The Importance of the Directives Creation for the Evaluation of the Buildings Envelope Conditions in Condominium Regime Inserted in a Technical Management Model

Currently, the importance of the condominiums technical management and the organization of their annual budgets (with an enormous preponderance of the funds reserve) is not recognized in the decision-making process regarding the maintenance and rehabilitation actions of multi-family buildings. For this reason, it is of particular interest the development of models and technical tools, some that could help to list/report pathologies/anomalies as well as the correlation between the listed pathologies/anomalies and the building, and some others that may consolidate the technical legacy, in order to understand the importance of maintenance labor in the quality and durability of buildings. In this context, the article reflects, in its essence, a proposal for guidelines elaboration for the conditions assessment of the current multi-family buildings envelope in a condominium regime, carried out within the scope of a curricular unit and an ongoing PhD thesis project. The demonstration of the methodologies and tools developed for this evaluation, with the differentiation between a preliminary evaluation and a detailed evaluation, complemented by the brief presentation of a case study, is of particular importance in this work. The work also includes the reference of the importance of this study in the future development of the thesis, as well as the schematic demonstration of other complementary works for it

Constructive Retrofit Guidelines for Social Housing Buildings in Beira Interior Region, Portugal, for Actual and Future Climate Scenarios

An important part of the Portuguese social housing building stock is unappropriated regarding the actual regulation and resident’s comfort requirements, which are expected to increase due to the impact of climate change. Beira Interior region in Portugal is one of the fewest Portuguese zones that presents both winter and summer most severe scenarios in many places. Future climate scenario projections for this region indicate more aggressive summer seasons, with the occurrence of heat waves becoming more significant, while winter seasons are expected to maintain a rigorous profile. The present article, which reflects the work still in progress, presents the development of a proper methodology for social housing retrofit in Beira Interior region for present and projected climate scenarios under Portuguese realistic cooling/heating habits of occupants. It focuses on monitoring internal temperatures in order to understand actual dwellings performance considering occupant behaviour, along with the construction of a dynamical multi-zone model for dynamical thermal simulations. Comparing the results with appropriate thermal comfort standards, proper retrofit measures will be identified and tested. Therefore, it is aimed the accomplishment of constructive retrofit guidelines, which are expected to be valuable tools for stakeholders interested in the retrofit of the Portuguese social housing stock

Proposal of Methodology for Technical Inspection and Rehabilitation Intervention for Multi-family Building of the 60’s in Portugal

The rehabilitation of old buildings has been increasing over the last few years due to the lack of maintenance and there is an advanced degradation of the Portuguese built park. This sector of the civil construction has as objective the full reutilization of the existing buildings maintaining its identity. Since Portugal has a large percentage of buildings where it is possible to identify constructive times that accompanied the implementation of different trends and technological evolutions, defining differentiated strategies for intervention. The 1960s deserve some prominence in Portugal because it is composed of a significant set of buildings with reticulated structure in reinforced concrete and without concerns from the point of view of thermal behaviour, which are now inhabited mainly by elderly people, often residing alone. The following work aims to present a methodology proposal and apply it to a case study. The proposed methodology includes the detailed inspection of a building from the 60s in Covilhã, the consultation of residents and the definition of intervention proposals based on the main nonconformities detected. In the first stage, a detailed analysis of the existing situation is proposed, which includes a technical inspection report on the common parts and the different fractions of the building and a survey of residents in order to know their opinions and expectations regarding the work to be carried out. In the second phase we propose a set of measurements, the realization thermograms and the thermal analysis of the different habitable fractions of the building based on the current thermal regulation. After analysing all the data collected, the intervention proposals are defined according to the needs of the building and the residents, in a phased way and with the aim of creating better accessibility, comfort and use conditions

Reflexões sobre inspeção técnica, diagnóstico de patologias e reabilitação do edificado

Apresentação na 6ª Conferência de Patologia e Reabilitação de Edifíciosinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Technical Inspection and Intervention Proposals for The Rehabilitation of a Multifamily Housing Building of the Decade of 60 of Last Century in Portugal

The Portuguese housing park, especially in what concerns to older buildings, is very degraded due to the lack of maintenance over the years, resulting in the depopulation of many historical centres of the country. The specialists usually characterize the housing park in different construction times, being based on the regulation and the implementation of different trends and technological evolutions in construction. In Portugal, the 60's decade of the twentieth century stands out by the construction of a significant number of multifamily residential buildings with a resistant reticulated structure and without concerns from the point of view of thermal behaviour. In this work, the case study of a multifamily building of the construction period mentioned previously, located in the city of Covilhã, in central Portugal, is presented. The analysis of the case study is divided into two main stages: technical inspection of the building and identification of intervention proposals based on the analysis of detected constructive fragilities. In the first phase of the study a technical inspection sheet adapted to multifamily buildings was created and applied, accompanied by a survey of the residents, in order to know the occupancy conditions, the sensitivity and the expectations about intervention. In addition, a thermal analysis was carried out with the support of thermography, data analysis of temperature and relative humidity measurements performed at certain periods of time and thermal quality evaluation based on the calculation methodologies for the energy certification of fractions. After analysing all the elements registered in the first phase of the case study, it was possible to propose duly substantiated intervention measures with the main concern of creating better access, use and comfort conditions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Kindergartens and nurseries in central portugal. assessments of indoor environment quality

The Indoor Environment Quality study takes on a very significant challenge when analyzed, mainly, in buildings that encompass a more sensitive and susceptible type of population, as is the case of children. To comply with a set of requirements, namely the concentration of pollutants and the conditions of hygrothermal comfort, is a necessary condition to keep an interior environment suitable for the permanence of the occupants. A research project, that studied Indoor Environment Quality in four buildings which hold nurseries and kindergartens, was carried out in two cities in central Portugal, Viseu and Covilhã. The following main conclusions may be drawn: most compartments are not comfortable in terms of ambient temperature, but the relative humidity has reasonable values. Air change rates generally have low values and the measured pollutants have worrying values. Based on the observed problems and reached conclusions, some recommendations are proposed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Earth-based construction material field tests characterization in the Alto Douro Wine Region

The Alto Douro Wine Region, located in the northeast of Portugal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, presents an abundant vernacular building heritage. This building technology is based on a timber framed structure filled with a composite earth-based material. A lack of scientific studies related to this technology is evident, furthermore, principally in rural areas, this traditional building stock is highly deteriorated and damaged because of the rareness of conservation and strengthening works, which is partly related to the non-engineered character of this technology and to the knowledge loosed on that technique. Those aspects motivated the writing of this paper, whose main purpose is the physical and chemical characterization of the earth-based material applied in the tabique buildings of that region through field tests. Consequently, experimental work was conducted and the results obtained allowed, among others, the proposal of a series of adequate field tests. At our knowledge, this is the first time field tests are undertaken for tabique technology. This information will provide the means to assess the suitability of a given earth-based material with regards to this technology. The knowledge from this study could also be very useful for the development of future normative documents and as a reference for architects and engineers that work with this technology to guide and regulate future conservation, rehabilitation or construction processes helping to preserve this important legacy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Metodologia de diagnóstico exigencial de apoio à reabilitação de edifícios de habitação

O nível de degradação do parque habitacional resulta dos investimentos reduzidos em acções de manutenção e conservação dos edifícios e da indefinição e falta de consolidação das políticas públicas que incentivem os proprietários a preservar o património edificado das nossas cidades, que representa um valor económico e cultural incalculável. Quando se decide intervir num edifício e este apresenta um conjunto significativo de patologias não é possível partir directamente para os trabalhos de reabilitação sem um estudo diagnóstico detalhado, em que sejam identificados claramente os problemas, definidas as causas e proposta uma metodologia de intervenção baseada em indicadores de cumprimento das diferentes exigências. O presente trabalho pretende contribuir para a elaboração diagnósticos exigenciais, apresentando-se a estruturação de uma nova metodologia que se denomina Metodologia de Diagnóstico Exigencial Aplicada à Reabilitação de Edifícios, apoiada por uma aplicação informática denominada MEXREB. Completa-se o estudo com a análise dos resultados da aplicação da metodologia proposta a um conjunto de 39 edifícios, num total de 498 fogos, abrangendo um conjunto de 1.086 residente, que visa a sua validação.Tópico 1: Aspectos teóricos, históricos, legales, económicos y tecnológicos de la restauración y conservación de bienes patrimoniales

Quality of the Indoor Environment in Elderly Care Centers in Two Cities in Central Portugal: Viseu and Covilhã

Assessments of Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) present a very significant challenge when analyses are undertaken mainly in buildings that include a particularly sensitive and vulnerable population, such as elderly people. In order to maintain an indoor environment that is adequate for occupants, it is necessary to comply with a set of requirements (for TVOC, the Portuguese threshold values) regarding concentrations of airborne pollutants and hygrothermal comfort conditions. This paper studies IEQ in compartments in 3 buildings in two cities in central Portugal, Viseu and Covilhã, which hold elderly care centers. The following environmental parameters were continuously recorded: air temperature, relative humidity, concentration of carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, and total volatile organic compounds and ventilation rates. An analysis of the obtained results was performed, taking recommended guidelines and threshold values into account, thus making it possible to evaluate the IEQ conditions and hygrothermal comfort in the selected indoor spaces. On the basis of the conclusions reached and the observed problems of hygrothermal comfort and indoor pollutants in the indoor spaces, a number of recommendations are proposed, specifically in terms of climate control, ventilation, and maintenance, in order to obtain an overall improvement of IEQ.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio