One of the main key sectors where it is vital to reduce the energy consumption, is
the existent building stock. The European Union has recognized this issue in 2002 with the entrance
into force of the Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings where important measures
to limit the buildings primary energy consumption are foreseen. Within this context, it was
initiated a new project focusing the development of a new retrofit solution – a prefabricated façade
retrofit module. This solution is, to some extent, a by-product of the authors’ participation
on the International Energy Agency project IEA ECBCS Annex50 and on the FCT funded project
PTDC/ECM/67373/2006. In order to achieve a better support for the design of the solution
and for the module thermal optimization, there were applied some computational tools like
Google SketchUp® for 3D modelling to test the design options and eQuest® tool for energy
performance prediction of several construction options and to assure their accordance with the
applicable regulations. At the moment, a prototype is being developed and built in the Test Cells
of University of Minho in order to carry out several “in-situ” thermal performance measurements.iiSBE Portugal, Universidade do Minho, Instituto Superior Técnico, cib, UNEP, InCI, STAP, FCT, IRHU, CIN, Soares da Costa, DST, CASAIS, energypark, SECIL, CIMPOR, Turismo de Portugal Algarv
