BACKGROUND The construction sector is a sector in continuous updating due to the integration of new technologies for the design of projects and the incorporation of environmental considerations of construction materials. This incessant and rapid modernisation of the labour system requires constant and continuous training of the professionals in the sector, most of whom have professional careers of more than 20 years' experience. In Europe there are 600,000 architects, 64% of whom are over 40 years old. In recent years there has been a large decline in the number of architects working independently, in favour of an increase in work in companies and firms. The percentage of architects practising individually has fallen by up to 50% in the last decade. These tendencies suggest that architects are returning to a paid employment in the practice, instead of free exercise, assuming that they will have to adapt to the design systems established in the companies, much more prone to modernization and integration of innovative methodologies, complicating the incorporation of professionals with extensive experience whose training does not fit the current design tools. The environmental profile is an increasingly important criterion for public and private procurement and for consumer choice. Companies and professionals have various mechanisms for accrediting and communicating the environmental excellence of their products and services, including Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). These EPDs provide a reliable, relevant, transparent, comparable and verifiable environmental profile that allows an environmentally friendly product to stand out, based on LCA according to international standards and quantified environmental data. Life Cycle Thinking implies a form of global analysis that not only includes the traditional parameters, but also considering all the processes that take place throughout its life cycle (from the cradle to the grave). In this way, the hidden impacts surface and the transfer of loads is avoided; Helping to make decisions and identify options. Institutions such as the United Nations Environment Program (through the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative) or the European Commission (through the European Platform for LCA) promote its application for the environmental improvement of products and processes in all sectors, including construction. OBJECTIVES The BIMEPD project is, in its nature, the production and development of multimedia materials based on BIM and taking into account challenges related to LCA and EPDs of construction materials, to be used as training material for both adult education for professionals in the architecture sector, in order to satisfy a series of main objectives. PARTICIPANTS -Architects who are low or intermediate skilled in BIM and EPD, who need to improve their skills for professional growth and to get more chances to find a new job or keep their job. -SMEs of the construction sector willing to improve their competitiveness. -Employment centres dealing with updating of skills and active labour market policies. -Universities and VET. -Architecture and engineering companies. PRODUCTS The main results of the project are: 01. Establishment of common learning outcomes adapted to adults on BIM technologies and EPDs. 03. BIMEPD Open Educational Resource (OER). RESULTS As a consequence, the BIMEPD project deepen the transversely of BIM technologies in the concept of sustainable construction on a professional level, taking advantage of the flow of knowledge in construction in these models and develop a learning methodology adapted to the needs of a professional generation who are at risk of exclusion from the labour market due to lack of qualification in emerging design and control technologies. To this end, the tangible results of this project are: - To define the competences and skills of architects in the current training systems and of professionals over 45 years old in the labour market, in relation to BIM technologies and EPDs. - Determine the most appropriate teaching methods and the system/process of assessment for adult learning on BIM and EPD. - To design a qualification curriculum adapted to adults for continuing education courses for architects that includes the latest technologies and environmental challenges, which fit perfectly with the current IT-based information methodology. - Providing professionals with innovative and interactive resources, in order to digitise the content required in their training in BIM technologies and EPDs to achieve a much more complete qualification-based excellence.
The general aim of BIMEPD project has been the production and development of multimedia materials based on BIM and taking into account challenges related to LCA and EPDs of construction materials, to be used as training material for both adult education for professionals in the architecture sector, in order to satisfy a series of main objectives. To this end, the objectives pursued in this sense have been: - Definition of the competences and skills of architects in the current training systems and of professionals over 45 years old in the labour market, in relation to BIM technologies and EPDs. - Determination of the most appropriate teaching methods and the system/process of assessment for adult learning on BIM and EPD. - The design of a curriculum adapted to adults for continuing education courses for architects that includes the latest technologies and environmental challenges, which fit perfectly with the current IT-based information methodology. - Providing professionals with innovative and interactive resources, to digitise the content required in their training in BIM technologies and EPDs to achieve a much more complete qualification-based excellence.
The construction sector is constantly being updated due to the integration of new technologies for project design and the incorporation of environmental considerations in construction materials. This incessant and rapid modernisation of the labour system requires constant and continuous training of professionals in the sector, most of whom have professional careers of more than 20 years of experience (in Europe, 64% of architects are over 40 years old), who lack training in collaborative design tools such as BIM or environmental information resources such as EPDs to assess the sustainability of projects. The need to develop training materials for the modernisation and integration of innovative methodologies as well as the inclusion of EPDs in projects to increase competitiveness in sustainability, motivated the development of this project to facilitate the incorporation of professionals with extensive experience whose training is not in line with current design tools.