Manuel Correia Guedes

According to UN-Habitat 2017, more than one billion people in developing countries do not have adequate shelter to develop with dignity. Almost a hundred million of these people are homeless or live in precarious housing conditions. Unfortunately, the city of Praia in Cape Verde is no exception. In the city of Praia, although there have been advances and setbacks in this context, the truth is that, over the last 20 years, the percentage of the population living in poor housing conditions has increased significantly. Housing problems and the proliferation of informal neighborhoods are increasingly present. Families build shelters that don't benefit them. Not them, and not the city that received them. This article summarizes a study for developing a sustainable housing solution with soil for informal neighborhoods in the city of Praia. It presents an innovative approach to this problem, centered on combining new modular technologies with traditional construction solutions. The concept is presented, simulated and the applicability of this new approach to improving the living conditions of informal neighborhoods in the city of Praia is demonstrated. The study includes a Rhino 3D + Grasshopper simulation and the reinterpretation of the concept of traditional Cape Verdean housing associated with the superadobe construction technique. Segundo o UN-Habitat 2017, mais de mil milhões de pessoas nos países em desenvolvimento carecem de abrigo adequado para se desenvolverem com dignidade. Destes, aproximadamente cem milhões não têm abrigo ou vivem em más condições de habitabilidade. Infelizmente, a cidade da Praia, em Cabo verde, não é exceção. Na cidade da Praia, embora tenha havido avanços e recuos neste contexto, a verdade é que, nos últimos 20 anos, a percentagem da população que vive em más condições habitacionais aumentou significativamente. As dificuldades habitacionais e a proliferação de bairros informais estão cada vez mais presentes. As famílias constroem abrigos que não as beneficiam. Nem elas, nem a cidade que as acolheu. Este artigo apresenta um estudo sobre uma solução de habitação sustentável, com terra, para os bairros informais da cidade da Praia, que se constitui como uma abordagem inovadora para a problemática mencionada, centrada na combinação da nova tecnologia modular com soluções de construção tradicional. Apresenta-se o conceito, simula-se e demonstra-se a aplicabilidade desta nova abordagem na melhoria das condições de habitabilidade dos bairros informais da cidade da Praia. O estudo inclui uma simulação em Rhino 3D + Grasshopper e a reinterpretação do conceito de habitação tradicional cabo-verdiana associada à técnica de construção em superadobe.

The retail sector significantly impacts urban economies, but often exhibits high energy consumption and resource usage, contributing to carbon emissions. These practices, aimed at enhancing sales through preestablished thermal and lighting patterns, contribute substantially to carbon emissions. This study investigates how architectural design can align with environmental and management goals in retail. By analyzing retail management dynamics and environmental issues, it evaluates sustainable energy solutions. These findings emphasize the need for more energy-efficient buildings with improved thermal and visual comfort and reduced reliance on mechanical systems. Advocating sustainable architectural practices in retail, this study underscores the importance of addressing environmental concerns and optimizing energy management for future growth and sustainability.

Arundo donax L. (ADL), also known as giant reed or Mediterranean cane, is a riparian herbaceous species characterized by long and robust stems. Classified as an invasive species because of its high capacity to grow, this natural material has been used for centuries in several sectors: handicrafts, agriculture and, mostly important, in buildings. Even if this species is easily found in the most of Mediterranean landscapes and is characterized by a large employment, most of its physical and mechanical properties are still unknown. In this context, the paper focuses on the identification of the ADL properties as plant and the assessment of the benefits to use Arundo donax in the field of constructions, especially in terms of environmental impact, through a careful analysis of existing architectures. Moreover, a simulation for the determination of the thermal performance and energy demand of a building that use Arundo donax as insulating material is proposed, also comparing the results to traditional insulating products.

Nowadays, the large set of available simulation tools brings numerous benefits to urban and architectural practices. However, simulations often take a considerable amount of time to yield significant results, particularly when performing many simulations and with large models, as is typical in complex urban and architectural endeavors. Additionally, multiple objective optimizations with metaheuristic algorithms have been widely used to solve building optimization problems. However, most of these optimization processes exponentially increase the computational time to correctly produce outputs and require extensive knowledge to interpret results. Thus, building optimization with time-consuming simulation tools is often rendered unfeasible and requires a specific methodology to overcome these barriers. This work integrates a baseline multi-objective optimization process with a widely used, validated building energy simulation tool. The goal is to minimize the energy use and cost of the construction of a residential building complex. Afterward, machine learning and optimization techniques are used to create a surrogate model capable of accurately predicting the simulation results. Finally, different metaheuristics with their tuned hyperparameters are compared. Results show significant improvements in optimization results with a decrease of up to 22% in the total cost while having similar performance results and execution times up to 100 times faster.

Although the existence of building energy efficiency policies for several years, studies show that up to 74% of the participant consider their house uncomfortable. European policies favored construction solutions focused on insulating materials rather than other solutions which traditionally were used and proved to be effective. Construction system that uses earth as construction material showed for centuries that it can offer high levels of thermal comfort in a passive way, with a highly sustainable and quasi-neutral environmental impact. With this paper, a study on the thermal performance of three contemporany rammed earth buildings is presented. The aim is to analyze thermal comfort over a critical period of time. It is expected that earth construction proves to be a good choice, creating a sustainable and better integration with the local environment, with almost zero energy incorporation, promoting the local work craftmen and with a construction range price below the common construction systems.

This paper discusses the issues unravelled by The UN's Cities without Slums Campaign which has been inappropriately communicated across Africa as a project to eradicate slums. Focusing on the Sub Saharan capital of Angola, Luanda. The theme equally explores the 3S's concept in Architecture − Social, Sustainable and Standard solutions − aiming to develop a Social Housing Program, called MUSSUS, in the context of UN-HABITAT and Proficient-EU concepts of slum-upgrading, including bioclimatic design and communal work. The concept of ZEB house is also introduced, including renewable energy systems, and passive design techniques. Mass-construction of houses is achieved, by modular standardisation, but providing adaptability to each family' needs. The main goal is to provide the community with the tools to change their environment, significantly improving quality of life.