The planning of waste management strategies needs tools to support decisions at all stages of the process. Accurate quantification of the waste to be generated is essential for both the daily management (short-term) and proper design of facilities (long-term). Designing without rigorous knowledge may have serious economic and environmental consequences. The present works aims at identifying relevant socio-economic features of municipalities regarding Household Waste (HW) generation by means of factor models. Factor models face two main drawbacks, data collection and identifying relevant explanatory variables within a heterogeneous group. Grouping similar characteristics observations within a group may favour the deduction of more robust models. The methodology followed has been tested with Biscay Province because it stands out for having very different municipalities ranging from very rural to urban ones. Two main models are developed, one for the overall province and a second one after clustering the municipalities. The results prove that relating municipalities with specific characteristics, improves the results in a very heterogeneous situation. The methodology has identified urban morphology, tourism activity, level of education and economic situation as the most influencing characteristics in HW generation.

Evaporative cooling systems have gained increasing attention as an energy-efficient solution for climate control in hot and dry regions. This review aims to assess the effectiveness of the most recent advancements in evaporative cooling technologies for building applications in hot and dry climates. The review focuses on global literature, with an emphasis on building applications. The findings of this review indicate that evaporative cooling systems with hybrid configurations, particularly multi-stage systems, can achieve cooling efficiencies of up to 95%. These systems are highly energy-efficient, with energy consumption ranging from 0.3 to 1.2 kW/t, with hybrid and multi-stage designs showing the best performance. Direct and indirect evaporative cooling systems also perform well, with cooling effectiveness ranging from 60% to 85%. Their reliance on water, rather than harmful refrigerants, results in minimal environmental impact, making them an eco-friendly alternative to traditional cooling methods. The coefficient of performance (COP) for these systems is favorable, with hybrid and multi-stage designs reaching COP values as high as 35, indicating substantial cooling output relative to energy input. In addition, the performance of evaporative cooling systems is highly influenced by their design parameters and operating conditions. Advanced designs that incorporate multi-stage cooling and effective water management tend to provide enhanced cooling capacity and energy efficiency. Therefore, evaporative cooling systems are an excellent option for sustainable building practices, contributing significantly to energy savings and reduced environmental impact.