Abstract:

The transition toward sustainable construction models requires new forms of learning capable of integrating material experimentation, circular economy principles, and effective knowledge transfer. In this context, during the 2024–2025 academic year, a course within the Master’s Degree in Advanced Architecture, Landscape, Urbanism and Design at the Universitat Politècnica de València implemented a teaching methodology based on product design using waste materials. This approach structured a learning experience in which students learn to transform environmental problems into innovation opportunities applicable to the building sector.

The central exercise proposes designing a product or constructive system using waste from various streams, ranging from agricultural residues to post-consumer plastics. The process involves research, conceptualization, prototyping, and life-cycle assessment, promoting active learning oriented toward solving real sustainability challenges. The assignment introduces students to the environmental issues associated with construction waste—one of the sectors with the highest waste generation and lowest reuse rates—and guides them toward design strategies for deconstruction, landfill reduction, and the valorization of secondary materials.

The teaching proposal combines three complementary approaches:
- Project-based learning, with teams working iteratively on transforming a waste material into a usable construction resource;
- Prototype-based learning, enabling evaluation of mechanical, thermal, or assembly properties of the resulting material;
- Design-driven transfer, where solutions are formalized as market-ready products including assembly instructions, economic analysis, and market strategies.

This process culminates in an internal competition evaluated by a professional jury, reinforcing the transfer dimension and bringing students closer to real professional practice. The methodology offers a dual educational value. On one hand, it strengthens key competencies in sustainable architecture: advanced material understanding, systemic thinking, and integrated environmental assessment. On the other hand, it fosters transversal skills such as creativity, collaborative work, technical communication, and informed decision-making based on circularity criteria. Ultimately, it presents a teaching framework aligned with European decarbonization goals and the growing demand for construction solutions based on local and regenerative resources.

The design-to-transfer approach demonstrates that advanced architectural education can become a laboratory for applied innovation, where product design is not an end in itself but a vehicle to activate deep, ethical, and impact-oriented learning processes within the transition toward a more sustainable built environment.

Keywords:

Circular Product Design, Sustainable Architecture Education, Design-to-Transfer Methodology.