IRH-MED project Innovative Residential Housing for the Mediterranean

website: www.irh-med.eu

Project coordinator: ACC1 (Spain)

Introduction to sustainable housing design and construction

Rhodes, 11th July 2011 Seminar Alain Lusardi - Architect Ph.D Consorzio Nationale CasaQualit

The design, construction, use and maintenance of buildings have a tremendous impact on our environment and our natural resources. All around the world, a huge amount of buildings are being constructed with many more to be done.

Building consumptions

Other important issues in building include increasing the comfort, health, and safety of the people who live and work in them.

2007-2012 EC - Action Plan on Energy Efficiency

The energy savings potential in different sectors

. . .

Transport: up to 30% Manufacturing industry: up to 27% Commercial buildings: up to 26%

Households: up to 27% by 2020

Today, Sustainable housing is not AN UTOPIA !

Sustainable development is one of the principal pillars of the EU socio-economic and environmental policy. Send a clear message to all urban stakeholders and citizens: Today moving towards an everyday practice of sustainability in social housing sector, involving the final users, is possible and necessary!
2000- KRONSBERG district (Hannover) 15 000 inhabitants

In the last ten years, some countries are making a renovation of the building process and the urban management.

Our effective concern and daily commitment should lead to assume a holistic responsability of its actions; balancing investment costs with economic, environmental as well as social benefits.

Challenges to face ?
New construction
Towards low and zero carbon buildings

Retrofitting

-New labels ((HPE, THPE, HPE-ENR,Zero Co2016) - New National Energy Code (Implementation of Energy Directive) - New referentiel (Habitat et Environnement)

Acceleration of the regulatory framework

Challenges to face ?
SAVE THE PLANET ? IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE

Tackle climate change by improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emission by 20% by 2020 (EU energy action plan)

Tackle Fuel /Water poverty and improve social cohesion

Avoid the second rent/loan

Sustainable building is not a fixed concept

It is under constant change, definition and redefinition.
Sustainable construction is a holistic process aiming to restore and maintain harmony between the natural and built environments, and create settlements that affirm human dignity and encourage economic equity

From Bioclimatic

Passing by Ecological Architecture

to Sustainable Architecture

Model of sustainable development [CIB 1999]

there seems to be a great number of definitions

 Smaller is better. resource use in constructing and operating process are kept at a minimum Design an energy-efficient building. Use high levels of insulation, high-performance windows, and tight construction Design buildings to use renewable energy. Passive solar heating, day lighting, and natural cooling can be incorporated cost-effectively into most buildings. Also consider solar water heating and photovoltaic Optimize material use. Minimize waste by designing for standard ceiling heights and building dimensions. Simplify building geometry Design for water-efficient, low-maintenance landscaping. Make it easy for occupants to recycle waste. Make provisions for storage and processing of recyclables Look into the feasibility of using grey water. Water from sinks, showers, and washing machines can be recycled for irrigation in some areas Design for durability. To spread the environmental impacts of building over as long a period as possible, the structure must be durable. Durable aesthetics ("timeless architecture") are also important Design for future reuse and adaptability. Make the structure adaptable to other uses, and choose materials and components that can be reused or recycled Blablablablabla

OBJECTIVES OF SUSTAINABLE BUILDING

A- reduction of environmental impacts

Protection of environment Rational use resources

. but enhancing the participation of all actors involved in the building process, especially inhabitants during the planning and design phase.

of

natural

B- creation of healthy indoor environment

Need an integrated approach: multi-scale and interdisciplinary

C- creation of a strong social capital

create a better quality of life for future generations!

Re-tkinking the building process

Obstacles to Sustainable Architecture

- Financial; - social and cultural; - and regulatory/legislative obstacles.
Financial Obstacles - to study efficient financial tools aimed at stimulating great investments in the energy saving -It is also known that costs for energy are going to continue to follow the current rising trends, in turn making conventional buildings more expensive. - Sustainable buildings are also more desirable to own, rent and work in, therefore they hold much of their retail values

Social and Cultural Obstacles

The principal obstacle seems to be the strong lack of information about the development of sustainable design, among all categories of citizens, professionals, technicians and customers: even the more expert categories employed in the building sector happen to be inadequately educated

Regulatory/legislative obstacles Most pioneering eco-designers have found out that before they can build the way they wanted to, they first had to campaign to change local codes

Mythology About First Costs

Common Perception when we started was +20-30% Recent Studies:

- Average <5% - Most of cost associated with increased architectural and engineering design, time, modeling and integration time - Earlier you integrate the lower the cost

Some findings about Cost Misperceptions

People would like to include green or energy efficient features in new or retrofitted housing assets, but the budget just isnt high enough and we are not convinced of real benefits of such choices

Too often we hear all of us this kind of claims. The answers are often elusive, because of the lack of hard data or more often of operative practice and tools.
Social housing providers are often embarrassed not only on how to answer to the first costs obsession of the future inhabitants/clients and on how to demonstrate that keeping first-costs low may not be in the best long-term interest of the client but also on how to highlight the whole benefits of their housing assets to public decision makers.

Sustainable housing is too expensive?

(Extracost for sustainable pratice is approximately 8-10%)

+ 4.000 -7000 Euro /dwelling = Jacuzzi Bath

Yes, probably, but its a problem of choices Do you want... Jacuzzi bath, design handles or majolicas, etc

OR
Cool in summer, acoustic comfort, heating-water-electricity savings, healthy indoor climate, etc? a problem of vision The building industry and its clients tend to focus on short-term gains rather than long-term savings or life cycle costing.

We are all winners

FOR THE INDIVIDUALS:
Money savings on heating-water-electricity, Cool in summer, acoustic comfort, healthy indoor climate, etc.

BENEFITS

FOR THE COMMUNITY:

Less pollution, less charges for electrical grid and power stations, for the public health, better quality of the urban environment, etc
PUBLIC BENEFITS=INCENTIVES FOR PRIVATE
TIP ! LCC should be used for optimizing the efficiency of any investment, especially in case of public investment (or subsidies)

General Mythologies
Appearance of Sustainable Buildings - You design it to look how you want. It can easily match traditional design or not. - Windows, do not have to look different. They can look like traditional ones only they perform better and are healthier. - Does not need to be high tech to be green/sustainable. Time Sustainable Buildings take the same amount of time to construct as regular buildings. More time may be required in the Design phase though. Costs - Sustainable Buildings do not have to cost more. - With planning they can be built at the same price or less. - Design fees may be higher in the beginning of the project but the extra design work will lower the actual construction costs. In the end the building costs the same and fits in the traditional budget. - Long term maintenance and operations costs can be reduced by 20 50% with good planning.

little environmental concern but appealing

Too much green ?

Energy conscious design

Too conscious

Energy conscious design

Vulcano Buono Naples (I) Renzo Piano

Vulcano Buono houses a shopping mall, an outdoor theater, restaurants and a hotel all contained within a rolling green roof comprised of over 2,500 thriving plants.

The central eye of this man-made volcano spans 150 meters of open space for an extension of the market within. to create a contemporary take on a greek marketplace, a void as a place for events, meetings, dialogue and the gathering of people.

The alternative was

Which Sustainable architecture design strategies are culturally acceptable and contextually appropriate in order to get rid of obstacles of wide application of the sustainable architecture in MED areas?

NORDIC ROUTE

MED ROUTE

Trovare unalternativa al quadro esigenziale e normativa attuale sempre pi orientato allo standard abitativo nordico
Maggiore parte degli strumenti di valutazione della sostenibilit degli edifici, attribuiscono unicamente grande importanza agli aspetti energetici e prendono a riferimento sistemi e parametri spesso poco compatibili con le specificit dellarea mediterranea

Without re-inventing the wheel

The buildings are not refrigerators .

User behavior remains a priority issue

Topic Charges on energy Heating DHW consumption Solar DHW cover Electricity consumption Photovoltaic production

Target 7,69 /m2 70 kWh/m2 35 m3/dwelling 44%

2004 7,58 89 37 37

2005 7,45 73 43 42

2006 7,54 57 42 44

Measures Balancing correction Leak sealing in october 2006 Reduction of the solar tanker outlet temperature Outdoor lightning the all night (+240 kWh/month) Correction on the ventilation balancing to be made

920 kWh/month

1340

1515

1451

2166 kWh

2430

2529

2482

OPAC38 (F) SHE building

From dwelling manual .

To use of ICT (smart meters...

Energy Coaching

Low living conditions for people

High energy consumption

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Remember people !

Social housing coop COPES Pesaro (IT) 130 dwellings EC funded

250 non EC funded

End construction: January 2008

SCHEME OF THE URBAN PARK CONNECTION FUNCTION

The planning process in this new building area had firstly focused the targets at the urban scale in order to improve the connection with the neighbourhood

Green spaces and cycle-pedestrian paths

Different studies had been carried out though a detailed site analysis: traffic problems, water surface system, landscape, botanical aspects, lack of amenities and cycle roads, parking, etc

Public spaces and utilities; accessibility of the area

FUNCTIONAL SCHEMES
Pedestrian and Bycicle paths

Vegetation and water systems

Car paths

Site analysis: Minimizing sources of acoustical pollution

(22:00-06:00) - Ora teorica media Periodo di riferimento NOTTURNO

Mappa orizzontale dei livelli sonori - quota 2m da terra

Sezione verticale N1

Sezione verticale N2

Sezione verticale N3

Daylight availability - District scale

21st of January - 10:00

DAYLIGHTING:

21st of January - 12:00

21st of January - 14:00

21st of January - 16:00

Daylight availability - Building scale

DAYLIGHTING

Dwelling B Ground floor Living room (B1) 21st of december - 12:00 CIE Overcast Sky

DLFav =2.57%

VALUTAZIONE DEL COMPORTAMENTO TERMICO IN REGIME DINAMICO DELLE CHIUSURE VERTICALI DELLALLOGGIO TIPO

Pianta piano terra

Chiusura verticale tipo E1

Chiusura verticale tipo E2

Chiusura verticale tipo E3

Pianta primo piano

Sud

Social housing coop C.C.I.-CASA Teramo (IT)

60 dwellings EC funded
End of construction: November 2007

.Previous urban planning, adopted by local administration (2001)

Roads

Built space

Green Spaces

TERAMO (IT)

BEFORE

TERAMO

From Urban scale to Building scale

Reduce car mobility, increase greenery, pedestrian pathways, safe biodiversity

NOW

TERAMO (IT)

TERAMO (IT)

Social housing coop COIPES Preganziol (IT)

67 dwellings EC funded
End of construction: Dicember 2007

PREGANZIOL (IT)

PREGANZIOL (IT)

 DOMINO EFFECT . on the social housing and private sector

Before

City of CESENA (IT)

Now

RomaMateraPescara

The road to making life better and to building the future remains however long, on all the fronts. Above all the cultural one !

it is a commitment attended by everybody and that it is worthwhile to everybody.

We cannot allow only the others to carry our burdens

Special thanks to Alex Tombazis, architect, pioneer of bioclimatic architecture in Greece and in the World.

Less is Beautiful
Remember to make the climate your friend and not your enemy. After all, it is much stronger than you are and can be very vengeful...

and to Matheos Santamouris, presently president of CRES.

Respect climate and MED identity

A(r)evolution doesnt happen when society adopts new tools, it happens when society adopts new behaviour.

Thank you for your attention