37º IAHS World Congress on Housing: - Universidad de Cantabria

XXXVII <strong>IAHS</strong><strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> on HousingOctober 26 – 29, 2010, Santander, SpainCODE: 249SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE: BRAZILIAN WELLSUCCEEDED EXAMPLESIrina Stoica 1 , Maria Cristina Ramos de Carvalho 21 Department of ArchitectureUniversity of Architecture and Urbanism ‘Ion Mincu’, Bucharestirina.stoica87@yahoo.com2 Ph.D., Department of Civil EngineeringFederal Center of Technological Education of Minas Gerais - CEFET-MG, Brazilcristina.carvalho@civil.cefetmg.brKey words: sustainable architecture, bio-climatic buildings, energy saving buildings, social housingAbstractSustainable buildings in the tropical areas are becoming a major issue today. As a result ofindustrialization, an increase in energy consumption will occur. This report focuses onpresenting basic principles of sustainable design and the way they are implemented in theBrazilian market. As the building sector in the country is booming, most economic quartershave engaged in policies that look for better environmental practices in terms of process andproducts. Considerations include the choice of the site, external arrangements, optimum useof energy, choice of materials, ensuring a long life for buildings, ease of maintenance andstabilisation of building waste among others. Many projects to reduce energy consumption areunder way with quite some success. In order to analyze the bio-climatic principles of creatinga healthy built environment in Brazil, and to outline the fact that sustainability is beginning togain popularity here, case studies on social housing and ambitious projects are taken intoaccount.37º <strong>IAHS</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> On Housing Science 140