English

Temperature, relative humidity, pressure difference across the floor and microbial concentrations were investigatedin the four buildings which had either concrete floor (1 piece) or wooden floors (3 pieces) and crawlspaces.The temperature followed the outdoor temperaturein the crawlspaces having wooden floors. The relativehumidity in all the crawl spaces was continuously for a month at least 75 %. The moisture and temperatureconditions were favorable for microbial growth and several moisture indicating microbes were analyzed in crawlspaces and in indoor air.

The present paper describes the beginning of a sustainablerequalification program devised for some buildingsof the University of Brasilia, located in the city of Brasilia (latitude 15o south). The Requalification comprehends actions for implementing of old functions with reutilization of the existing building and landscape patrimony, a change in the patterns of consumption, an improvement in energy efficiency and a concern with the alternatives for optimum use of the spaces.

In order to overcome the increasing energy demand in buildings and related environmental problems, new efficientenergy technologies and new integrated building concepts, like solar passive and mixed-weighted thermalmass buildings, are being developed. The energy efficiency should not be the only parameter to consider in high-performance building design.

The paper describes the design and control methods for many aspects of energy consumption in a building,mainly lighting and heating / cooling, using the EIB / KONNEX technology. The basic objective is to present a modularly expandable and generally adaptabletechnology in order to progress from the stage of individually designed systems towards to wide range reliable integrated systems.

It has been investigated the effect of different construction parameters to the thermal performance of a solar chimney.These parameters are the thermal resistance of the walls, the glazing type and the solar chimneys thickness.The thermal performance of the solar chimney has been studied using up to date thermal dynamic simulation tools.

The objective of this research consists of studying the effectiveness of devices used in the microbiological purification of the air. This specifically involves the inactivationof biological aerosols in an air handling unit. The study of a first device working on the principle of photocatalysis has been carried out. This system, called NEO developed by the CIAT Company (patent WO 2004/081458), involves the combination of filtration on an adsorbent and heterogeneous photocatalysis.The air cleaning device in question is installed in a test box located in a wind tunnel called ONE-PASS.

In temperate continental climates, the reduction of the solar radiation influence in summer season, over the comfort conditions of internal spaces, can only be achieved by natural means in two ways: one possibility is through occupants adjustments of themselves (clothing,activity, metabolism) and the second possibility is through occupants control of the energy flows (heat, light, sound) in-out the building (management of the envelope).

In this article, the first part of a research project about the modelling of a solar chimney is presented. In this first part, the average ventilation flows measured in an experimentalinstallation have been compared to the results obtained by CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations.In order to do so, a solar chimney with a cross-section of 0.78 m x 0.156 m, height 3.6 m, has been constructed.The chimney consists of a glass surface oriented towardsthe south.

In mild climates due to the increase of request of comfortof people there is a growing number of installation of low cost and low efficient cooling system even in new buildings. In designing low energy buildings it necessary nowadays to consider this trend and offer proper solution (envelope and plants) able to reduce the consumption of primary energy.

The aim of the Pythagoras project was the development of an innovative national training material in the sector of indoor environmental quality.The need for education in this specific sector is dictatedby the significant indoor environment deterioration and associated health hazards as these become evident through a series of studies and measurements carried out by the research team.