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From a Third World vision, the present paper deals with some international methods to evaluate sustainability in Projects and realizations, at architectural and urban scale, in order to, valuate in a comparative way, strengths and weakness, mainly taking into account their possible application in developing countries, and particularly in Cuba. The research started by looking for a method to evaluate sustainability in the University of Informatics Sciences, and it was later on extended with the inclusion of the African experience. The evaluative categories differ from one system to the other, but all of them emphasize the environmental dimension of sustainability. Only two methods coming from developing countries include social dimension and the necessity of an endogenous approach, which is an important current challenge for Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text discusses sustainability in architecture and its relation to vernacular building techniques, i. e., how adaptation and invention marked the creation of some of the first places of worship of the Chilean evangelical church. An analytical method was adopted for the study of how the temples were designed and built, and a mixed inductive-deductive method was employed for the identification of key practices that made possible low-power consumption and a minimal impact on the environment. Two main practices were identified. The first one consists in the reuse of buildings, structures, materials, furniture and typologies (adaptation). The second practice involves the creation ex nihilo of solutions for load-bearing structures, construction details and modes of financing (invention). Having demonstrated the sustainable qualities of the temples' construction, in the early twentieth century, and with the certainty that such techniques are perfectly feasible today, this paper concludes that the impediment to sustainable construction today is ethical -- not technical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results obtained from the work carried out for thirteen years are shown in this paper where professors and students have been linked to local institutions and the population in the process of research, training and university extension, to solve, in a trans disciplinary way, the most relevant problems in Cerro municipality. The results obtained during 13 years of work are shown in this community. During this period a vast number of teachers and students have been researching, and engaged in their formation and extracurricular processes with the local authorities, inhabitants, integral neighborhood workshops, municipal planning, local museums and culture authorities among other participants in order to solve the more crucial problems of Cerro community from a transdisciplinary point of view. The use of different methodologies in the designing process and the experiences in the workshops has been assessed to develop values on main participants and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the actions toward a more sustainable development, a poor understanding of the role of architecture and urban design to achieve this goal is appreciated in Cuba. The objective of this paper is to show how it is possible to improve the sustainability in a built environment, by simple and economic transformations, taking as study object the Universidad de Ciencias Informáticas (UCI). A qualitative urban diagnosis was carried out in order to define the main performance strategies. The proposals are progressive, based on minimum intervention and maximum impact. Some of them are: rezoning to reduce distances, using alternative transportation means as bicycles and zero energy minibuses, incorporating new services, using renewable sources of energy and creating an ecological park with a wetland for the gray water treatment. This diagnosis allowed to select the more problematic buildings to be transformed based on a qualitative and quantitative evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the actions toward a more sustainable development, a poor understanding of the role of architecture and urban design to achieve this goal is appreciated in Cuba. The objective of this paper is to show how it is possible to improve the sustainability in a built environment, by simple and economic transformations, taking as study object the Universidad de Ciencias Informáticas (UCI). A qualitative urban diagnosis was carried out in order to define the main performance strategies. The proposals are progressive, based on minimum intervention and maximum impact. Some of them are: rezoning to reduce distances, using alternative transportation means as bicycles and zero energy minibuses, incorporating new services, using renewable sources of energy and creating an ecological park with a wetland for the gray water treatment. This diagnosis allowed to select the more problematic buildings to be transformed based on a qualitative and quantitative evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How incorporate urban bioclimatic principles to achieve an environmental comfort for the design of public spaces in Chile? The future sustainable city is not that city that only puts together several buildings designed with passive conditioning techniques or with energetic efficiency principles. Geographic location, urban scale and the particular public space related to every place, involve different interactions that must be addressed in a systemic perspective of sustainable urban development. The aim of this paper is to initiate a bioclimatic and morphological analysis in main squares of different Chilean cities using criteria of sustainable urbanism, urban bioclimatic charts and interactions among urban morphology. This approach helps in understanding the environmental performance of selected squares, thus optimizing the social interaction that takes place at those spaces. The findings and conclusions hopes to contribute to lay the foundations for a more sustainable development of Chilean cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking as much advantage as possible of the urban land is a basic principle for the sustainable development of the built environment. It depends on the urban model and also, on the architectural typologies, but the main conditioning factor relating these two scales is the relationship between indoors and outdoors in order to achieve appropriate environmental conditions in interior spaces. On the other hand, housing building typologies are decisive in land use and densities. The paper presents a methodological approach for urban models and architectural typologies (housing buildings) evaluation, taking into account parameters and indicators of their quality and economy, where land use and indoors environment are the main and contradictory variables studied. The results permitted to establish urban planning and architectural design indicator to get an appropriate use of the urban land, ensuring at the same time, adequate environmental conditions in housing interior spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]