BuildingAdapt – Pioneer study to analyse the resilience of university teaching buildings to climate change: Lusófona University – Lisbon University Center

• Funding Institution COFAC
• Coordinator Maria Manso
• Team members Elói Figueiredo, João Canto, Vítor Antunes, Rúben Teixeira
• Period of funding January 2023 to December 2024
• Website buildingadapt.com

Climate Analytics has estimated that within 80 years maximum summer and autumn temperatures may increase up to 8ºC in Portugal. Also, in spring and winter temperatures may rise between 2ºC and 4ºC. The increase in urban temperature will have a major impact in buildings energy consumption and their occupants´ environmental comfort.
This study focuses on the growing concern about how university teaching buildings can adapt to climate change and how the environmental comfort conditions of their occupants can be guaranteed in future scenarios. Building A of Lusófona University – Lisbon University Center will be used as case study, considering the urgent needs for its rehabilitation and maintenance of its character.
The aim of this project is to identify the best rehabilitation strategies to improve occupants´ environmental comfort considering the present and future climate conditions. First, it will be created a 3D model of the building based on a 3D Point Cloud survey. Then a data acquisition system and environmental comfort sensors will be installed in Building A to monitor its thermo-hygrometric conditions along the year. This data will be used to calibrate the computational models to be developed. After, the 3D model will be used to develop computational models based on current climate conditions and future climate scenarios. Different passive design solutions will be tested within the computational models to improve the thermal performance of the buildings´ envelope. Also, carbon negative solutions, as green walls, will be analysed to enable capturing greenhouse gases over the building lifetime and promote comfort and well-being to the Campus users. At the end an optimal cost methodology will be implemented to identify the best solutions to be implemented.
The results obtain along the project will help Lusófona University – Lisbon University Center to make an informed decision on how to adapt to climate change and invest in more cost-effective rehabilitation strategies.