Removing Barriers to Environmental Comfort in the Global South (eBook)

This book describes how comfort, energy and climate change in developing countries and vulnerable sectors of the population relate to buildings.

The building sector is currently facing significant challenges connected to energy consumption, energy poverty and climate change effects. When studied in developing countries and vulnerable sectors of the population, these factors, which are commonplace in the tropics and the southern hemisphere, are interlinked and share a critical component: environmental comfort. Although progress has been made in environmental comfort through research and the development of standards and policies at the international level, in the Global South, where the countries with the highest levels of income inequality are concentrated, environmental comfort has its own characteristics and challenges that prevent a clear understanding from the established vision of the Global North.

This book presents research, theories and techniques related to Thermal comfort, Indoor air quality, Visual comfort, and Acoustic comfort and its relationship with energy use and energy efficiency, seeking to address different barriers to environmental comfort. It shows how to improve the way buildings are designed and operated to promote healthier environmental conditions and more sustainable construction, by presenting studies and reflections carried out in the target geographical area: the Global South. In this way, this book contributes to developing the concept of environmental comfort, visualising how progress has been made in understanding it from a tropical and southern perspective, and posing common challenges.

The book is intended for engineers, architects, and researchers of the built environment who are interested in environmental comfort and its influence on energy consumption, energy poverty, and other related factors in the Global South context. It is also a useful resource for decision-makers and public policy developers concerned with the indoor comfort of buildings. Moreover, the book aims to provide guidance for those in developing countries by gathering existing knowledge in the field for the tropics and southern hemisphere climatic and sociocultural contexts, allowing us to move forward in this subject with actions and proposed solutions that fit our particular needs.

Alexis Pérez-Fargallo holds Ph.D. and is Associate Professor in the Department of Building Science, Faculty of Architecture, Construction and Design at the University of Bío-Bío, Concepción, Chile. He has been Investigator-in-charge of the 'Comfort and Energy Poverty' Research Group at the UBB since 2019. His area of expertise covers energy renovation, energy costs, energy efficiency, thermal comfort, and fuel poverty. He is Author of more than 30 research outputs in international peer-reviewed journals and has directed and participated in several research projects. He currently directs the master's degree in Sustainable Habitat and Energy Efficiency and coordinator of 'Ibero-American Network of Energy Poverty, and Environmental Well-being' (RIPEBA Thematic Network 722RT0135).

Maria Beatriz Piderit-Moreno holds Ph.D. and is Associate Professor in the Department of Design and Theory of Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture, Construction and Design, University of Bío-Bío, Concepción, Chile. Her research interests are occupants' well-being in indoor environments, thermal comfort, daylighting, and educational spaces. She has published more than 30 research papers, 3 books and has led several research projects. Among them, two are international cooperation projects with the Université Catholique du Louvain and the Université of Liège. During 2018, she elaborated, for the Ministry of Education of Chile, the proposal of the new school infrastructure regulation that raises the standards and quality of educational spaces. From 2015 to 2021, she was Director of the master's degree in Sustainable Habitat and Energy Efficiency at the University of Bío-Bío.

Maureen Trebilcock-Kelly holds Ph.D. and is Professor in the Department of Design and Theory of Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture, Construction and Design, University of Bío-Bío, Concepción, Chile. Her research interests are occupants' well-being in indoor environments, sustainable architecture, integrated design process, energy efficiency, natural ventilation, and thermal comfort. She has led several research projects and has published several papers and research outputs in journals, proceedings, and books. She is currently the Head of the Doctorate program in Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Bío-Bío.

Paulina Wegertseder Martínez holds Ph.D. and is Full-time Member of the academic staff at the Department of Design and Theory of Architecture, specifically in the undergraduate Architecture degree and in the postgraduate programs of the master's in Sustainable Habitat and Energy Efficiency and Doctorate in Architecture and Urbanism. Her main lines of research focus on the built environment and its relationship with comfort, well-being, and energy efficiency in buildings. She has participated in national and international research projects, producing relevant scientific publications. In the professional field, she works in consulting projects on energy efficiency and bioclimatic design for public and private services.

Laura Marín-Restrepo holds Ph.D. and is a Postdoctoral researcher at Université catholique de Louvain. Until 2021, she was a research Fellow in the Department of Building Science, Faculty of Architecture, Construction and Design at the Universidad del Bío-Bío, Concepción, Chile. Her research interests aim toward the sustainable development of the built environment, with specific attention on user comfort and well-being, passive design strategies, human-building interaction and the optimization of design and construction processes to sustain building energy and environmental performance. She is Young Researcher with several publications in peer-reviewed journals and conferences.