The investigation of energy efficiency measures in the traditional buildings in Oporto World Heritage Site

Background The improvement of energy efficiency in buildings is widely promoted as a measure to mitigate climate change through the reduction of CO2 emissions. Thermal regulations worldwide promote it, for both new and existing buildings. Among the existing stock, traditional and historic buildings pose the additional challenge of heritage conservation. Their energy efficiency upgrade raises the risk of provoking negative impacts on their significance. Aims and Methodology This research used an approach based on impact assessment methodologies, defining an inital baseline scenario for both heritage and energy, from which the appropriate improvement solutions were identified and assessed. The measures were dynamically simulated and the results for energy, CO2, cost and comfort compared with the initial scenario, and then being further assessed for their heritage impact to eventually determine the most feasible solutions. To test this method, ten case studies, representative of the identified typological variants, were selected among Oporto’s traditional buildings located in the World Heritage Site. Findings and Conclusions The fieldwork data revealed that the energy consumption of these dwellings was below the European average. Additionally, the households expressed that their home comfort sensation was overall positive. The simulations showed that the introduction of insulation and solar thermal panels were ineffective on these cases in terms of energy, cost and comfort. At the same time, these measures pose a great risk to the buildings heritage value. The most efficient solutions were obtained from behavioural changes and DHW retrofit. The study reinforced the idea that traditional buildings performed better than expected and can be retrofitted and updated at a low-cost and with passive solutions. The use of insulation and solar panels should be disregarded.

Turismo em Espaço Rural

O turismo é uma das principais atividades geradoras de emprego e riqueza em todo o mundo, Portugal não é exceção à regra, este setor de atividade é o que mais contribui para a revitalização do espaço rural, consistindo em oportunidades de empreendedorismo, numa vertente de recuperação de espaços que tradicionalmente eram agrícolas, numa ótica de novo negócio, para um segmento de mercado específico. O Turismo em Espaço Rural em Portugal surge no final da década de 70 do século passado, consistindo no aproveitamento e na adaptação de património construído para fins de alojamento em zonas rurais envolvendo, principalmente, casas rústicas, quintas com atividades agrícolas e hotéis rurais. Na sua essência o Turismo em Espaço Rural satisfaz as necessidades de um grupo crescente de consumidores citadinos que procura romper com o quotidiano e obter uma experiência revigorante, através da procura do "autêntico", a nostalgia pelo passado, em perfeita integração com a natureza, atividades ao ar livre em contextos naturais, relaxamento num ambiente calmo e tranquilo, atributos que não encontram no meio urbano ao mesmo tempo que constituem um fator de valorização do meio rural e de reequilíbrio económico-social.