ESTiG - Artigos em Revistas Indexados à WoS/Scopus
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- Energy-related housing renovations from an everyday life perspective: learning from portuguese homeownersPublication . Abreu, Maria Isabel; Oliveira, Rui; Lopes, JorgeChanging the attitudes of existing building users towards sustainability is a paramount strategy towards a low-carbon society. One of the challenges lies in encouraging owners to renovate their houses. Recent studies have pointed out the relevance of the homeowner’s social context which, more often than not, outstrips public awareness campaigns and even techno-economic advice. The decision to renovate seems to emerge from deep social issues rather than exclusively from the simple analysis of investment return or environmental awareness. The present study aims to bring discussion to these social subjects for single-family buildings in Portugal and identify key factors which may influence decision making. Firstly, a set of in-depth interviews were conducted with a group of experts. Subsequently, and based on the interviews, a group of Portuguese single-family homeowners, who undertook at least one energyrelated piece of work, were surveyed. Together with the survey a structured observation method was put into practice. The results revealed that homeowner’s stage of life, personal/family events, everyday practices, lifestyles and social network framework have a major influence on their prime intention to renovate their homes. The desire to maintain or change the routines and the way family uses the indoor spaces are common drivers, however, motivations linked to aesthetics, trends and social status were revealed to be extremely influencing. The decision process is negotiated inside the family involving not only desired domestic life conditions but also skills, understandings and social values shared by the dwellers. The energy-related renovations take place, in many cases, as a consequence of a previous decision to renovate, taken due to other reasons. It does not consist of one single event but is rather part of a practice of a “little-by-little renovation”. Motivational policies should be drawn considering the energy-related renovations as any other type of renovation and not separately from the others.
- Estimating the built environment stock in Cape VerdePublication . Lopes, Jorge; Oliveira, Rui; Abreu, Maria IsabelThe purpose of this paper is to present the estimates of the value of the built environment stock in Cape Verde, a Sub-Saharan African country that is scattered through ten relatively small islands. Design/methodology/approach – It applies the perpetual inventory method in a long series of construction investment data at 1980 and 2007 constant prices published by the Cape Verde’s National Statistics Office. Findings – The results show that the capital-output ratio is similar to those in the advanced industrial countries. The high value of this indicator suggests that the country should shift its focus from building new investment projects to managing the considerable amount of built stock. Originality/value – The main originality of the paper comes from the use of different data sets from the National StatisticalOffice to construct the indicators of the construction industry activity in a comprehensive way.
- From a techno-economic towards a socio-technical approach-a review of the influences and policies on home energy renovations' decisionsPublication . Abreu, Maria Isabel; Pereira, Andreia S.C.; Gervasio, HelenaOver the past decades, the debate on how to encourage energy efficiency in existing homes has been guided by a technic-economic model that has a strong focus on technologies and cost savings, in which human behavior has been devalued to a narrow behavioral economics overview. While this specific area of behavioral science enabled to capture of the dimension of energy renovations as a problem of homeowners' individual choice, the collective and social aspects of energy efficiency are still largely overlooked on the energy policy agenda. With its emphasis on how social structures interpenetrate individual actions, social sciences offer additional insights that go beyond the identification of barrier-drivers underlying investment choices and also help to identify positive opportunities for renovation within the conditions of domestic and social life. Until recently, comprehensive behavioral aspects and the social dimension of home energy renovation have been ignored in policy initiatives, and the integration of complementary disciplines is only in its early stages. Based on a broad literature review, this paper aims to provide an up-to-date interdisciplinary perspective of the theoretical evolutionary background, which has been the support to gradually redefine and address the problems associated with energy improvements in homes.
- From a techno-economic towards a socio-technical approach—a review of the influences and policies on home energy renovations’ decisionsPublication . Abreu, Maria Isabel; Pereira, Andreia; Gervásio, HelenaOver the past decades, the debate on how to encourage energy efficiency in existing homes has been guided by a technic-economic model that has a strong focus on technologies and cost savings, in which human behavior has been devalued to a narrow behavioral economics overview. While this specific area of behavioral science enabled to capture of the dimension of energy renovations as a problem of homeowners’ individual choice, the collective and social aspects of energy efficiency are still largely overlooked on the energy policy agenda. With its emphasis on how social structures interpenetrate individual actions, social sciences offer additional insights that go beyond the identification of barrier-drivers underlying investment choices and also help to identify positive opportunities for renovation within the conditions of domestic and social life. Until recently, comprehensive behavioral aspects and the social dimension of home energy renovation have been ignored in policy initiatives, and the integration of complementary disciplines is only in its early stages. Based on a broad literature review, this paper aims to provide an up-to-date interdisciplinary perspective of the theoretical evolutionary background, which has been the support to gradually redefine and address the problems associated with energy improvements in homes.
- Local governance and network-based policies for housing energy-related renovations: insights from a portuguese casePublication . Abreu, Maria Isabel; Oliveira, Rui; Lopes, JorgeLocal level energy policies are gradually being seen as a main driver to raise energy efficiency in the housing sector which is claimed to have a high potential for energy savings. Local initiatives are already part of energy policies aiming to go beyond the usual top-down government’s approach that stems from the interlinkage between national and international policies. Hence, a shift from government to governance is in transition, grounded not only but also in dialog and partnerships involving multiple local actors from different levels in networks rather than in hierarchical organizations. However, little research has been carried out so far regarding the understanding of the specific challenges and the potential of such local governance strategies, as well as their support by national policies. Semistructured in-depth interviews with different stakeholders involved were conducted to make emerge key subjects to this critique. The research outcomes shed some light on the fact that proximity with the homeowners in energy policies is an ultimate key to pursue their success. Municipalities interweaved with other local organizations seem to have promising abilities and structures to be facilitators and intermediaries in order to act as policy vehicles to engage the homeowners in a house renovation practice. The results also suggest that strengthening the sense of neighbourhood, community and cooperation pave the way to empowering network-based programmes. Insights about how local public and private parties together could collaborate in innovative local policies schemes to promote house energy-related renovations are revealed.
- Passive systems for buildings using buoyancy-driven airflowsPublication . Abreu, Maria Isabel; Corvacho, Helena; Dias, Ricardo P.The need for countries to become less dependent on fossil fuels has been a determining factor in recent years due to increasing energy and comfort concerns in modern building design. Therefore, the maximization of the use of renewable energies, like the sun, and the use of natural energy flows become strategies to explore. There are already passive building systems that show interesting performances. Different studies have proved that the above-mentioned systems can lead to important energy savings. However, these systems have their limitations and new innovative building solutions are needed, mainly in the field of passive solar energy collection and natural ventilation strategies. Furthermore, building envelopes face nowadays a new paradigm in which buildings need to be more reactive and adaptive to external climate changes and indoor thermal comfort demands. Hence, this paper makes a review of the most recent patents on building solar air systems that make use of solar energy to induce the buoyancy effect for heating, cooling and ventilating. The patents presented demonstrate the increasing tendency in the development of building passive solutions that can satisfy, in just one system, more than one role: heating, cooling and ventilation.
- Selection and weight determination of factors for price adjustment formulae based on bill of quantitiesPublication . Oliveira, Rui; Abreu, Maria Isabel; Lopes, JorgeThis study investigates the effectiveness of standard price adjustment formulae for construction contracts in Portugal. Price adjustment is a mechanism that aims to adjust contractual values to market price fluctuations in labor, materials, and equipment. Such formulae are often generalized and applied in contractual practices without being properly tailored to the specific characteristics of each project. To fill this gap, this study, informed by convergent proposals, builds on the argument that the use of different bill of quantities (BOQs)-based price adjustment formulae for the same contract is fairer, more equitable, and with greater capacity to cushion sudden variations in prices. Using a case study, consisting of a public construction contract, the study analyses price differences obtained through the application of the standard formula and compares them, over different periods, with those obtained through the use of two alternative calculation formulae specifically developed according to the project's characteristics. The performance of all scenarios was evaluated against the evolution of the growth rate of the construction cost index (CCI). The results demonstrate that the standard formula, even when it is readjusted, provides disproportionate results. In contrast, the BOQ-based price adjustment formulae, developed according to different phases of the works, provide results that are very close to those obtained by CCI-based escalation. The behavior of these customized formulae, even during periods of high price indices increases, closely tracks that of inflation. The results of the study call for the enactment of a more comprehensive legal mechanism so that all cost elements of a construction project can be properly reflected in price adjustment methodologies.
- Sustainability perspective to support decision making in structural retrofitting of buildings: a case studyPublication . Oliveira, Rui; Lopes, Jorge; Abreu, Maria IsabelThe reuse of existing materials in buildings can give a contribution to sustainable practices such as a balance in embodied energy, water, and emission reduction. However, it is not always possible to maintain the existing structural materials because some different technical variables could hamper their usability, namely seismic reinforcement needs, fire safety protection, conservation state, and new legal requirements. The paper follows a case study approach for assessing the technical and environmental performances of structural options for old building retrofitting works. All structural options were analyzed through the results of several categories of environmental impact. Some parameters of a retrofitting management system were also used to frame in a comprehensive way the technical constraints pertaining to building retrofitting works. The structural option choice was taken by the owner with the contribution of the design team and the construction manager of the construction project as well as the results of interviews with other construction professionals, considering the variables related to technical suitability and environmental impact. The results of the study show that the steel structure is the solution that best addresses the technical constraints of the building retrofit works and minimizes environmental impact. The results of the study also suggest that the consideration of other variables other than the technical ones can contribute to the effective functioning of the renovation subsegment of the building market. Some suggestions for further studies to enhance the results of this work are put forward.
- A system for the management of old building retrofit projects in historical centres: the case of PortugalPublication . Oliveira, Rui; Lopes, Jorge; Sousa, Hipólito; Abreu, Maria IsabelThe retrofitting works in old buildings require appropriate knowledge of the vernacular techniques. Previous researches have identified retrofitting works as more intrusive and using more unnecessary demolition materials than real needs. This study constitutes a new framework that focuses on the project management success of old building retrofitting in historical centres by developing a methodological system for this purpose. It uses a construction sector system approach, reviews legal requirements, framework specifications, recommendation practices and sustainable measures adapted to old building projects. It presents 50 parameters adapted to these works’ specificities that could be used by construction market stakeholders. The research uses a case study methodology divided in two parts. The first one involves the review of building retrofitting projects in historical centres, complemented by a questionnaire in the second part. The results of the projects review have shown little concern with the underlying sustainability aspects of retrofitting works in all project designs analysed. However, the questionnaire results have revealed a high interest and applicability of all parameters omitted in the project designs data. The study describes a useful management system in a toolkit format which might contribute to reduce uncertainty in the management of retrofitting projects in historical centres.