Abstract
The palafitic timber constructions of the central Portuguese coastline are an example of the adaptation to site-specific conditions (climate and sand landscape morphodynamics) using the available endogenous resources. Thus, in a context of environmental awareness and climate change, it is relevant to understand their features/strategies and how they perform. This work analyses the energy performance and thermal condition evaluation of a vernacular timber building–palheiro–from Praia de Mira, through in situ measurements, subjective analysis and energy simulation provided by DesignBuilder/EnergyPlus. The results show a good or satisfactory thermal performance during most of the seasons by passive means only. Despite, it was not possible to guarantee thermal comfort conditions for the occupants during winter. In the energy performance analysis, five scenarios, with different external walls, were compared. In the two scenarios that satisfy the maximum U-value for the climate zone, the current conventional building had a slightly better performance on heating and cooling (less 1.1 and 1.4 kWh/m2, respectively) than the timber building. However, the difference between the two construction solutions is not substantial in the annual energy demand (2.5 kWh/m2, 7.3%), indicating that timber structures are suitable in this mild climate area.
Highlights
The rise of environmental awareness has brought to light several problems regarding the environmental impacts and energy efficiency of the building sector
The European Union has set the goals of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and fully decarbonize the building stock by 2050, facilitating the cost-effective transformation of existing buildings into nearly zero-energy buildings [1,2]
The problems of the building sector do not resume to carbon emissions and there is the need to improve the overall environmental performance by adopting materials with lower environmental impacts and those that are more compatible, for instance, with the local environmental/climate context [3]
Summary
The rise of environmental awareness has brought to light several problems regarding the environmental impacts and energy efficiency of the building sector. As one of the largest economic sectors, buildings are a key sector to implement holistic measures aiming performance levels beyond “sustainability”, as the concept of the regenerative and restorative building. To force this change, representative institutions must define long-term goals and the directives to achieve them. The problems of the building sector do not resume to carbon emissions and there is the need to improve the overall environmental performance by adopting materials with lower environmental impacts and those that are more compatible, for instance, with the local environmental/climate context [3]
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