recognises customer-orientedness as a central factor of quality activities guiding all thinking and practical work. Finnish construction regulations do not fulfil this requirement. The traditonal construction project execution model is thus no longer sufficient. Novel thinking is needed. Novel thinking begets novel activity. If this study can lead to the understanding and assimilating of novel thinking, it will also inevitably lead to changes in practices and, thus, to practical work of higher quality. What is essential is to understand that adhering to traditional operational models guided by rules and regulations does no longer suffice in today’s operational supervision and customer relationships. Working in the customer’s best interest is thus a significant challenge to all construction activities and to those working in this field. / Tiivistelmä Suomalaisen rakennustuotannon laatua on sanottu huonoksi. Asuntojen ostajat ovat myös usein tyytymättömiä hankkimansa asunnon laatutasoon. Suomalaista rakennustoimintaa ohjaavat maankäyttö- ja rakennuslaki asetuksineen yhdessä lainsäädäntöä täydentävien rakentamismääräysten, normien ja ohjeistuksien kanssa. Tässä väitöskirjassa tutkittiin Suomen rakentamismääräysten laatuajattelua ja sen suhdetta rakentamisen hyvän laadun tunnusmerkistöön. Tutkimuksen metodinen lähestymistapa on kvalitatiivinen. Asetettuun tutkimuskysymykseen vastaaminen edellytti rakentamisen hyvän laadun määrittämistä. Tätä lähestyttiin tarkastelemalla laatua ilmiönä ja rakentamalla kirjallisuustutkimuksen avulla kuva keskeisistä hyvän laadun ominaisuuksista. Tämän perusteella voitiin määrittää rakentamisen hyvän laadun keskeisiä ominaisuuksia. Varsinaisen tutkimuskohteen muodostivat Suomen rakentamismääräykset ja niiden keskeiset rakentamisen laatua koskevat tavoitteet. Vastaus tutkimuskysymykseen saatiin vertaamalla rakentamismääräysten laatunäkökulmaa keskeisiin rakentamisen hyvää laatua kuvaaviin ominaisuuksiin. Tutkimustulosten verifioimiseksi suoritettiin rakennusalan ammattilaisille suunnattu kyselytutkimus. Tutkimus osoitti, että rakentamismääräysten laatunäkökulma poikkesi teoriatarkastelun perusteella esille nousseista rakentamisen hyvän laadun tavoitteista. Rakentamismääräykset tarkastelevat laatukysymystä yleisen edun vaatimusten näkökulmasta. Niiden laatuajattelu on kapeaa perustuen määräyksiin ja niiden noudattamisen tarkastamiseen ja valvontaan. Varsinainen laatutyö on jätetty rakennushankkeen osapuolten tehtäväksi. Yksi tutkimuksen merkittävä uutuusarvo on asiakassuuntautuneisuuden tunnistaminen laadukkaan toiminnan keskeiseksi, kaikkea ajattelua ja toimintaa ohjaavaksi tekijäksi. Suomen rakentamismääräykset eivät täytä tätä vaatimusta. Perinteinen ajattelumalli rakennusprojektin toteutuksesta ei siten enää riitä. Tarvitaan uudenlaista ajattelua. Uudenlainen ajattelu synnyttää uudenlaista toimintaa. Mikäli tämä tutkimus voi johtaa uudenlaisen ajattelun ymmärtämiseen ja sisäistämiseen, se väistämättä johtaa myös menettelytapojen muuttumiseen ja sitä kautta laadukkaampaan toimintaan. Oleellista on sen ymmärtäminen, että pitäytyminen perinteisissä toimintamalleissa, joita ohjaavat säädökset ja määräykset, ei tämän päivän toiminnanohjauksessa ja asiakassuhteissa enää riitä. Asiakkaan parhaaksi toimiminen on siten merkittävä haaste kaikelle rakennustoiminnalle ja sen parissa työskenteleville.