A building requires a large quantity of water for the purposes of drinking, cooking, washing and cleaning, flushing toilets, irrigating plants, etc. All of this water requires treatment and delivery, which consumes energy. The water that exits the building, as sewage must also be treated. At this project the idea was to reduce both input and output of resources. A reduction in use also produces a reduction in waste.

Reuse of water onsite: Gray water was recycled within the building to irrigate plants and flush toilets. Rainwater tank collection: the roof became a rainwater-collecting device, in combination with the rainwater collection tank. This water could also be used for irrigation and toilet flushing.

Bio composting toilets: was used to treat sewage on site eliminating the need for energy intensive local treatment.

Indigenous landscaping: vegetation was used being adapted to the local rainfall levels eliminating the need for additional watering.

Materials conservation

The production and consumption of building materials has diverse implications on the local and global environments. Extraction, processing, manufacturing and transporting building materials all cause ecological damage to some extent. There are input and output reduction methods for materials conservation. As with water, some of these methods overlap.

Use of materials that can be recycled and has low embodied energy: the project has search to use plantation timber for all floors, stairs and structural system. For traditional way of construction and availability, brick was used for walls. White tiles for some parts of the roof and recycled corrugated iron roof were used.

Non-toxic materials: as people spend more than three quarters of their lifetime indoors, non-toxic materials are vital to the health of the building’s occupants. Adhesives, which release volatile organic compounds into the air, were avoided.

1. Conclusions

The design strategies and methodology used for the BR ecoproject have been presented. The use of a mixed strategy (dual mode concept) has been introduced. An active approach for some periods along with extended passive operation can be used. A block of four main sustainable design strategies were set and analysed. The use of water and materials were treated on a sustainable basis. Low energy design features combined with the production of energy thorugh a PV grid connected system installed on top of the roof had demonstrated the important integration of energy efficiency and renewable energy features. Simulations were carried out to assess the feasibility of the design features proposed and optimize its performance according to the specific conditions presented. A development of this project is being undertaken, in which the intention is to test this methodology for other locations and compare the results, considering the dual mode concept and its feasibility and applications. A proposed set of locations is currently being analysed, as part of possible developmental areas for further research/implementation of projects.

2. References

[1] OEA. The world in 2020, www. iea. shc. org, 2001

[2] Tenorio, R. Pedrini, A. 2001. Guarajuba Ecohouse, Proceedings of ISES — International Solar Energy Society Conference, Adelaide — AUS, 2001

[3] Tenorio, R. Dual mode cooling house in the warm-humid tropics: PhD Thesis, University of Queensland, UQ — AUS, Department of Architecture, 2002.

[4] J. Kim, B. Rigdon, Principles of sustainable design, national Pollution prevention Center for Higher Education, USA, pp 9-15, 1998.

[5] www. labeee. ufsc. br

[в] R. De Dear, G. Brager, D. Cooper. Developing an adaptive model of thermal comfort and preference. Final Report. ASHRaE RP-884-1997

[7] D. S. Parker, J. P. Dunlop, Solar Photovoltaic Air Conditioning or residential buildings, Proceedings of the 1994 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency, FSEC, USA, Vol 3 188-198­1994