Estudo do comportamento térmico de edifícios de habitação segundo o RCCTE e o REH

Com a melhoria das condições de vida verificada nas últimas décadas em Portugal e no mundo, tem-se assistido a um importante desenvolvimento dos atributos funcionais dos edifícios, onde o conforto térmico assume um papel importante, é nesse sentido que a presente dissertação aborda a área do Desempenho Térmico de Edifícios, mais precisamente os do sector residencial. Esta dissertação dividiu-se em três grandes partes: inicialmente é feito um enquadramento teórico do tema, em seguida faz-se a apresentação das metodologias de cálculo e, por último, a apresentação do caso de estudo e análise dos resultados. Procura-se analisar a situação energética no sector residencial, dando particular ênfase às causas e medidas correctivas a aplicar para evitar o aumento do consumo de energia. Também são abordadas as metodologias presentes na Legislação Portuguesa em vigor, e nas novas propostas que espera-se que entrem em vigor a 1 de Dezembro de 2013. Sendo que o principal objectivo desta dissertação é o estudo da nova proposta legislativa e apresentar um documento que procure efectuar uma comparação detalhada entre o DL 80/2006, de 4 de Abril e o DL 118/20013, de 20 de Agosto e sobretudo referir quais as implicações ao nível das soluções construtivas adoptadas e da certificação energética. Após esta analise, é apresentado um caso de estudo que consiste num edifício de habitação unifamiliar que será alvo da aplicação destes dois documentos. Por último é apresentada uma análise dos resultados comparando a classe energética conseguida pelo edifício através das duas metodologias de cálculo.

Development of sandwich panels of customized functionalities for the rehabilitation of the built patrimony

Considering that the future of the construction sector in most European countries will mainly lie in the renovation of the existing building stock, in the next coming years thousands of energy inefficient buildings will need renovation to force EU member states to reach the EU 2020 targets and implement the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). Seeing the actual crisis in the construction sector as an opportunity, this work aims to develop a concept for prefabricated customizable sandwich panels for the multifunctional renovation of buildings, focusing also on technological innovation. More than a conventional solution, this proposal aims to combine sustainable and recycled building materials, available technologies and systems with advanced design and manufacturing tools within an integrated and mass-customizable approach of advanced building renovation prefabricated solutions. The adoption of these new proposed solutions would improve the living standards of the inhabitants of our cities, reducing energy inefficiency and other existing construction/renovation problems, while enabling some advanced features like the incorporation of technical modules that could even monitor the building performance during its full lifetime and the living conditions of its occupants.

In-depth assessment delivers the verdict on the Government�۪s promise of a more equal society

An independent and detailed expert analysis of a decade of reforms (published 25 February) takes up the challenge made by Peter Mandelson in 1997 to “judge us after ten years of success in office. For one of the fruits of that success will be that Britain has become a more equal society.����”Commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the study, by a team led by LSE’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, shows sharp contrasts between different policy areas. Notable success stories include reductions in child and pensioner poverty, improved education outcomes for the poorest children and schools, and narrowing economic and other divides between deprived and other areas.But health inequalities continued to widen, gaps in incomes between the very top and very bottom grew, and poverty increased for working-age people without children.����In several policy areas there was a marked contrast between the first half of the New Labour period and the second half, when progress has slowed or even stalled.John Hills, one of the leaders of study, said, “Whether Britain has moved towards becoming a ‘more equal society’ depends on what you look at, and when. Where clear initiatives were taken, results followed. But as the growth of living standards slowed, even well before the recession, and public finances tightened, momentum seems to have been lost in several key areas.”Kitty Stewart added, “The government can take heart from achievements such as the reduction in child poverty up to 2004.����Recent data show that by then, child well-being in the UK had begun to move up the European league table from its dismal showing at the start of the decade that formed the basis of UNICEF’s damning 2007 report. But even with improved figures, Britain was still left with one of the highest rates of child poverty out of the 15 original EU members, and the latest figures show it had increased again by 2006/7.”����The study concludes that the decade from 1997 was favourable to an egalitarian agenda in several ways: the economy grew continuously; the government had large majorities and aspired to create more equality; and public attitudes surveys suggested pent-up demand for more public expenditure. But that environment now looks very uncertain, not just in the near future, but also in the longer term.����Fiscal pressures from an ageing society could further constrain resources available for redistribution, and public attitudes towards the benefit system have hardened while support for redistribution has declined.Hills added, “The 1980s and 1990s showed that hoping that rapid growth in living standards at the top would ‘trickle down’ to those at the bottom did not work.����The period since 1997 has shown that gains are possible through determined interventions, but they require intensive and continuous effort to be sustained.”JRF Chief Executive Julia Unwin added, “We know the potential impact the deepening recession will have on those already living in poverty. This book provides an important, timely and comprehensive assessment of where we are and what remains to be done.”

Inequalities in Old Age: The impact of the recession on older people in Ireland, North and South CARDI Grants

Inequalities in Old Age: the impact of the recession on older people in Ireland, North and SouthAbout the research:This research, led by Professor Paddy Hillyard, Emeritus Professor Queen’s University Belfast, was carried out with funding from CARDI’s Grants Programme Call 2. The purpose of the study was to analyse the impact of the recession on older people in Northern Ireland (NI) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and the extent to which inequalities within the older population have been affected by the economic crisis.Research Brief:This brief, authored by CARDI staff, is based on the findings of the research project and also contains additional information of interest.Research Team:Professor Paddy Hillyard, Emeritus Professor Queen’s University Belfast - lead researcher;Dr Francesca Lundstr̦m, Research Consultant;Dr Demi Patsios, Policy Research Consultant;Sarah Machniewski, Researcher;David Taylor, Chartered Accountant and Management Consultant;Dr Maureen Lyons, Research Manager, School of Social Justice, UCD.Methodology and availability of data:Several methods were used in the research, including:�� a review of relevant literature;����a detailed analysis of many databases relevant to older people’s incomes and lives;��building a model to assess the impact of the recession on older people;surveys of financial advisers in voluntary, private and public sectors;��six focus groups, three each in NI and RoI.Availability of data:Despite the huge amount of information which is officially collected and published in NI and RoI, very little is directly comparable. ��The development of a mechanism to encourage the production of more comparable data North and South would be very beneficial.��For example, this study identified a basket of 25 factors that can be used to compare the living standards of older people in NI and RoI and to monitor changes in future yearsTo access the full report please click on the following link:Inequalities in Old Age: the impact of the recession on older people in Ireland, North and SouthPlease find the presentation from the launch below:Inequalities, Pensions and the Recession by Prof Paddy Hillyard, Queen’s University Belfast and Dr Demi Patsios, Policy Research Consultant, Dr Francesca Lundstr̦m, Research Consultant.��������

Focus on Social Inequalities

This resource describes the different experiences of social groups in the UK today in six key areas: education, work, income, living standards, health, and participation.

The allometry of non-employment. What can compositional data analysis tell us about labour market performance across the UK's regions?

The low levels of unemployment recorded in the UK in recent years are widely cited asevidence of the country’s improved economic performance, and the apparent convergence of unemployment rates across the country’s regions used to suggest that the longstanding divide in living standards between the relatively prosperous ‘south’ and the more depressed ‘north’ has been substantially narrowed. Dissenters from theseconclusions have drawn attention to the greatly increased extent of non-employment(around a quarter of the UK’s working age population are not in employment) and themarked regional dimension in its distribution across the country. Amongst these dissenters it is generally agreed that non-employment is concentrated amongst oldermales previously employed in the now very much smaller ‘heavy’ industries (e.g. coal,steel, shipbuilding).This paper uses the tools of compositiona l data analysis to provide a much richer picture of non-employment and one which challenges the conventional analysis wisdom about UK labour market performance as well as the dissenters view of the nature of theproblem. It is shown that, associated with the striking ‘north/south’ divide in nonemployment rates, there is a statistically significant relationship between the size of the non-employment rate and the composition of non-employment. Specifically, it is shown that the share of unemployment in non-employment is negatively correlated with the overall non-employment rate: in regions where the non-employment rate is high the share of unemployment is relatively low. So the unemployment rate is not a very reliable indicator of regional disparities in labour market performance. Even more importantly from a policy viewpoint, a significant positive relationship is found between the size ofthe non-employment rate and the share of those not employed through reason of sicknessor disability and it seems (contrary to the dissenters) that this connection is just as strong for women as it is for men

Catastrophic medical expenditure risk

Medical expenditure risk can pose a major threat to living standards. We derive decomposable measures of catastrophic medical expenditure risk from reference-dependent utility with loss aversion. We propose a quantile regression based method of estimating risk exposure from cross-section data containing information on the means of financing health payments. We estimate medical expenditure risk in seven Asian countries and find it is highest in Laos and China, and is lowest in Malaysia. Exposure to risk is generally higher for households that have less recourse to self-insurance, lower incomes, wealth and education, and suffer from chronic illness.

Assessing the Political Viability of Labour Market Reform: The Case of Employment Protection

We analyze the political support for employment protection legislation. Unlike my previous work on the same topic, this paper pays a lot of attention to the role of obsolescence in the growth process. In voting in favour of employment protection, incumbent employees trade off lower living standards (because employment protection maintains workers in less productive activities) against longer job duration. The support for employment protection will then depend on the value of the latter relative to the cost of the former. We highlight two key deeterminants of this trade-off: first, the workers' bargaining power, second, the economy's growth rate-more precisely its rate of creative destruction.

Labour Market Formation Patterns in Nineteenth Century Catalonia

In this paper we portray the features of the Catalan textiles labour market in a period of technological change. Supply and demand for labour as well as a gendered view of living standards are presented. A first set of results is that labour supply adjusts to changes in labour demand trough the spread of new demographic attitudes. In this respect we imply that labour economic agents (or labour population) were able to modify the economic condition of their children. A second set of results refers to living standards and income distribution inequality. In this respect we see that unemployment and protectionism were the main sources breeding income inequality. A third set of results deals with the extreme labour market segmentation according to gender. Since women s real wages did not obey to an economic rationale we conclude that women were outside the labour market.

The Three Horsemen of Growth: Plague, War and Urbanization in Early Modern Europe

How did Europe overtake China? We construct a simple Malthusian model with two sectors, and use it to explain how European per capita incomes and urbanization rates could surge ahead of Chinese ones. That living standards could exceed subsistence levels at all in a Malthusian setting should be surprising. Rising fertility and falling mortality ought to have reversed any gains. We show that productivity growth in Europe can only explain a small fraction of rising living standards. Population dynamics - changes of the birth and death schedules - were far more important drivers of the longrun Malthusian equilibrium. The Black Death raised wages substantially, creating important knock-on effects. Because of Engel's Law, demand for urban products increased, raising urban wages and attracting migrants from rural areas. European cities were unhealthy, especially compared to Far Eastern ones. Urbanization pushed up aggregate death rates. This effect was reinforced by more frequent wars (fed by city wealth) and disease spread by trade. Thus, higher wages themselves reduced population pressure. Without technological change, our model can account for the sharp rise in European urbanization as well as permanently higher per capita incomes. We complement our calibration exercise with a detailed analysis of intra-European growth in the early modern period. Using a panel of European states in the period 1300-1700, we show that war frequency can explain a good share of the divergent fortunes within Europe.

From severance pay to self-insurance: Effects of severance payments savings accounts in Colombia

In 1990 Colombia replaced its traditional system of severance paymentswith a new system of severance payments savings accounts (SPSAs). Althoughseverance payments often are justified on the grounds that they provideinsurance against earnings loss, they also increase costs for employersand distort employment decisions. The impact of severance payments dependslargely on how much of the costs to employers can be shifted to workers.The theoretical analysis in this paper shows that, in contrast to atraditional system of severance payments, the system of SPSAs facilitatesthe shifting of severance payments costs to workers in the form of lowerwages. Empirical results using the Colombian National Household Surveysindicate that the introduction of SPSAs shifted around 80% of the totalseverance payments contributions to wages and had a positive effect onweekly hours. Results using the 1997 Colombian Living Standards MeasurementSurvey suggest that, although SPSAs in part replaced employer insurancewith self-insurance, SPSAs continue to play a consumption smoothing rolefor the non-employed.

Wage structures and family economies in the Catalan textile industry in an age of nascent capitalism

This paper deals with changes in managerial practices in Catalonia in anage of nascent capitalism (1830-1925) and adaptive family strategies inorder to face the absence of state welfare. During the 19 t h Century andin the absence of recorded labor contracts, human resources of the firmwere organized by means of implicit contracts and informal labor markets.With the advent of scientific organization of labor, wage per hour workedbegan to be recorded. This is why in the 1920s the perfect competitionmodel applies to our case. On the other hand, in the same period, and inthe absence of state welfare, ideas stemming from cooperative game theoryapply to the pattern of household income formation. Kin related networkswere used to improve the living standards of the household. In thisparticular direction we also show that there was a demonstration effectby means of which migrant s living standards were higher than those ofnatives.

Assesing the political viability of labour market reform: The case of employment protection

We analyze the political support for employment protection legislation.Unlike my previous work on the same topic, this paper pays a lot ofattention to the role of obsolescence in the growth process.In voting in favour of employment protection, incumbent employeestrade off lower living standards (because employment protectionmaintains workers in less productive activities) against longer jobduration. The support for employment protection will then depend onthe value of the latter relative to the cost of the former. Wehighlight two key deeterminants of this trade-off: first, the workers'bargaining power, second, the economy's growth rate-more preciselyits rate of creative destruction.

The political economy of employment protection

This paper develops a model of job creation and job destruction in agrowing economy with embodied technical progress, that we use toanalyze the political support for employment protection legislationssuch as the ones that are observed in most European countries.We analyze the possibility of Condorcet cycles due to the fact thatworkers about to become unemployed prefer both an increase and areduction in firing costs over the status quo. Despite this problem, we show the existence of local, and sometimes global majority winners.In voting in favour of employment protection, incumbent employeestrade off lower living standards (because employment protectionmaintains workers in less productive activities) against longer job duration. We show that the gains from, and consequently the politicalsupport for employment protection (as defined by maximunjob tenure) are larger, the lower the rate of creative destruction and the largerthe worker's bargaining power. Numerical simulations suggest a hump-shaped response of firing costs to these variables, as well as negative impact of exogeneous turnover on employment protection.