VBP-1: a sustainable urban house for low-income family in a tropical climate.

This paper presents the design of an urban, low-cost and progressive enlargement house following sustainable, bio-climatic and energy conservation criteria in a tropical and humid climate. This building design is based on results of experimental and numerical research on passive cooling systems and heat gain control mechanisms carried out by the authors. This house is intended to be a bio-climatic response to the housing need for low-income social groups. The individual integral comfort and his relation with the environment are the most important concern. It is intended to contribute to reducing the electric energy consumption used by the air conditioning equipment and maximise the usage of vegetation to create a positive impact over the environmental quality of the urban space. The first stage of construction of such house has been planned for the month of March 2000.