Service-Learning: Improving Both City and Training of Our Building Degree Students

The project seeks to promote personal accountability and self-regulation as a solution for energy efficiency and noise issues in urban areas and also to create suggestions for enhancing the city environment. This project aims to change the situation and involve people as a key element of the process of operating the building. This method enriches and advances the technical education that students get, pushing them beyond their comfort zone to strengthen their learning, supplementing the theoretical parts with mainly practical matters. This relies on the examination of the housing and installation and their façades involved. Data will be gathered using methodical forms, surveys of the housing users, pictures, thermal and acoustic tests, etc. As for the results obtained, 97% of the students rated the experience favorably. The satisfaction surveys indicate that it has been a totally instructive activity, apart from the conventional theoretical classes. On the other hand, the analysis carried out by the students was disseminated, condensed in three triptychs that were sent to the participants interested in receiving more information, to the neighborhood association of neighbors and to two companies of property administrators working in the area. These leaflets were structured as good practice guides, highlighting everyday uses that could improve the comfort of residents, and using simple and clear indications, with a language aimed at nonspecialized readers. Finally, with the implementation of this project, we were able to align our actions with two key Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 11.