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This paper aimed to analyze how innovations in the business model contribute to creating sustainable value in construction companies. The results revealed that analyzed companies implement practices that enhance their reputation and contribute to the environment while securing economic benefits. These practices include material reuse and replacing traditional processes with renewable ones (installing photovoltaic panels and rainwater harvesting). Companies also have tried to integrate with the community through sponsorships, primarily in sports and cultural events, and assistance to homes for the elderly and needy educational institutions. Companies need to implement processes that contribute to the rational use of water and waste reduction during construction projects despite the results. Furthermore, this study has the importance of identifying actions that are oriented towards generating benefits for society and the environment and analyzing them from the perspective of the creation of sustainable value from innovations in the business model.

This research was funded by the Consejo General de la Arquitectura Tecnica (CGATE), Junta de Andalucia and European Regional Development Funds under project B-TEP-362-UGR18, and the State Research Agency (SRA) of Spain and European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) under project PID2019-108761RB-I00., The construction and transport sectors are the industries with the highest proportions of workers exposed to vibrations in the European Union. Heavy equipment vehicle (HEV) drivers often perform operations on different uneven surfaces and are exposed to whole body vibration (WBV) on a daily basis. Recently, a new version of ISO 2631-5 was published. However, since this new method required as input the individual exposure profile and the acceleration signals recorded on more surfaces, limited studies have been carried out to evaluate HEV operations according to this standard. The objectives of this study were to assess the WBV exposure using the methods defined in ISO 2631-1:1997 and ISO 2631-5:2018 and to compare the obtained health risk assessments between drivers with different anthropometric characteristics. For this purpose, two drivers were selected and a field measurement campaign was conducted. Regarding short-term assessment, results showed that VDV was the most restrictive method with exposure levels above the exposure action limit value, while SAd indicated that the same exposures were safe for the worker. With respect to long-term assessment, Risk Factor RA showed that the driver with the highest body mass index was the only one who exceeded the low probability limit of adverse health effects., Consejo General de la Arquitectura Tecnica (CGATE), Junta de Andalucia, European Commission B-TEP-362-UGR18, State Research Agency (SRA) of Spain, European Commission PID2019-108761RB-I00

Internationalizing university studies can be something of a challenge for courses related to engineering and architecture because their content is mainly focused on the standards of the country. In this regard, the content of the degree programmes in building engineering in Spain is based on the Spanish Building Technical Code. For this reason, this paper analyses experimentation conducted in a postgraduate course in building engineering of the University of Seville. The goal of the study was to internationalize the course content of that course appropriately. For this purpose, a combined approach was developed based on using ISO standards and including appropriately the modifications through a project management methodology to reduce risks. Experimentation was conducted for three academic years: 2018/2019–2020/2021. The results showed that ISO standards were appropriately implemented in the teaching course content and accepted by students. Likewise, the use of a project management methodology could be an opportunity to improve teaching course content, thus reducing the risk related to the modifications of this process. © 2022 by the authors.

The article addresses the relevance of the real estate sector in climate change control through the decarbonisation of buildings. It presents a case study of an investment portfolio artificially constructed from randomly selected buildings in different Spanish cities and with different uses, evaluated in terms of their structural and energy characteristics. The CRREM tool is used to evaluate the decarbonisation horizon of the buildings between 2018 and 2050, their total emissions and their cost, in relation to the maximum allowed in the agreements signed by the EU in Paris (COP21). From this calculation, an assessment is provided of when buildings will become energetically stranded (energy obsolete) assets and the cost of carbon emitted above permitted levels. These calculations lend transparency to the investment decision-making process facing building owners in the EU over the next 30 years. El artículo aborda la relevancia del sector inmobiliario en el proceso de control del cambio climático a través de la relevancia del proceso de descarbonización de los edificios. Plantea un caso de estudio de una cartera de inversión construida artificialmente a partir de edificios seleccionados aleatoriamente en distintas ciudades españolas y con distinto uso, los cuales se evalúan en cuanto a sus características estructurales y energéticas. Utilizando la herramienta de CRREM, se evalúa el horizonte de descarbonización de los edificios entre 2018 y 2050, el total de sus emisiones y su coste, comparado con el máximo que permiten los acuerdos firmados por la UE en Paris (COP21). A partir de este cálculo, se aporta una evaluación de la fecha en que los edificios se convertirán en activos obsoletos energéticamente, así como del coste del carbono emitido por encima de lo permitido. Estos cálculos aportan transparencia al proceso de toma de decisión de inversión al que se enfrentan los propietarios de edificios en la UE en los próximos treinta años.

Digital technologies (DTs) are proven helpful in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry due to their varied benefits to project stakeholders, such as enhanced visualization, better data sharing, reduction in building waste, increased productivity, sustainable performance and safety improvement. Therefore, researchers have conducted various studies on DTs in the AEC industry over the year, however, this study explores the state-of-the-art research on DTs in the AEC industry by means of a bibliometric-qualitative review method. This research would uncover new knowledge gaps and practical needs in the domain of DTs in the AEC industry. In addition, bibliometric analysis was carried out by utilizing academic publications from Scopus (i.e., 11,047 publications for the AEC industry, 1956 for DTs and 1778 for DTs in the AEC industry). Furthermore, a qualitative review was further conducted on 200 screened selected research publications in the domain of DTs. This study brings attention to the body of knowledge by envisioning trends and patterns by defining key research interests, journals, countries, new advancements, challenges, negative attitudes and future directions towards DTs in the AEC industry. However, this study is the first in its vital importance and uniqueness by providing a broad updated review of DTs in the AEC literature. Furthermore, this research laid a foundation for future researchers, policy makers and practitioners to explore the limitations in future research.

Risk assessment is a legal obligation for all companies in most countries worldwide. It aims to control the quality of working conditions and avoid externalizing the consequences of accidents and resulting costs to society. This work discusses the need for an adequate interpretation of the zero-risk concept from a technical-preventive perspective to assess occupational risks in construction sites. A critical analysis of several risk assessment methodologies was carried out, focusing on the evaluation criteria of little or no-risk situations. The verification of the results was made through a case study. The perception of health and safety risks by workers is very different from that of the evaluators. Often, when workers identify a situation as low-risk or even zero-risk, the evaluator assesses the same context as maximum risk. Given the workers' and the evaluators' responses, the Preventive Action Method establishes a new parameter, the Environment Congruence. This parameter is based on the perception of the preventive environment and gives more importance to the evaluators' decision. When preventive action is optimal, the risk is low in all preventive observation settings. In conclusion, this study justifies the non-nullity of the risk and the difficulty of assessing zero-risk in construction sites. Therefore, evaluations with qualitative and quantitative non-risk approaches should be discarded. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

[EN] The economic crisis started in Spain between 2008 and 2009. During the previous years there had been a growth of the Spanish economy above 3% per year, combined with a reduction of the unemployment rate to values close to 8%, the lowest unemployment rate in the last two decades. This situation was seen by analysts and politicians as a perfect situation for the Spanish economy, which did not foreshadow the existence of the crisis that would follow, beyond a minority that warned of a bubble in the real estate sector and a possible slow- down in the economy. This study reviews the ratios and sectors that have suffered most from the consequences of the crisis and describes the need for the implementation of technology as levers to improve the productivity of these sectors.

The innovation that the construction sector requires is more than simply implementing technology, instead it is necessary to digitize the sector and promote collaborative work among stakeholders, in order to improve on-site management. Many countries around the world have incorporated tools to facilitate collaborative work in their processes. In the US particularly, there are many companies which are implementing the LPS methodology, and they are even applying this concept to the execution of works, supplementing it with BIM tools. In Spain, however, the implementation of such tools is relatively recent. By using a survey, this article seeks to determine the level of knowledge that stakeholders involved in the Spanish construction sector have about the collaborative work model, specifically BIM and LPS tools. Furthermore, a group of experts proposes a selection of Best Practices (BP) for the application of these tools to a case study in Madrid (Spain).

The building industry is responsible for considerable environmental impacts due to its consumption of resources and energy, and the production of wastes. Circular Economy (CE), a new paradigm can significantly improve the sustainability of this sector. This paper performs a quantitative scientific evolution analysis of the application of CE in the building sector to detect new trends and highlight the evolvement of this research topic. Around 7000 documents published 2005 to 2020 at Web of Science and Scopus were collected and analyzed. The bibliometric indicators, network citation, and multivariate statistical analysis were obtained using Bibliometrix R-package and VOSviewer. The co-occurrence analysis showed five keyword-clusters, in which the three main ones are: (i) energy and energy efficiency in buildings; (ii) recycling, waste management and alternative construction materials; (iii) sustainable development. The analysis showed that researchers pay close attention to 'sustainability', 'energy efficiency', 'life cycle assessment', 'renewable energy', and 'recycling' in the past five years. This paper highlights that (i) the development and use of alternative construction materials; (ii) the development of circular business models; (iii) smart cities, Industry 4.0 and their relations with CE, are the current research hotspots that may be considered as potential future research topics. The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness RTI2018-093849-B-C33 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), RTI2018-093849-B-C31 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) and CTQ2016-77968-C3-1-P (MINECO/FEDER) and thank the Catalan Government (2017-SGR-1409, 2017-SGR-1537, and 2019 FI-B-00762). This work was partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades - Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) (RED2018-102431-T). GREiA is a certified agent TECNIO in the category of technology developers from the Government of Catalonia. This work is partially supported by ICREA under the ICREA Academia programme.

Safety management in the construction sector continues to be of great concern due to the high accident rate. Enormous legislative efforts have been made to minimize this problem. In Europe, the Directive 92/57/EEC, which establishes a mandatory safety and health requirements, defines the Safety and Health Plan. This paper contains a methodology for automatically extracting structured relevant information from this textual document. Such plans are crucial to provide safety in this sector. However, current documents are often enlarged with nonessential information, while the most relevant information is missing or difficult to locate. The information extracted by our methodology makes it easier for Safety and Health Plans to be validated and approved at an early stage, as well as facilitating their later use and updating. The main steps of this methodology are: i) the definition of the relevant content to be extracted as seven items, in collaboration with experts in the area; ii) text preprocessing and enrichment using existing software resources for the natural language employed; and iii) automated content analysis for extracting information, on the basis of a collection of previously established rules for identifying the content defined in the first step. The output is a detailed and structured report containing the percentage of relevant information identified, as well as the desired items of information. To illustrate and validate our methodology, we have implemented and applied it to 50 real Safety and Health Plans. As a result, our system was able to identify most of the required information for five of the seven items in all of these plans. In addition, we have been able to detect the problems in the textual plan that caused the missing information in the other two items, which will be corrected in future developments.

Risk assessment on a construction site is based on the probability and consequences of the accident. But due to the complexity of the construction processes, this new methodology for the evaluation of occupational risks, called Level of Preventive Action, develops a new parameter for evaluating preventive action based on documentary environment that reflects the complexity of the work units, location and interdependence, construction environment referred to construction and protection systems, and social environment relative to the perception of the environment and the workers’ emotional states. The evaluation criteria of the new method are established by developing the William T. Fine methodology and incorporating concepts such as risk tolerance, the importance of work and personal satisfaction, which justify the degree of correction of preventive actions. This methodology determines the amount of preventive action control that is required during the construction process. This research proposes a risk assessment protocol adapted to construction sites based on specialized technical observation with a psychosocial survey on site. Some results of the implementation of the method in real work are shown. In conclusion, the determining parameter towards optimal control of preventive action is the direct and active participation of workers in safety matters. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

The construction industry is currently technologically challenged to incorporate new developments for enhancing the process, such as the use of 3D printing for complex building structures, which is the aim of this brief. To do so, we show a systematic study regarding the usability and performance of mobile manipulators as displaceable 3D printing machinery in construction sites, with emphasis on the three main different existing mobile platforms: the car-like, the unicycle and the omnidirectional (mecanum wheeled), with an UR5 manipulator on them. To evaluate its performance, we propose the printing of the following building elements: helical, square, circular and mesh, with different sizes. As metrics, we consider the total control effort observed in the robots and the total tracking error associated with the energy consumed in the activity to get a more sustainable process. In addition, to further test our work, we constrained the robot workspace thus resembling real life construction sites. In general, the statistical results show that the omnidirectional platform presents the best results &ndash, lowest tracking error and lowest control effort&ndash, for circular, helicoidal and mesh building elements, and car-like platform shows the best results for square-like building element. Then, an innovative performance analysis is achieved for the printing of building elements, with a contribution to the reduction of energy consumption.

Accidents in construction sector have become a serious problem that is continuously growing and whose analysis is hampered by the characteristics of the sector, which limits access to the necessary data to allow to study the phenomenon, draw conclusions and make targeted proposals to reduce work accidents. The aim of this article is to analyse the preventive workers's training and some different organizational and economic characteristics of the companies in the sector to see their effect on accident rates as well as on labour efficiency. At a European level statistics on accidents in the sector indicate that the incidence rate of accidents is progressively decreasing but continues at very high levels. At national level, incidence rates have risen after the economic crisis and the Balearic Islands is the region with the highest incidence rate in Spain, with an increase of 24.61% in three years (2013-2016). To this end, 570 companies from the construction sector in the Balearic Islands has been selected. Building a panel data of 11 years (2007-2017) with all these companies data, with training, economic and accidents data, we aim to find empirical evidence in the relationship among safety training policy of a company, its accident rate and its economic performance. Using Poisson linear and quadratic regression methods, we test whether or not there exist a relationship between training in firms and their accident rate. The variables that are included in this study are, on the one hand, the training on safety received by the workers, considering the different levels of training established by the applicable regulations and some economic characteristics of the companies, on the other, the accidents occurred in these companies during the time of this study. The results show evidence of a relationship between the level of training of the companies and their accident rates. This study also aims to provide new empirical evidence on the relationship between safety training and level of safety at work and the subsequent accidents.

Assessment regarding the impact of Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) on the residential market is largely inconclusive, while the majority of hedonic analyses have found EPC ratings to be correlated with prices, opinion-based research has found a negligible impact on prices and other marketing variables. Using the opinion of qualified real estate agents, this paper explores whether, in Spain, EPC labels play any role in housing marketing, as well as the policy changes required to foster efficient dwellings. The results reveal a large misunderstanding of the EPC labels, since they are seen as a global home-quality indicator, while their impact on residential marketing is quite poor. Apparently, both supply and demand place a small interest in energy performance, although it is slightly larger for sellers/buyers in relation to lenders/tenants. In any case, EPC labels are far from blurring the energy information asymmetry, since most of the buyers/tenants are informed of the EPC rating after having selected their home. Overall, the EPC scheme has a poor reputation exacerbated by inaccuracies, unintelligible units to express the financial and environmental implications of energy efficiency, and an apparent weak supervision. These findings stress the need to improve the scheme, in doing so, realtors suggest the need for some companion policies.

Predicting the environmental impact of buildings from early stages of design becomes essential for improving their sustainability during the entire life cycle. Carbon footprint allows to determine the emissions of greenhouse gases derived from the building process from cradle to grave. In this chapter, the experience of the authors in carbon footprint calculation methodologies is presented through an open-source software tool for estimating the environmental impact of architectural projects from the design phase, as a product from the OERCO2 Erasmus + project. With a newly renovated interface, the internal functioning of this tool is comprehensively explained, presenting and analyzing the results obtained for representative building typologies. This tool aims to allow users to detect opportunities of improvement, environmental and economic, of their projects through modifications such as the selection of different materials or constructive solutions. Subsequently, the authors carry out an analysis of its flaws and forthcoming necessary upgrades to make this software tool more accessible to non-specialized users, thus easing the spread of knowledge on carbon footprint and the environmental impact of buildings. © 2020, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Currently, nanotechnology plays a key role for technological innovation, including the construction sector. An exponential increase is expected in its application, although this has been hampered by the current degree of uncertainty regarding the potential effects of nanomaterials on both human health and the environment. The accidents, illnesses, and disease related to the use of nanoproducts in the construction sector are difficult to identify. For this purpose, this work analyzes in depth the products included in recognized inventories and the safety data sheets of these construction products. Based on this analysis, a review of the recommendations on the use of manufactured nanomaterials at construction sites is performed. Finally, a protocol is proposed with the aim of it serving as a tool for technicians in decision-making management at construction sites related to the use of manufactured nanomaterials. This proposed protocol should be an adaptive and flexible tool while the manufactured nanomaterials-based work continues to be considered as an “emerging risk,” despite the expectation that the protocol will be useful for the development of new laws and recommendations for occupational risk prevention management.

Occupational health and safety legislation is an essential part of the process to manage organisations and companies. However, there are criticisms that the regulation of occupational health and safety could be restricting the impulses of innovation and industrial development. This has led to proposals to repeal regulations to reduce the regulatory burden when possible. This work aims to delve into the difficulties that organisations encounter in their attempts to comply with occupational health and safety legislation and manage the process effectively. A systematic review was conducted of published studies that have analysed the relationship between occupational health and safety (OHS) management and compliance with legislation, regulations and rules. The search for relevant publications mainly used international bibliographic databases and scientific search engines. Quotes from other authors were also examined. This review provides knowledge on how compliance and non-compliance with legislation influences daily health and safety management in companies. The review highlights and discusses both successful regulatory strategies and the main difficulties, weaknesses, limitations and challenges companies face when adopting and complying with these regulations. This study concludes that management of legal compliance in companies, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises has become a complicated task. Management of occupational health and safety systems should not only be based on prescriptive principles and the detection of non-compliance, but also on proactive principles including an examination of how legal compliance affects daily performance.

The degree of compliance with the Registro de Empresas Acreditadas (REA) (Registry of Accredited Companies) and its implementation by the Public Administrations in Spain is compared with its implementation among private construction sector firms. The Registry of Accredited Companies is a tool for risk-prevention control that is defined by Law 32/2006 in Regulation of Subcontracting in the Construction Sector in Spain. On the basis of a quantitative analysis of the data obtained from public bodies registered with the REA, the study is limited to Ayuntamientos y Diputaciones Provinciales (Municipal Town and City Councils and Provincial Councils of the Provincial Government). To do so, the registration records with the REA of both public administrations are analyzed within the 50 Provinces and the two Autonomous Cities that together constitute the 17 Autonomous Communities of the national territory of Spain. In parallel, a comparative study is performed of the registration records of private construction sector firms registered with the REA. Public digital data-management tools are used for the investigation, together with publicly available information known as the Relaci&oacute, n de Puestos de Trabajo (RPT) (List of Employment Positions) of the corresponding public entities under analysis, with the objective of testing the information and validating its degree of reliability. Likewise, a survey is administered to gather data on the registration of private construction center firms, in addition to the use of the qualitative Focus Groups technique, so as to assure the reliability the survey data. The results revealed unequal treatment by the Labor Authority with regard to the imposition of similar administrative obligations. A clearly negative discrimination was noted with regard to private construction sector firms, in comparison with the permissive attitude and light administrative burden of the Public Administrations.

[EN] The evaluation of BIM capabilities and repeatability enables a company or project to identify its current status and how to improve continuously; this evaluation can be performed with BIM maturity models. However, these maturity models can measure the BIM state but not specifically the application of BIM uses. Likewise, in interorganizational project teams with a diversity of factors from various companies, it is possible to evaluate the capacity at a specified time with specified factors, but it is not possible to evaluate the repeatability unless the client always works with the same project teams. Therefore, despite the existence of various BIM uses in the literature, there is no instrument to evaluate the level of implementation of them in construction projects. This research proposes a BIM Use Assessment (BUA) tool for characterizing the levels of application of the BIM uses in the planning and design phases of building projects. The research methodology was organized into three stages: (1) identification, selection, and definition of BIM uses; (2) proposal of the BUA tool for characterizing the level of BIM use application; and (3) validation of the BUA tool. The tool was validated using 25 construction projects, where high reliability and concordance were observed; hence, the BUA tool complies with the consistency and concordance analysis for assessing uses in the design and planning phases of construction projects. The assessment will enable self-diagnosis, stakeholder qualification/selection, and industry benchmarking., This work was supported by FONDECYT (1181648 to Alarcón L. F. and Mourgues C.) and CONICYT, Chile (PCHA/National Doctorate/2018-21180884 to Herrera R. F.).

Construction projects are afflicted by cost and time overruns, primarily due to inadequate information sharing among the project participants that causes productivity reductions in the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. Therefore, by working on different areas of its value chain, it is possible to increase the construction process productivity. Building Information Modelling (BIM) emerged as a digital platform through which project teams can share and manage project information efficiently, and Lean construction practices address the issue of improving coordination within a project team, smoothing workflow in construction projects through features that reduce waste and increase value. The present research is an applied study that comprises the analysis of the integration of Lean practices and BIM through a real-life implementation in a residential project. This paper contributes to knowledge on BIM and Lean adoption by showing how lean practices reduce coordination-related issues within the project construction, and BIM adoption makes the benefits of Lean principles more visible. Additionally, the literature still lacks specific examples of simultaneous implementation of BIM and Lean for the first time in medium-sized construction companies. The purpose is to report the experiences, opportunities for improvement, and lessons learned from the implementation. Findings show that independent implementation only solves a part of the problem. However, simultaneous implementation exposed the team to more exceptional experiences and opportunities for improvement. © 27th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, IGLC 2019. All rights reserved. DPR Construction,Refine Projects AG,WSP

This research (2) arises from the analysis of 248 reports from the Office of Project Supervision of the Navy Infrastructure Department (3), corresponding to both studies and basic safety and health studies, that have revealed the frequent lack of certain documentary aspects in the minimum mandatory contents established by Royal Decree 1627/1997. This situation has led to a thorough study about it, analyzing in detail the most common incidents to find its possible origin and comparing those that are common to both types of documents., Esta investigación (2) surge del análisis de 248 informes de la Oficina de Supervisión de Proyectos la Dirección de Infraestructura de la Armada (3), correspondientes tanto a estudios como a estudios básicos de seguridad y salud, que han puesto de manifiesto la frecuente carencia de determinados aspectos documentales en los contenidos mínimos obligatorios que establece el Real Decreto 1627/1997. Esta situación ha motivado un estudio minucioso sobre ello, analizando de forma detallada las incidencias más habituales para buscar su posible origen y comparando las que son comunes para ambos tipos de documentos.

Esta investigación (2) surge del análisis de 248 informes de la Oficina de Supervisión de Proyectos la Dirección de Infraestructura de la Armada (3), correspondientes tanto a estudios como a estudios básicos de seguridad y salud, que han puesto de manifiesto la frecuente carencia de determinados aspectos documentales en los contenidos mínimos obligatorios que establece el Real Decreto 1627/1997. Esta situación ha motivado un estudio minucioso sobre ello, analizando de forma detallada las incidencias más habituales para buscar su posible origen y comparando las que son comunes para ambos tipos de documentos. © 2018 CSIC. This research (2) arises from the analysis of 248 reports from the Office of Project Supervision of the Navy Infrastructure Department (3), corresponding to both studies and basic safety and health studies, that have revealed the frequent lack of certain documentary aspects in the minimum mandatory contents established by Royal Decree 1627/1997. This situation has led to a thorough study about it, analyzing in detail the most common incidents to find its possible origin and comparing those that are common to both types of documents. © 2018 CSIC.

The urban planning development process in urban territories has multiple consequences, not only in spatial structure but also in land valuation patterns. The economic value of land encompassed in municipal planning-which is associated with a certain urbanized use-increases as the planning processes evolve over these lands. For economic land valuation to comply with the required parameters of urban and territorial sustainable development, it is pivotal that in the determination of land value there are no expectations of difficult or impossible realizations, in order to eliminate any speculative element from the valuation. The land valuation model presented in the current study complies with this premise, proposing a sustainable land valuation model based on the evolution of urban planning development, achieving maximum value when it is fully urbanized. The main objective of the present work is to analyze how land value increases as municipal planning develops and to suggest a sustainable valuation model for land with urban use. Contextually, through a case study analysis, the development of municipal planning has been divided over time into four urban states: (i) land without detailed planning; (ii) land with detailed planning; (iii) land with re-parceling; and (iv) urbanized land. In this regard, the gradual evolution of land value which has reached different states over time has been determined, as has scenarios where the value has increased up to the value of urbanized land. © 2018 by the author.

The role of waste management in the circular economy has recently been highlighted by the European Commission, particularly in the Communication COM/2015/0614 “Closing the loop – An EU action plan for the Circular Economy”. Gypsum products are well suited for contributing to this challenge, because the raw material calcium sulphate dihydrate can repeatedly change its properties through a reversible hydration reaction. Moreover, the waste hierarchy is applied when these are recycled instead of landfilled, which contributes to the European 2020 target of 70% recovery by weight of construction and demolition waste, as defined in the Directive 2008/98/EC on Waste. Three main undesirable effects are produced when gypsum is not managed appropriately, mainly due to its non-inert nature and its high sulphate content. On the one hand, gypsum contaminates concrete waste for recycling when treated as mixed waste. On the other hand, the disposal of gypsum waste at landfills poses a risk of higher landfill emissions. Overall, potential secondary resources are lost (i.e. recycled gypsum). The main objective of the thesis is to broaden the knowledge on the management of gypsum products in the European Union, with the ultimate aim to move towards higher recovery rates and a closed-loop supply chain. This is intended to foster the transition to a circular economy and contribute to meet the European 2020 targets. The method includes the study of the literature, the development of a life cycle model and the design and analysis of questionnaires addressed to stakeholders. The investigation is partly based on the European Life+ Gypsum to Gypsum (GtoG) project “From production to recycling: a circular economy for the European gypsum Industry with the demolition and recycling Industry”, supported by the European Commission through the Life+ programme (LIFE11 ENV/BE/001039). On this basis, the investigation is tackled on two fronts: at macro and micro-levels. At macro-level, the results show how gypsum waste is managed in different European countries and the crucial factors that affect its destination. Additionally, the life cycle model of gypsum mass flows enables the estimation of primary energy use and greenhouse gases emissions in different recycling scenarios. Results reveal that such emissions are lower as recycling increases, largely driven by the degradation of plasterboard lining paper in landfill. At micro-level, the ideal conditions to produce quality recycled gypsum from end-of-life gypsum are formulated. Moreover, the physical and mechanical characterization of recycled gypsum and plasterboard with recycled content are examined. The identification of best practices for the management of end-of-life gypsum complements this part, being three practices proposed as fundamental to promote a circular economy for gypsum products. This study thus provides a comprehensive approach on measures to transform the management of gypsum waste in countries where gypsum is currently landfilled. Overall, the study addresses six specific objectives, which are formulated as follows: (1) Document the current situation on the recycled gypsum market, (2) Evaluate the impact of different levels of gypsum recycling and landfilling, (3) Analyse the factors influencing gypsum recycling, (4) Analyse the characterization of gypsum feedstock and gypsum products with recycled gypsum, (5) Identify the ideal conditions to produce recycled gypsum from end-of-life gypsum (6) Analyse practices for the management of end-of-life gypsum in a circular economy. The overall conclusion is that closed-loop gypsum recycling rates are influenced by factors (at a regional, national and EU level) and adopted practices by agents (in each deconstruction-recycling value chain). The lessons learned from current gypsum recycling countries have the potential to enable a circular economy in the rest of the European countries.-----------------RESUMEN--------------La Comisión Europea ha señalado recientemente el papel de la gestión de residuos en la economía circular en la Comunicación COM/2015/0614 “Cerrar el círculo: un plan de acción de la UE para la economía circular”. Los productos de yeso son idóneos para contribuir a este reto, ya que el sulfato de calcio dihidratado puede cambiar repetidamente sus propiedades debido al proceso reversible de hidratación. Además, tal y como se define en la Directiva 2008/98/CE, la jerarquía de residuos se hace efectiva cuando los productos de yeso son reciclados en lugar de ser depositados en vertederos, lo que contribuye a alcanzar el objetivo europeo en 2020, relativo a la recuperación del 70% en peso de los residuos de construcción y demolición. Cuando los residuos de yeso no son gestionados adecuadamente se producen tres efectos indeseables. Por un lado, en caso de ser tratados como residuos mixtos, el yeso contamina los residuos de hormigón destinados a ser reciclados. Por otra parte, la disposición de residuos de yeso en vertedero representa un riesgo de mayores. En general, se pierden potenciales recursos secundarios (i.e. yeso reciclado). Es principal objetivo de la tesis el ampliar el conocimiento en torno a la gestión de los residuos de yeso en la Unión Europea, con el fin último de evolucionar hacia mayores porcentajes de recuperación y una cadena de suministro de ciclo cerrado. Se pretende así fomentar la transición hacia una economía circular y contribuir a alcanzar los objetivos europeos en 2020. La metodología incluye el análisis de la bibliografía, el desarrollo de un modelo de ciclo de vida y el diseño y análisis de encuestas dirigidas a los agentes implicados. La investigación se basa en parte en el proyecto europeo Life+ Gypsum to Gypsum (GtoG) project “From production to recycling: a circular economy for the European gypsum Industry with the demolition and recycling Industry”, supported by the European Commission through the Life+ programme (LIFE11 ENV/BE/001039). Sobre esta base la investigación se aborda en dos frentes. A una escala más amplia, los resultados muestran cómo distintos países de la Unión Europea gestionan los residuos de yeso y los factores cruciales que afectan a su destino. De manera adicional, el modelo de ciclo de vida basado en los flujos de masas permite estimar la energía primaria y gases de efecto invernadero en distintos escenarios de reciclado. Los resultados muestran que estas emisiones son menores a medida que el reciclado aumenta, lo que se atribuye en gran medida a la degradación en vertedero del papel que forma parte de las placas de yeso laminado. A pequeña escala, se formulan las condiciones ideales para producir yeso reciclado de calidad procedente de residuos de yeso en la etapa de fin de vida. Además, se analiza la caracterización física y mecánica de residuo de yeso y producto con contenido reciclado. Lo anterior se complementa con la identificación de las mejores prácticas para la gestión de residuos de yeso en la etapa de fin de vida, proponiendo tres de ellas como fundamentales para promover una economía circular para los productos de yeso. El estudio proporciona así un enfoque amplio para transformar la gestión de los residuos de yeso en contextos en los que actualmente es dispuesto en vertedero. En líneas generales, el estudio aborda seis objetivos específicos, formulados como sigue: (1) Documentar la situación actual en relación con el mercado de yeso reciclado, (2) Evaluar el impacto de distintos niveles de reciclado y eliminación en vertedero de yeso, (3) Analizar los factores que influyen en el reciclado del yeso, (4) Analizar la caracterización del yeso y productos de yeso con contenido reciclado, (5) Identificar las condiciones ideales para producir yeso reciclado a partir de productos de yeso al final de su vida útil, (6) Analizar prácticas para la gestión del residuo en una economía circular. Como conclusión general puede señalarse que las tasas de reciclaje de yeso se ven influenciadas por factores (a nivel regional, nacional y europeo) y prácticas adoptadas por los agentes (en cada cadena de suministro deconstrucción-reciclado). Las enseñanzas extraídas de países que actualmente reciclan yeso pueden hacer posible una economía circular para los productos de yeso en el resto de países europeos.