Climate Action
Climate action for buildings and infrastructure
Climate change has been posed as one of the greatest threats to the comfort and health of our buildings and infrastructure. Although the uncertainty associated with the magnitude of the change is large, the fact that our climate is changing is unequivocal. As a result, making buildings and infrastructure (and their surroundings) more resilient to climate change is a priority for owners and authorities. An early and planned climate adaptation action will increase the comfort, durability, and safety of our buildings and infrastructure and therefore save money and, ultimately, lives.
The Journey
Adaptation (and mitigation) is the pathway for new and existing buildings and infrastructure on their climate journey. This action brings together some answers to some unknowns.
Expertise
We have already started to ground our expertise in several areas:
- Impact of climate change in structural health monitoring of bridges
- Bridge adaptation strategies
- Physics-based modeling for climate change scenarios
- Integrating modeling (hydrological, reservoir, and hydraulic models) to analyze impacts on downstream infrastructures, to create scenarios, and to study infrastructure vulnerability
- Hydrological and hydraulic modeling of risk areas for different scenarios (e.g., flood risk areas)
- Analysis of the water regime under different scenarios in hydraulic infrastructure
- Analysis of indoor comfort conditions and health in new and existing buildings
- Green solutions for buildings in urban areas
- Assessment of nature-based solutions for urban climate adaptation
- Eco-design of road pavement solutions to contribute to the decarbonization of the sector
- Bio-based solutions for road infrastructure
Research Projects
Relevant Publications
- Figueiredo, E.; Santos, L. O.; Moldovan, I.; Kraniotis, D.; Melo, J.; Dias, L.; Coelho, G. (2023). A roadmap for an integrated assessment approach for climate change adaptation of concrete bridges. Journal of Bridge Engineering, 28(6). DOI 10.1061/JBENF2/BEENG-5735.
- Figueiredo, E.; Moldovan, I.; Santos, L.O.; Erduran, E.; Kraniotis, D.; Rebelo, H.; Antunes, V.; Rocha, C. (2022). A Road for Adaptation of Bridges to Climate Change: Conclusions. Seminar, ClimaBridge Project, September 27, 2022, Lusófona University, Lisbon. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.23011.63523.
- Vandewalle, D.; Antunes, V.; Neves, J.; Freire, A.C. Assessment of Eco-Friendly Pavement Construction and Maintenance Using Multi-Recycled RAP Mixtures. Recycling 2020, 5, 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling5030017.
- Almeida C.; Ramos T.; Sobrinho J.; Neves R.; Proença de Oliveira R. (2019). An Integrated Modelling Approach to Study Future Water Demand Vulnerability in the Montargil Reservoir Basin, Portugal. Sustainability. 11. 206. 10.3390/su11010206.
