Ecoperfil - Sustainable Urban Systems
Buildings in Portugal consume large quantities of energy and resources (about 22% of all energy and 58% of all electricity consumption), are a source of several kinds of pollution and negative impacts on soil occupation. In a country with a climate classified as temperate, with high solar exposure and fairly high temperatures, issues like air tightness, optimum isolation thickness and window quality were often disregarded in building's design and construction. On the other hand, maintenance procedures are generally ignored due to lack of financial means, lack of information or just plain inertia, which has consequences on building's durability and internal comfort.
The Portuguese climate, however, has sharp variations, reaching average summer temperatures over 30ºC and below 10ºC in winter, along with drastic differences between the northern and southern regions. As a result, many buildings are uncomfortable (too hot in the summer or too cold in winter) which, too make matters worse (although understandably), leads to escalating energy consumption, especially electricity and natural gas for acclimatization and water heating. This increased consumption means dilapidation of natural fossil fuels, global warming and heavy bills for the users. In both office and housing, energy consumption has risen at alarming rates, between 3 and 7% every year.
In order to tackle this problem it is necessary, even imperative, to reduce the energy needs to achieve comfort conditions in buildings. Essential measures like the objective design of new or renovated buildings considering their climatic surroundings and their expected usage, together with issues like water saving (which is also a scarce resource), natural lighting and ventilation and better soil occupation strategies, must be undertaken to rise the generally low building quality and efficiency. Environmental quality is here referred to as environmental sustainability, which connects with other impacts, also caused by buildings (ex: transportation, construction and renovation materials usage, equipment type and efficiency).
