Habitability and Hygrothermal Comfort Analysis of Social Housing in Ecuador, Temperate Continental Climatic Zone

Abstract

Housing sector plays an essential role in the sustainable development of the countries; however, there are significant problems in terms of its ability to access which promotes the occurrence of solutions that guide the housing deficit reduction as well as economic savings and natural resources preservation. One key strategic would be the use of social housing as a mechanism to ensure a decent house accessed by vulnerable population. The general housing design requires satisfying characteristics of indoor environmental comfort, arising the need outlook technical solutions. This research aims to propose functional and hygrothermal improvements for social housing located in a temperate continental climate zone in The Sierra region of Ecuador. The methodology was focused on energy simulations using Design Builder software and comparing the results with the application of passive bioclimatic recommendations. In addition, based on the quantitative housing deficit this research achieves qualitative contributions in order to improve the living conditions of low-income population whose get access to social housing in Ecuador. An experimental case study, located in Azogues a canton of the province of Cañar, has been selected for the simulation analysis which belongs to a housing governmental program named Manuela Espejo promoted by the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing and special designed for people with disabilities. The research has an applicative nature approach, with a sectional scope and explanatory depth, based on primary and secondary information sources; data collection techniques were social perception surveys used to determine comfort levels of the social housing users. The results show, based on the energy simulations carried out, improvements in terms of habitability conditions and an architectural proposal compiles passive bioclimatic recommendations focused on the design of social housing in Ecuador. Therefore, this research contributes to the implementation of new social housing plans that not only would help to reduce the housing deficit, but also contribute to improving the housing indoor environmental comfort perceived by the users.