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Technical and technological advances have revolutionised the architecture, engineering, and construction industries in recent decades. Building information modelling (BIM) methodology has become essential in the process of information management and the development of building projects. This study aims to analyse the potential advantages of the implementation of BIM-based models for the acquisition of theoretical and procedural knowledge about building acoustics. This procedure was implemented as part of a problem-solving exercise in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) university degrees. For this purpose, three-dimensional (3D) BIM models were generated to assess the contribution of their implementation in the process of visualization, comprehension, and analysis of the acoustic behaviour of buildings. The participants' experiences and satisfaction with the BIM models were measured through a questionnaire. The results showed a high level of satisfaction among the participants and good potential for the application of 3D models based on BIM methodology for the acquisition of knowledge and practical skills in building acoustics. These results highlight the potential of BIM models to provide information for understanding the procedure followed during data collection in the experimental analysis and to facilitate the understanding of system behavior.

Since students and teachers spend much of their time in educational buildings, it is critical to provide good levels of indoor environmental quality (IEQ). The current COVID-19 pandemic has shown that maintaining a good indoor air quality level is an effective measure to control the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This study used sensors to monitor key IEQ factors and assess several natural ventilation scenarios in a classroom of the University of Granada. Subsequently, the IEQ factors (temperature, relative humidity, CO2 concentration, acoustic environment, and air velocity) were evaluated for the selected ventilation scenarios in the occupied classroom, and the field monitoring was carried out in two different assessment periods, winter and summer. The obtained results show that the CO2 concentration levels were well below the recommended limits. However, the maintenance of the recommended thermal and acoustic IEQ factors was significantly affected by the natural ventilation strategies (temperature and relative humidity values were very close to the outside values, and the background sound pressure level was over 35 dBA during the entire assessment). The proper measurements and careful selection of the appropriate ventilation scenarios become of utmost importance to ensure that the ventilation rates required by the health authorities are achieved., Consejo General de la Arquitectura Técnica (CGATE), State Research Agency (SRA) of Spain and European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) under project PID2019-108761RB-I00., Junta de Andalucía and European Regional Development Funds under project B-TEP-362-UGR18

This article considers the application of an integrated dynamic method for assessing the in-situ thermal performance of walls (obtaining the U value by one-dimensional analysis), and whole buildings (obtaining the UA value and gA value by three-dimensional analysis). This method is based on the integration of differential energy-balance equations, considering an integration period long enough to make the accumulation term much lower than the other terms, and using averages to estimate integrals. Several aspects of this approach have been systematically analysed. On the one hand, the minimum integration period that allows this simplification has been identified and, on the other, several candidate models considering different approximations for the energy-balance equations have been evaluated. The robustness of the method has been analysed by comparing the results from an eight-month period including different test and weather conditions. A simplified building has been considered as a case study. Its detailed and accurate knowledge reinforces and complements the validation criteria. It is concluded that relatively simple models can give accurate results. The greater complexity provides no significant improvements. However, significant differences have been detected for the different integration periods: from insufficient daily averages to optimum six-day averages for the walls and four-day averages for the whole building.

Antonio J. Aguilar Aguilera and Maria Luisa de la Hoz Torres wish to thank the support of the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovaci ' on y Universidades of Spain under an FPU grant. This work has been supported by the Consejo General de la Arquitectura T ' ecnica (CGATE), the "Junta de Andalucia" (Spain) 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. Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Granada/CBUA., The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has highlighted the need to ensure good indoor air quality. Public buildings (educational buildings in particular) have come under the spotlight because students, teachers and staff spend long periods of the day indoors. This study presents a measurement campaign for the assessment of ventilation rate (VR) and ventilation strategies in educational buildings in Southwestern Europe, Portugal and Spain. A representative sample of the teaching spaces of the Azur´em Campus (Guimar˜aes, Portugal) and the Fuentenueva Campus (Granada, Spain) have been analyzed. Natural ventilation is the predominant ventilation strategy in these spaces, being the most common strategy in educational buildings in Europe. VR was estimated under different configurations, using the CO2 decay method. Subsequently, the CO2 concentration was estimated according to occupancy and the probability of infection risk was calculated using the Wells-Riley equation. The obtained VR varied between 2.9 and 20.1 air change per hour (ACH) for natural cross ventilation, 2.0 to 5.1 ACH for single-sided ventilation and 1.8 to 3.5 for mechanically ventilated classrooms. Large differences in CO2 concentrations were verified, depending on the analyzed ventilation strategy, ranging from 475 to 3903 ppm for the different scenarios. However, the probability of risk was less than 1% in almost all of the classrooms analyzed. The results obtained from the measurement campaign showed that the selection of an appropriate ventilation strategy can provide sufficient air renewal and maintain a low risk of infection. Ventilation strategies need to be reconsidered as a consequence of the health emergency arising from the COVID-19 pandemic., Spanish Government, 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, Universidad de Granada/CBUA

Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Granada/CBUA., A large number of workers are exposed to Whole-Body Vibration (WBV) on a daily basis. In the construction sector, the risk associated with vibration exposure is high as driving vehicles in areas with unpaved-roads or uneven surfaces is a very common activity. Drivers may be exposed to high levels of WBV, which may lead to the development of musculoskeletal disorders. Accordingly, this study developed a GIS-based methodological framework to reduce and manage WBV exposure in the process of routes design. The framework, providing the optimal route using a least-cost path analysis using the optimising criteria of travelled time and WBV exposure, was established. The methods set out in EU-Directive 2002/44/EC and ISO2631-5:2018 are applied. A case study was conducted in order to illustrate the proposed methodological framework. The information provided by the framework can be used by the construction companies and safety management to protect construction workers from excessive WBV exposure., Universidad de Granada/CBUA

Noise exposure is prevalent in many workplaces; however, not all economic sectors are equally affected. Some construction activities are among the productive processes that cause the most noise pollution. This study aims to provide construction industry practitioners with a better understanding of the impacts of occupational noise to improve the management of construction activities. This research starts from the premise that noise maps can be used for acoustic management in construction workplaces. The noise map is presented as a quantitative tool that supports management by providing information to evaluate the noise safety-related performance of construction activities using a risk-analysis-based approach. For this purpose, the possible use of sound maps as a tool in plans for noise protection where construction activities are taking place is discussed. Noise measurements were collected in a concrete production facility. A noise map has been drawn up and the possibility of using it as part of a strategic plan to protect workers’ health has been analysed.

Noise pollution has a major impact on society since it causes both occupational and environmental disturbance. Long-term noise exposure may cause adverse health effects in workers. Nowadays, the construction industry is one of the economic activities that generates the most noise pollution. So that the construction industry contributes to sustainable development and minimizes its impact on society, it is necessary to evaluate the noise pollution construction generates. In this context, Building Information Modelling is a new methodology that offers enormous challenges and opportunities for the construction industry. The use of the BIM methodology can be applied to the field of acoustics and noise prevention. The purpose of this study is to propose a BIM tool to assist noise management in construction industry workplaces. This tool is intended as a primary step for providing advice on acoustic management. The results provided can be useful in supporting decision making and strategic plans can be designed to reduce the impact of noise generated by construction activities.

The acoustic environment is a crucial factor in learning spaces. Variables such as reverberation time and sound pressure level may interfere with the student’s learning process. In order to guarantee the achievement of acoustic comfort requirements in educational buildings, the design and performance of acoustic conditions should be analyzed from the earliest stages of the project. The analysis of acoustic parameters has usually been performed with specialized software. However, the emergence of the Building Information Modelling (BIM) has represented a new approach to the projects in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction sectors. In this context, the BIM methodology offers one solution to this problem. This study proposes the use of the BIM methodology to improve the acoustic environment of educational buildings. For this purpose, a BIM tool has been developed by the authors to perform a simulation of reverberation time, sound pressure level and critical distance based on the architecture characteristics stored in the BIM model.

Heat flux meters are used for measuring the heat flux densities going through walls, usually at quasi-steady state. The limitations of heat flux meters under dynamic conditions are well documented in the literature; nonetheless there is a theoretical limitation which is mostly not considered and should be also taken into account. Since heat transfer is a dissipative process, it would be expected to obtain transfer functions which act as low pass filters. Nonetheless, this paper shows that the transfer functions modeling heat flow rate may become high pass filters, which is against the physical evidence. In order to show this theoretical limitation of the heat flux meters, the heat equation is transformed in different classes of models, from partial differential equations to transfer functions related to surface temperatures and heat flux density going through a wall.