The article outlines the creation of a method for the development of tools to incorporate sustainability criteria in the field of architectural design. The aim of the research is to provide society with scientific knowledge related to sustainability, evaluating the environmental impact of their actions within the building sector, in a simple and direct manner through specific and contextualised tools. A specific tool is experimentally developed for the context of Seville, called Guide for a more Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism (GAUS), in its first document, GAUS-D1. Based on national and international documentary references, the method principles are defined, and an approach is adopted that prioritises communicative actions with the aim of reaching citizens, professionals, and researchers in the building sector. The specific experiment is developed with GAUS-D1, and an initial evaluation is made of its suitability and the validity of the proposed method. The approach followed ensures that the experience of developing this type of tool is internationally transferable to any other place. Further statistical verification of the use of the tool (which implies a defined testing strategy) is necessary so that the method can be consolidated as a national and international reference.

Using a novel approach based on the urban ecosystem services approach, this research explores the relation between socio-economic, architectonic and ecological factors in urban renewal processes. This deductive conceptual approach is based on the definition of an urban diagnosis and intervention model based on the concept of urban socio-ecosystemic services. This conceptual approach is applied to three research cases in Andalusia (Spain) neighbourhoods linked to participatory urban renewal processes. A model is inductively defined from these analysed case studies: the socio-ecosystemic services model, based on the conceptual frame, the development of particular instruments and the definition of a participatory methodological strategy. The results obtained in these urban workshops show that the socio-ecosystem model better integrates the relationships between the architectural, socio-economic and ecological dimensions in addressing the need for urban services and infrastructure and the quality of life in neighbourhoods. Citizens can formulate their needs and perceptions of the neighbourhood beyond traditional quantitative variables (i.e. number of car parks, average size of dwellings, population density, etc.), incorporating aspects such as urban landscape, air quality, urban noise, shaded rest areas and children’s spaces. All these perceptions are collected and transformed into proposals for neighbourhood improvement, which are assessed and prioritized by the citizens. Together with participatory processes, this approach can be considered as the key to success in urban renewal strategies in neighbourhoods. However, it is necessary to develop indicators and metrics of the relationships between the socio-economic and ecological dimensions that allow a more integrated study of the model at different urban scales.

This article presents the multidisciplinary methodology employed in the restoration of a 17th-century timber roof frame in Spain. This detailed methodology furthers contributions of previous researchers and could be applied to any restoration work of patrimonial architecture. Our interest focuses on two main aspects: the importance of the knowledge of construction techniques of the time that the work in question was built and the necessary continuous interrelation between the different aspects involved in the process. The historical survey enjoys a greater scope than the mere description of the historical-constructive evolution. The collective consideration of all the aspects involved allows us to perform inspections properly, to detect the critical points of the system and even, as in this case, to define the criteria and procedure of intervention. For clarification purposes the characteristics of the rafter and collar-beam system used in this building and its references in carpentry treatises are also described.

This article presents a methodological proposal to address the urban issue from the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Different tools have been developed for this purpose: the Aura Method and the Aura Matrix. The Aura Matrix of relationships built from the SDGs, along with the conceptual proposals to which the project must respond, allows for the definition of a methodological framework of action, defined as the Aura Method, applicable to any project that aims to respond to the urban scale from a more sustainable and healthy approach and within the framework of the above-mentioned goals. Two proposals for the Solar Decathlon Latin America of the Aura Team from the University of Seville (2015 and 2019) in Cali, Colombia, and their comparison, are presented as case studies. The scope of the 2019 proposal based on the use of these tools is more rigorous and bold with respect to the requirements defined by the SDGs than the 2015 proposal, based on the millennium goals. This reinforces to a great extent the resilience of the urban scope under study and its capacity to face serious situations in terms of citizens’ health, such as the pandemic we are currently suffering, and improves life quality. The main findings lay on the defined Aura Matrix and Aura Method tools as pragmatic opportunities to translate conceptual approaches such as G3: ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’ into practical decisions and urban design proposals to improve the quality of life and health of citizens.

The building sector is one of those responsible for a large part of the impacts caused to the environment, being also the sector with the greatest potential to solve the problem of climate neutrality set by the European Commission for the year 2050. More than 35% of buildings in the EU are more than 50 years old. In addition, more than 94% of the current buildings in Europe will stand in 2050, subject to rehabilitation guidelines. Most of these buildings are old and energy inefficient, with more than half of them in the three lowest energy classes (E, F and G) marked by the EU. Level(s) is a voluntary and common framework for assessing the environmental performance and sustainability of buildings during their life cycle that has been developed by the European Commission. Level(s) contributes to the circular economy, offering a step-by-step procedure for life cycle assessment through a set of basic sustainability indicators for residential and office buildings, which address not only their environmental performance but also other key aspects in sustainability linked to health, comfort, well-being, the cost of the life cycle or future risks in behaviour. This article presents the research work developed for the study of different passive strategies for the rehabilitation of residential buildings in obsolete neighbourhoods of Seville, specifying the Polı́gono San Pablo as a case study. An Architectural Rehabilitation Methodology with sustainability criteria is proposed, according to the Macro Objectives of the European Level(s) framework. The work is included within the Project “Direct application of the Aura Strategy of the SD-US Team, for the rehabilitation of obsolete Andalusian neighbourhoods”.