Ninth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

In the late 70’s, Chile faced a severe housing deficit and social housing policies developed a mass produced model to respond to the high demand. The massive construction of mid-rise buildings known as Type “C” Blocks had its peak in this period with 202,000 households created. These buildings can be found along most cities in Chile, constituting a significant achievement in housing coverage. However, currently, these apartments present serious issues regarding insufficient built area resulting in illegal self-built expansions; acoustic and thermal insulation deficiencies; poor ventilation; and considerable damage of facilities and public spaces. A diagnosis from the Ministry of Housing shows that this typology has proved to be incapable to meet minimum living standards. Therefore, after overcoming the social housing quantitative deficit, housing policies challenges have orientated on the qualitative deficit of buildings. Currently, initiatives have focused on urban regeneration and proposed new expansions that meet current building codes. This paper analyses the impact of building regeneration strategies in the thermal performance of the envelope. The research methodology is based on computer simulations to evaluate a social housing community in the city of Santiago. The analysis considers three scenarios: the original design; the current situation with illegal self-built expansions; and the expansion proposal from the government policy. Results demonstrate that social housing regeneration strategies may achieve significant heating energy saving and the improvement of indoor thermal comfort conditions. However, strategies proposed by the governmental agencies can be significantly improved by incorporating basic concepts of bioclimatic architecture.

Presenters

Waldo Bustamante
Professor, Centre for Sustainable Urban Development, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Región Metropolitana de Santiago, Chile

Cristian Schmitt