Eduardo Grala da Cunha

Analysis of Microclimate in a Historical Building to Assess the Probability of Recurrence of Filamentous Fungi

Filamentous fungi are important agents of deterioration, able to result in actual losses in many construction materials. Relative humidity (RH), surface temperature, and nutrient availability, in addition to the characteristics of substrates such as hygroscopicity and pH are critical factors in the development of related pathological manifestations. This study presents an analysis of the microclimate in a nineteenth-century historic building in the city of Pelotas, Southern Brazil, in order to verify the probability of recurrence of filamentous fungi. Eight sensors were installed in different indoor environments, for monitoring RH and temperature values in one year. The data analysis shows that, regarding microclimate, the recurrence of fungi is possible due to exposure of walls with high values of RH (above 70 %) for a prolonged period. The development of this type of analysis intended to indicate strategies to control the filamentous fungi growth from the microclimate control and ongoing maintenance of the historic building materials.

The Application of Eco-efficiency in University Buildings: Policies and Decision-Making Processes

In recent years, a growing interest about energy efficiency have become significantly relevant both in terms of environmental and economic aspects. Several initiatives have been launched by national and international regulations and have awakened environmental responsibility within universities worldwide. From these initiatives, reference values and index ratings were obtained for energy performance in the Universities’ building stock. The evaluation of the positive and negative features lead, thereby, to a methodology that could verify its applicability at the University of Passo Fundo—UPF, located in southern Brazil. Four aspects have been developed during the study: consumption of energy resources; comfort conditions; decision-making processes and eco-efficiency reference indexes. A simulation using the software DesignBuilder was applied in order to obtain diagnosis, real and ideal condition models. As the present study identifies and assesses the evolution of incident factors towards energy consumption, it is expected that universities promote a reflection in their practices in order to develop tools, which contribute for Educational Sustainability measures. It is imperative that making-decision practices follow guidelines to evaluate inversions and costs when measuring environmental management strategies and their implications. This paper contributes to the debate on university policies, from an inclusive perspective as it includes infrastructure and sustainable practices and, consequently, its relation to concrete exemplars in order to improve Sustainability Education practices.

Place, Architecture Design and Thermal Comfort: A Municipal Day Care Childhood Center in Colônia Z3, Pelotas/RS, Brazil

This article reports the discussion about the multiple relations between architectural design and “place” using two different approaches in order to characterize the interfaces of design challenges. The first is qualitative, highlighting the lack of dialogue between the standard-project architecture, the guidelines recommended by the COEDI (Coordenação Geral de Educação Infantil (General Coordination of Early Childhood Education)) of the Ministry of Education, socio-technical and cultural-environmental context and pedagogy. The second, more quantitative, addresses the problems generated by dissociation between the constructive solutions and the bioclimatic demands of different insertion contexts of architectural design in the Brazilian Bioclimatic Zone 2. Initially planned to use a conventional building system, it was transposed to the Wall System, developed by MVC Componentes Plásticos Ltda. The simulation evaluates and compares the level of thermal comfort of the building with two envelope systems. The study reports the analysis of the thermal comfort of a Type C unit, based on thermodynamic simulation, through the software Design Builder (version 4.2.0.054). The analysis of the building simulation results was based on the adaptive comfort model ASHRAE 55/2010. Later, three optimization measures of the thermal comfort level of the building were tested, based on thermal insulation and absorptance coverage, in addition to sun protection system design for the window frames. Preliminary results for the level of comfort of long permanence environments indicate a low level of thermal comfort, the 50% in MVC system and around 60% in the conventional system, and also that the greater discomfort comes from the heat. Based on performance optimization measures of building, the MVC system reached 66.4% of thermal comfort compared to 62% in the conventional system. The results show the importance of adapting the standard project to the local climatic context.

Analysis of the Influence of New Usages on the State of Conservation of Historical Buildings through Microclimate Characterization

Recycling is an alternative for preserving historical heritage buildings. Through such process, buildings are occupied by new usages that assure they are not abandoned. However, conservation issues, like pathological manifestations by filamentous fungi, are common even in buildings receiving new uses. Thus, it is extremely important to know the microclimate behavior of these buildings and analyze if there are usages that favor the appearance of filamentous fungi or not. This study aims to verify if new usages modify the microclimate in historical buildings and if such possible change favors the appearance of pathological manifestations by filamentous fungi in some specific use. To achieve the results, three buildings that have gone through recycling processes were chosen in the city of Pelotas, in Southernmost Brazil. The city possesses a large number of buildings with historical value and its climate conditions are propitious for appearance of filamentous fungi. For 12 months, microclimate was monitored, the environments modus operandi was characterized and there was a survey on the pathological manifestations by filamentous fungi in the three buildings with two different uses: administration offices and exhibition rooms. Conclusion was that usages that allow natural ventilation and lighting favor conservation, which is what happens in the ones used as administration offices. Besides that, it was noticed that the construction system also influences, since buildings with a high cellar that is being used did not present filamentous fungi, which also shows the influence of ascending humidity on the appearance of such pathological manifestations.

Análise das condições favoráveis à formação de bolor em edificação histórica de Pelotas, RS, Brasil

Considerando a relevância do desenvolvimento de estudos que visam a compreender as condicoes ambientais favoraveis a formacao do bolor, este artigo apresenta uma analise do desempenho da superficie interior de uma parede voltada ao exterior em uma edificacao historica na cidade de Pelotas, RS. A superficie selecionada apresentava formacao de bolor, confirmada por uma analise microbiologica. Com o objetivo de compreender as condicoes ambientais que favoreceram a formacao do bolor na superficie naquele ambiente, foram aplicados dois metodos de analise das condicoes higrotermicas da superficie: o primeiro considera o regime de transferencia de calor estacionario; e o segundo, por simulacao computacional, considera o regime de transferencia de calor transiente. Os resultados obtidos confirmaram a possibilidade da formacao de bolor, levando em conta, principalmente, os aspectos de umidade proxima a superficie da parede e temperatura superficial interna. Para o desenvolvimento desta analise foram consideradas as observacoes das normas brasileiras NBR 15220: desempenho termico de edificacoes: parte 2 (ABNT, 2005), da NBR 15575: edificacoes habitacionais de ate cinco pavimentos (ABNT, 2008b) e da norma alema DIN 4108-3: isolamento termico e economia de energia em edificios (2001).

Mitos e verdades sobre o brise-soleil: da estética à eficiência energética

This paper discusses the aesthetic and energy efficiency dimensions of solar protection devices in order to demystify the metaphoric transposition of the brise-soleil as a heavy element in building composition. For this purpose, basic concepts of brise-soleil energy efficiency are presented. The paper is divided into four parts: initially, the evolution of solar protection systems is shown. Then the aesthetic dimension of solar protection systems is characterized. It is noted that there is a close relationship between the appreciation of the shape of solar protection devices and the emphasis on the dimension of technology in architecture. In the third part of the paper, basics concepts of energy efficiency are discussed and a case study of a hotel in Pelotas (RS, Brazil) is presented. Finally, some considerations emphasize the need for appreciating the aesthetic and energy dimensions of solar protection devices in the development of architectonic projects. Key words: solar protection, brise-soleil, energy efficiency and aesthetics.

A tecnologia no processo de concepção arquitetônica contemporânea: análise de três obras de Norman Foster

O artigo objetiva discutir as diferentes formas de manifestacao da tecnologia tanto no processo de concepcao arquitetonica como tambem na propria arquitetura contemporânea. Inicialmente, discute-se a fragmentacao da producao arquitetonica na atualidade no sentido de evidenciar as diferentes enfases dadas aos aspectos intrinsecos ao desenvolvimento do projeto arquitetonico, tais como o programa, a tecnica e o lugar, como tambem ao aspecto externo ao problema de projeto, vinculado a organizacao entre as partes do todo compositivo, ou seja, a estrutura formal. Posteriormente, e discutida a complexidade da passagem do todo conceitual para o todo construido, utilizando Mahfuz (1995) como bibliografia de referencia, caracterizando-se, portanto, a complexidade da escolha e da enfase dadas aos elementos de arquitetura. A terceira e ultima parte do artigo relaciona-se a apresentacao das diferentes enfases dadas ao papel da tecnologia na projetualidade da arquitetura em geral. A primeira dimensao a ser apresentada e a funcional, que pode ser representativa e discreta, definida pela utilizacao e escolha dos elementos de arquitetura como partes que tornam o edificio algo concreto, sem a valorizacao da tecnologia como elemento de maior peso na composicao. A segunda enfase a ser apresentada e a representativa, caracterizada com base na valorizacao dos elementos de arquitetura estrutura, sistemas de protecao solar e cobertura, como partes construidas de maior peso na composicao. Para ilustrar as diferentes dimensoes tecnologicas presentes na projetualidade da arquitetura em geral discutem-se alguns projetos de Norman Foster, ilustrando o processo de concepcao e a forma como a tecnologia esta presente no seu trabalho. Palavras-chave: concepcao arquitetonica, tecnologia, projeto.