Suchergebnisse

El diseño de sistemas neumáticos como envolvente arquitectónica ha experimentado un importante desarrollo, desde que a principios del s.XX las nuevas necesidades militares, sociales y económicas requirieran nuevos sistemas para la cubrición de grandes luces, con un rápido y fácil montaje. Sin embargo, los múltiples proyectos y experiencias, se han desarrollado sin una línea constante de documentación y catalogación. Su revisión histórica y crítica, a través de artículos y publicaciones especializadas, ha mantenido un ciclo paralelo al interés global mostrado por este tipo de sistemas constructivos; apareciendo picos de máxima desarrollo, como el de los años setenta, y valles de escasa documentación como el de décadas posteriores. La investigación ha tenido como objetivo la realización de una nueva revisión histórica y crítica de esta todavía "joven" tecnología, complementando los periodos de menor catalogación y permitiendo establecer los condicionantes principales y los puntos de afianzamiento y de inflexión, desarrollados en el ámbito de los sistemas de envolvente neumática arquitectónica. La metodología de análisis se ha focalizado en la localización y documentación de aquellos proyectos, tanto construidos como conceptuales, cuyas propiedades cualitativas hayan supuesto una especial innovación en el ámbito de las tecnologías de envolvente neumática. De modo que sobre cada una de las estrategias catalogadas, se ha procedido al estudio pormenorizado de sus parámetros morfológicos, funcionales, constructivos, energéticos y medioambientales. La metodología de organización de datos, se ha coordinado a través de la realización de una base de datos de carácter interactiva y abierta, facilitanto tanto el estudio individualizado de cada una de las propuestas, como el análisis comparativo de los diferentes proyectos, en función de los diferentes parámetros y subparámetros de caracterización. La catalogación de más de 660 estrategias, ha permitido el estudio comparativo y evolutivo de las principales tipologías ...

Today, the building sector alone accounts for 40% of the total energy consumption in the European Union (EU). In most EU member states, about 70–90% of the buildings were constructed at least 20 years ago. Due to this, these buildings have a worse energy efficiency behavior than the new ones that comply with current regulations. As a consequence, acting on the existing building stock is needed, developing special methods on assessment and advice in order to reduce the total energy consumption. This article addresses a procedure allowing the classification and characterization of existing buildings facades. It can help researchers to achieve in-depth knowledge of the facades construction and therefore knowing their thermal behavior. Once knowing that, the most appropriate upgrading strategies can be established with the purpose of reducing the energy demand. Furthermore, the classified facade typologies have been verified, complying with current and future Spanish regulations and according to the results obtained, a series of upgrading strategies based on the opaque part and those in the translucent part, have been proposed. As a conclusion, this procedure helps us to select the most appropriate improvement measures for each type of facade in order to comply with current and future Spanish regulations. This proposed method has been tested in a specific neighborhood of Madrid, in a selected period of time, between 1950 and 1980, but it could be applicable to any other city.

During the last years, an increasing interest has been developed so as to address the problem of fuel poverty which is already affecting a huge number of European citizens. In 2013, the European Parliament has claimed to the Commission and State Members through several resolutions, the legislative development of policies in order to tackle energy vulnerability of households. In 2000 the UK Government, through the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act, established that a person could be regarded as fuel poor if he is a member of a household that cannot get warmth at a reasonable cost. Nevertheless, in order to establish the incidence of fuel poverty among Spanish households, it must be understood which should be the adequate thresholds for indoor temperatures. The research here presented proposes new indoor temperature thresholds for fuel poor households based on adaptive comfort models.

The building construction industry consumes 40% of the materials entering the global economy and generates 40–50% of the global output of greenhouse gases and agents of acid rain. Thus, energy building consumption minimization became one of the basic principles of the European Environmental Legislation and Strategy. [1] Considering this, the benefits provided by green roofs appear to make them a good option. They reduce thermal fluctuation on the outer roof surface and increase thermal capacity; help to mitigate air pollution; reduce urban heat island effect and noise propagation; reduce runoff peaks of rainfall events; and increase biodiversity. [2-5] The use of green roofs has increased noticeably in recent years in many countries, but relevant up-to-date environmental data is needed to allow the environmental comparison of green roofs with conventional solutions. This will help us to assess their behaviour and analyse if, just because they have vegetation, we can call them "ecological roofs". There are examples of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies of some construction materials, however no comprehensive Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data for green roofs is available in the literature. The scope of the study is to deepen the knowledge of green roofs by studying the environmental profile of the materials used to build them, and how their adaptation to climatic conditions affects their environmental impact. To do so, LCA methodology has been used to study the environmental profile of the materials.