ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 227
International Conference | Bari - Lecce, Italy
Session IV
EVALUATION AND VISUALISATION OF THERMAL
PERFORMANCE OF INDUSTRIALISED HOUSING
CONSTRUCTION IN CENTRAL MEXICO
Habid Becerra-Santacruz1, Panagiotis Patlakas2 & Hasim Altan3
1 Environmental Design, Faculty of Architecture, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo (UMSNH), Mexico,
[email protected]
2 Built Environment Group, Southampton Solent University, UK, [email protected]
3 Sustainable Design of the Build Environment, Faculty of Engineering & IT, British University in Dubai, UAE, hasim.
[email protected]
Abstract
Mass industrialised low-income housing is a building typology that is common in Mexico
and possesses characteristics that differentiate it, in scale and social impact, to similar developments in other parts of the world. The business needs and socioeconomic factors behind
these initiatives mean that the environmental performance is typically of low or no importance to developers, who instead are primarily concerned with speed of erection and profit
margins. However, such developments present particular interest to the environmental design researcher, as the large number of identically constructed buildings, occupied by users
with similar socioeconomic conditions and usage patterns, allowing for comparative studies
that isolate specific aspects. This paper presents initial results from an extensive Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) field surveys conducted over a period of 2 years in Morelia, Mexico.
The monitoring phase encompassed 12 dwellings with four different orientations (North, East,
South, West), measuring internal temperature and relative humidity levels at 10-minute intervals over the two distinct seasons of the climate of the area (Cool and Warm).The results are
commented upon and initial conclusions are drawn that aspire to guide research and practice future developments in this type of construction. In addition, an important aspect of the
work is the presentation and communication of the collected data for different stakeholders
involved in design, construction, and operation phases. The monitoring results are presented
not only in the standard graph formats, but also via 4d interactive visualisation approaches,
relying on a proprietary research software prototype. Observations on the use of the software
are made as well as comments on the potential of visualisation methodologies to communicating building performance data to non-expert stakeholders.
Keywords
Post Occupancy Evaluation, Industrialised Housing, Visualisation, Thermal Performance,
Mexico.
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