12.07.2012 Power to the People – Sustainable Infrastructure and Architectural Interventions at the Torre David Jimeno A. Fonse

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

12.07.2012 Power to the People – Sustainable Infrastructure and Architectural Interventions at the Torre David Jimeno A. Fonse / ITA Institute of Technology in Architecture Faculty of Architecture / ETH Zurich 12.07.2012 Power to the People – Sustainable Infrastructure and Architectural Interventions at the Torre David Jimeno A. Fonseca, Arno Schlüter. Grafics: Anja Willmann, Barnim Lemcke. Architecture & Sustainable Building Technologies Prof. Dr. Arno Schlüter ETH Zurich / Building HPZ / Floor G Schafmattstrasse 32 / CH-8093 Zurich www.suat.arch.ethz.ch Architecture & Sustainable Building Technologies Prof. Dr. Arno Schlüter OUTLINE 1 INTRODUCTION 3 The Context 3 Project partners 3 2 APPROACH 4 A Sustainable Tower? 4 Potentials of the Site 4 Technologies 4 3 STATUS QUO 5 Water, Heat and Electricity 5 Resource Demand and Dynamics 5 Vertical Mobility 7 4 SITE ANALYSIS 8 Solar 8 Wind 8 5 THE CONCEPT 11 Demand Reduction 11 Water Supply and Storage 12 Wind Energy 13 A New Vertical Mobility System 14 6 A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE 16 Improving Living Conditions without Increasing Environmental Impact 16 Architectural Interventions 16 7 BIBLIOGRAPHY 19 8 ANNEX – SWOT ANALYSIS 22 2 / ITA Institute of Technology in Architecture Faculty of Architecture / ETH Zurich 1 Introduction Climate change (IPCC, 2007) and depleting fossil fuels force societies and econo- mies to rethink how much resources and energy we use, the way we use it and from which sources we obtain it. A dramatic shift, even a new industrial revolution neces- sary (Rifkin, 2011) is, moving from fossil fuel-based, centralized energy systems to- wards decentralized systems based on renewable energy sources. An increasing urbanization manifests in exponentially growing cities, they mark the place where this shift has to be effective. The Torre David represents a unique setting in an exemplary context. It is a challenging task to think about changing patterns of energy use and harvesting re- newable energy when it is about the basic needs. In an admirable effort, the inhabit- ants of the tower have organized and established an improvised infrastructure of electricity, water and mobility. Only this infrastructure makes living in the abandoned tower even possible. Its maintenance and operation creates jobs and identification. Improvements are only possible by acknowledging the community, by asking the inhabitants to contribute with their knowledge, power and ingenuity. Realizing and integrating the environmental potentials at the site, the existing architecture and its verticality as well as the strong community of inhabitants opens up the path towards a livable and sustainable present and future. The Context The Torre David consists of a once abandoned complex of buildings nowadays host- ing a community of 3000 inhabitants in Caracas, Venezuela. This community occu- pied peacefully the set of buildings in 2005, where a tower of 190 m, planned to be the second tallest and more expensive project of Latin America, arises among the financial core of the City. Since the occupation, the community characterized by a low-income status, low conditions of living, but nonetheless, a strong character, struggles to rise up its standards of living and the acceptance of the City’s society. Our approach outlines the circumstances where the inhabitants of the Torre David can enjoy fair living conditions and a well-earned place in the widely uneven Vene- zuelan society. It is based on the integration of social, environmental and economic aspects for a future low-energy consumption society. Project partners Urban-Think Tank Chair – ETH Zürich Prof. Brillembourg & Prof. Klumpner Michael Contento, Rafael Machado, Alfredo Brillembourg, Hubert Klumpner, Daniel Schwarz, Ilana Millner. Architecture & Sustainable Building Technologies Prof. Dr. Arno Schlüter 2 Approach A Sustainable Tower? Today the concept of sustainable architecture is characterized by an environmentally sensitive design, based either on the reduction of energy consumption and carbon footprint or on the achievement of self-sufficient structures, which mitigate a build- ings environmental impact (Jarzomberk, 2003). Both approaches do not seem prop- er for a context like the Torre David, where environmental impacts are already much lower than the average. Concerning sustainability, occupying and reusing the aban- doned tower can already be considered exemplary, finally making use of the enor- mous amount of land and resources spent its construction. The maximum reduction of the currently low energy consumption of the inhabitants is therefore not a priority. Low standards of living, social isolation and lack of infrastructure are a main concern in this context, inferring the need to take an approach capable to involve the social and economic aspects for a sustainable architectural solution. Our approach on sustainable architecture of the Torre David therefore aims at im- proving current living conditions through improving and extending the existing infra- structure, while maintaining the current low consumption of resources and low envi- ronmental impact of the community during time. The measures taken will also trans- form the appearance of the Torre, visualizing the integration of the tower community into the city yet acknowledging its uniqueness. Potentials of the Site Our approach is based on realizing and harvesting existing potentials of the building site. Environmental potentials such as local renewable energy sources facilitate the introduction of a decentralized and more reliable infrastructure in the Torre David, which often faces power shortages. Among renewables, human power - the inhabit- ants - represents the strongest potential. The active participation of the community in activities related to the enhancement of services and current living conditions is not only the condition sine qua non but also facilitates the realization and operation of the infrastructure over time. Technologies Sustainable technologies constitute the toolset to achieve a solution that integrates social, environmental and economic aspects. The technologies to choose must facili- tate a high social involvement, but also be of low cost, low maintenance and low en- vironmental impact. An active participation of the community during the construction and operation of infrastructure not only leads to the reduction of costs, but more im- portant, to a greater knowledge and awareness of the inhabitants about the need to maintain and preserve the infrastructure. 4 / ITA Institute of Technology in Architecture Faculty of Architecture / ETH Zurich 3 Status Quo Water, Heat and Electricity The current water infrastructure in the Torre David consists of a limited pumping and distribution system connected to the central Caracas grid and operating once or twice a week. The improvised system lacks the network required for continuous op- eration and distribution to the tower apartments. It is susceptible to intermittence dur- ing dry seasons, when water is scarce in the grid. The same applies to the electricity infrastructure. It comprises a self-constructed connection to the local grid and a local distribution throughout the tower. Although every family is connected to the grid, the tower system is susceptible to overloading and loses in the capacity during peak periods and dry seasons.1 For cooking pur- poses, all 750 dwellings located in the complex make use of propane/butane barrels that have to be manually transported to the apartments. The demand of resources in the tower follows a dynamic pattern, which is characterized by several fluctuations throughout the day (see figure 2). The pattern shows peak periods usually in the morning, at noon and in the evening, where 40% of all the resources are consumed and the highest needs in terms of power are at- tained. This fact leads to propose a decentralized power system to sustain the sup- ply with electricity and thus level the peaks. Resource Demand and Dynamics The water consumed per dwelling unit (3.6 m3/DU per month) equals one third of the regional average and only one forth of the European average. This low water de- mand is caused by to restrictions of the water accessibility, distribution and storage infrastructure. In terms of its dynamic behavior, the daily water consumption is char- acterized by two demand peak periods in the morning (6am – 8am) and in the after- noon (6pm-8pm). During these periods of time, 41% of the total demand of water is consumed. Comparable to the water demand, the electricity demand (155 kWh/DU per month) represents just a fraction of the regional and European average consumption (1/3 and 1/4 respectively). The number of electrical appliances of every household in the Torre David is slightly lower than the ones in households with a higher income; however, low electricity consumption is due to lack of high energy-demanding appli- ances for cooling/heating purposes such as HVAC systems, domestic hot water heaters and dishwashing machines. Regarding its dynamic behavior, the demand of electricity presents two demand peak periods in the morning (9am – 12am) and in the afternoon (6pm-9pm). During these demand peaks 38% of the total demand of electricity is consumed (figure 3). 1 Empresa eléctrica socialista CORPOELEC, ”Profesionales debaten interrupciones eléctricas”. Cor- polec Informa 1, No 1 (2011), http://torre- http://www.corpoelec.gob.ve/corpoelec-informa (accessed 02 June 2012). During extreme dry seasons and high periods of demand, hydroelectric plants, which generate 66% of the total electricity of Caracas, run out of capacity, and the demand of electricity cannot be satisfied, in the same way, a supply
Recommended publications
  • Recycled Buildings: Challenging Sustainability in an Era of Air Conditioning
    ICS Occasional Paper Series Volume 2, Number 2 http://doi.org/10.4225/35/57a95f8909771 Recycled Buildings: Challenging Sustainability in an Era of Air Conditioning Dr Tim Winter Institute for Culture and Society, University of Western Sydney October 2011 Editors: Professor David Rowe and Dr Reena Dobson Assistant Editor: Dr Michelle Kelly Publisher: Institute for Culture and Society University of Western Sydney Locked Bag 1797, Penrith NSW 2790, Australia Tel: +61 2 9685 9600 Fax: +61 2 9685 9610 Email: [email protected] Web: www.uws.edu.au/ics Recycled Buildings: Challenging Sustainability in an Era of Air 1 Conditioning Tim Winter Centre for Cultural Research (now incorporated into the Institute for Culture and Society), University of Western Sydney Abstract It is now often said that the greenest building is one that is already built. But as we approach the question of re-using buildings very different issues and challenges come up when compared to other discussions about recycling. In contrast to the recycling of consumer goods, the built environment involves questions of planning, urban development, legislation and an unclear disaggregation of who are the customers, producers and end users. As such then there are very different ideas of responsibility involved. The majority of recycling debates typically focus on the present or recent past, but in buildings we are faced with the ideas, visions, politics and failures of previous years, decades or centuries. To ask the question about recycling buildings is thus a consideration of the possibilities and limitations of recycling the past, in all its material, concrete, earthy and immovable forms.
    [Show full text]
  • A Framework of Sustainable Design for the Region of Palestine
    The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Arts & Architecture A FRAMEWORK OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN FOR THE REGION OF PALESTINE A Thesis in Architecture by Hala Marwan Haddad © 2010 Hala Marwan Haddad Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Architecture December 2010 The Thesis of Hala Marwan Haddad was reviewed and approved* by the following: Ute Poerschke Associate Professor of Architecture Thesis Advisor James Wines Professor of Architecture Madis Pihlak Associate Professor of Architecture Alexandra Staub Associate Professor of Architecture *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii Abstract: Many definitions of sustainable design have emerged in the past twenty years, most of which focused on the environmental part of the design process. In recent years, especially with the emergence of sustainable design as an international trend, more attention has been directed towards the social and economic part of sustainable design for a building to be truly sustainable and able of fitting in any context, for the long run. This thesis explores into the different dimensions of sustainable design, studying what makes a building sustainable, and using that as a base to define sustainable design in the region of Palestine, a small country in the northern part of the Middle East and east of Mediterranean, to define a framework of sustainable design. The framework achieved at the end of this study uses the vernacular as a passively sustainable prototype of sustainable design, for its environmental, socio cultural and economic complexity of a building, integrated with modern active techniques, that helped define the framework and helps define the future of the vernacular as a sustainable structure in different regions of the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Ecology Design
    ECOLOGY and DESIGN Ecological Literacy in Architecture Education 2006 Report and Proposal The AIA Committee on the Environment Cover photos (clockwise) Cornell University's entry in the 2005 Solar Decathlon included an edible garden. This team earned second place overall in the competition. Photo by Stefano Paltera/Solar Decathlon Students collaborating in John Quale's ecoMOD course (University of Virginia), which received special recognition in this report (see page 61). Photo by ecoMOD Students in Jim Wasley's Green Design Studio and Professional Practice Seminar (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) prepare to present to their client; this course was one of the three Ecological Literacy in Architecture Education grant recipients (see page 50). Photo by Jim Wasley ECOLOGY and DESIGN Ecological by Kira Gould, Assoc. AIA Literacy in Lance Hosey, AIA, LEED AP Architecture with contributions by Kathleen Bakewell, LEED AP Education Kate Bojsza, Assoc. AIA 2006 Report Peter Hind , Assoc. AIA Greg Mella, AIA, LEED AP and Proposal Matthew Wolf for the Tides Foundation Kendeda Sustainability Fund The contents of this report represent the views and opinions of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The AIA supports the research efforts of the AIA’s Committee on the Environment (COTE) and understands that the contents of this report may reflect the views of the leadership of AIA COTE, but the views are not necessarily those of the staff and/or managers of the Institute. The AIA Committee
    [Show full text]
  • GREEN Vs. SUSTAINABLE: ANALYZING and EXPANDING LEED (LEADERSHIP in ENERGY and ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN)
    Copyright Warning & Restrictions The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a, user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use” that user may be liable for copyright infringement, This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. Please Note: The author retains the copyright while the New Jersey Institute of Technology reserves the right to distribute this thesis or dissertation Printing note: If you do not wish to print this page, then select “Pages from: first page # to: last page #” on the print dialog screen The Van Houten library has removed some of the personal information and all signatures from the approval page and biographical sketches of theses and dissertations in order to protect the identity of NJIT graduates and faculty. ABSTRACT GREEN vs. SUSTAINABLE: ANALYZING AND EXPANDING LEED (LEADERSHIP IN ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN) by Sonay Aykan This dissertation investigates the possibility of including new socio-economic indicators in green building rating systems in order to promote innovative practices in the building planning, design, construction and operations by introducing a broader definition of sustainability in the building industry.
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainable Energy in Public Spaces Located in the Town Centers of The
    Sustainable energy in public spaces located in the town centers of the Central Functional Zone in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship based on the example of Połczyn-Zdrój Regional Office for Spatial Planning, PP 10 August 2018, Szczecin Sustainable energy in public spaces located in the towns centres of the CFZ/ 08.2018 „Sustainable energy in public spaces located in the town centers of the Central Functional Zone in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship based on the example of Połczyn-Zdrój” (Project implemented as a part of a project Baltic Energy Areas – A Planning Perspective BEA-APP Work package 4 “From strategies to action”; GoA 4.2. Energy mix in CFZ) Study developed by project team of Regional Office for Spatial Planning of Westpomerania in Szczecin under supervision of acting director arch. Leszek Jastrzębski: Justyna Strzyżewska – head planner ROFSPWP Lilli Wolny – senior assistant ROFSPWP Tomasz Furmańczyk – senior assistant ROFSPWP Study developed for the pilot project: 1. Thermo modernization and an increase in the energy efficiency of the buildings under heritage protection law and in the protected areas of health resorts (Paweł Dura, Karolina Kurtz-Orecka, Halina Rutyna, Robert Ulass, Waldemar Waszkiewicz; 2018) 2. An energy audit to point out weak points in the lightning of the streets and public spaces, as well as to suggest optimal solutions for using RES to fix the existing problemsdr ( inż. Tomasz Walski, 2017) 2 Sustainable energy in public spaces located in the towns centres of the CFZ/ 08.2018 Spis treści A. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................. 4 B. Choosing the action area .......................................................................................................................................... 5 C. Description of the pilot area ...................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainable Architecture—What's Next?
    Entry Sustainable Architecture—What’s Next? Harald N. Røstvik City- and Regional Planning, Institute of Safety, Economics and Planning (ISØP), Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, 4021 Stavanger, Norway; [email protected] Definition: Sustainable architecture encompasses more than energy efficiency, zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emission or renewable energy use in the built environment. It also needs to alleviate overall impacts on the natural environment or ecosystem that surrounds it. It may be argued that primitive vernacular architecture (architecture without architects) built and operated using local techniques and resources alone can be considered to be sustainable. Yet later, after the 1992 Rio Conference and its declarations, more specific definitions emerged putting weight on the rational use of land area, materials and energy, preferably local, as well as area efficient planning, economy and recyclability. The advantage of this is to reduce the ecological footprint of buildings and the climate gas emissions from a sector that represents 35–50 percent of global climate gas emissions, depending on how one counts. This paper clarifies concepts, questions cemented truths and points a way forward by asking; what’s next? Keywords: sustainable; architecture; Zero Energy Mass Custom Homes (ZEMCH); energy; efficiency; forecasting; ethics; climate change; log burning 1. Background Citation: Røstvik, H.N. Sustainable A few months ago, the author of this article had the pleasure to be part of a zoom- Architecture—What’s union, a 50 years celebration with classmates from first year at the School of Architecture, Next? Encyclopedia 2021, 1, 293–313. University of Manchester, England in 1970.
    [Show full text]
  • The Practice of Sustainable Architecture
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Departmental Papers (Architecture) Department of Architecture January 1995 Eyes That Do Not See? The Practice of Sustainable Architecture William Braham University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/arch_papers Recommended Citation Braham, William, "Eyes That Do Not See? The Practice of Sustainable Architecture" (1995). Departmental Papers (Architecture). 27. https://repository.upenn.edu/arch_papers/27 Postprint version. Published in Practices, Volume 3/4, Winter 1995. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/arch_papers/27 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Eyes That Do Not See? The Practice of Sustainable Architecture Abstract Under New York law, roof-top water towers are invisible. The terms of the code are not vague; the silhouette of a water tower and the shadow it casts are transparent to the zoning envelope and the sky- exposure plane. This is not, of course, truly mysterious; it results from the neglect of a small effect in the guarantee of sufficient light at street level. But water towers are invisible in quite another sense and this raises useful questions about architecture. Comments Postprint version. Published in Practices, Volume 3/4, Winter 1995. This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/arch_papers/27 EYES THAT DO NOT SEE? THE PRACTICE OF SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE Practices 3/4, Winter 1995 William W. Braham University of Pennsylvania Though in many of its aspects this visible world seems formed in love, the invisible spheres were formed in fright. Herman Melville1 Under New York law, roof-top water towers are invisible.
    [Show full text]
  • An Exploration in Radical Ethics for Sustainable Architecture
    182 Ecological Ethics (and the Role of the Architect) Plant Ethics or an Environment for the Birth of a New Human? An Exploration in Radical Ethics for Sustainable Architecture ANDREA SUSAN WHEELER Iowa State University Theorists of sustainable design frequently argue for the need the causes of, and hence the solution to, unsustainability’. to perceive the world differently, to find new ways to live, The important point they make is that the ‘environmental and to create new values to replace old. Ethical questions are problematique’ is rarely ever discussed with recognition of implicit in such explorations and pitted against exploitative the full complexity it demands. While architects are both relationships to the environment and other living beings. practicing sustainable architecture, and theorizing about it, An ecological ethic may be argued as inclusive in its concern there is no proper agreement in the way the challenge of sus- for preserving the inter-relationship of all organisms to their tainability is either framed, the way questions are formulated environments but contemporary environmental philosophy and refined, nor how solutions are imagined: Aspiration can and can have an ambiguous relationship to social ethics. To be widely felt, but poorly defined. As Guy argues, compet- address such dilemmas, architecture must open its horizon ing environmental debates are the result of contradictory to new and radical ways of thinking and being. Architecture certainties: ‘…divergent and mutually irreconcilable sets of needs new ethical philosophy. In this paper, I explore some convictions both about the environmental problems we face radical thinkers of environmental and social ethics, and and the solutions that are available to us’.
    [Show full text]
  • Towards a Sustainable Architecture
    KTH Archite cture and the Built Environment Towards a Sustainable Architecture. The raise of the smart grid network Ivan Cusini Degree Project SoM EX 2010-11 Stockholm 2010 KTH, Department of Urban Planning and Environment Division of Urban and Regional Studies Kungliga Tekniska högskolan 2 [ Ivan Cusini ] Table of Contents Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................ 4 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... 6 Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Aims and Objectives ..................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 9 Methods .................................................................................................................................... 11 The four era of Architecture development .................................................................................. 12 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 12 The sustainable primitive architectures ...........................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • A Future Invested in Sustainability: Sustainable Architecture and Education in the Midwest Through the Ethical Philosophy Of
    Architecture Publications Architecture 3-2017 A Future Invested in Sustainability: Sustainable Architecture and Education in the Midwest through the Ethical Philosophy of Luce Irigaray Andrea Wheeler Iowa State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/arch_pubs Part of the Architecture Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, and the Sustainability Commons The ompc lete bibliographic information for this item can be found at http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ arch_pubs/86. For information on how to cite this item, please visit http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ howtocite.html. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Architecture at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Architecture Publications by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Journal of Sustainability Education Vol. 13, March 2017 ISSN: 2151-7452 A Future Invested in Sustainability: Sustainable Architecture and Education in the Midwest through the Ethical Philosophy of Luce Irigaray Andrea Wheeler Iowa State University [email protected] Abstract: Theories of sustainable architecture that address sexual difference are rare in an architectural context, whether in the United States or Europe, and this paper proposes a critical perspective on architectural design using sustainable schools as an example and adopting the question of sexual difference. Informed by the words of young people, the philosophy of Luce Irigaray, and research carried out as part of a research project, “Iowa’s New Schools: A Future Invested in Sustainability,” this paper examines contemporary approaches to sustainable school architecture.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Path to Material Re-Use
    on the path to material re-use Navigating the Complexity of Material Sustainability for Architectural Practice by Anna Beznogova A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Architecture Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2016 © Anna Beznogova 2016 Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Abstract The aim of this thesis was to understand how to define sustainability holistically, and how architecture can contribute to holistic sustain- ability by way of its material form. I conducted a literature review of definitions for sustainable development, looking for a holistic definition that addressed common attitudinal barriers to its practice. It became apparent that it’s useful to study sustainability under a systems science framework that takes environmental, social, and psy- chological sustainability as interdependent variables. In accordance with this, I reviewed different approaches to material sustainability in architecture, the lifecycles of several common building materials, and the links between material industries, to establish a system-based understanding of how material sustainability can be practiced. In the latter part of my thesis I focus on material re-use as an underrepre- sented approach to material sustainability, and study the opportuni- ties and barriers in practicing it, particularly in the context of South- ern Ontario. I propose that a monitoring tool that draws on public data sources could relieve one barrier to using reclaimed materials by making it easier to find available sources.
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainable and Affordable Prefabricated Construction: Developing a Natural, Recycled, and Recyclable Mobile Home
    sustainability Article Sustainable and Affordable Prefabricated Construction: Developing a Natural, Recycled, and Recyclable Mobile Home Carlo Berizzi 1,* , Salvatore Nirta 1 , Gaia Nerea Terlicher 1,* and Luca Trabattoni 2 1 Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy; [email protected] 2 Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Opole University of Technology, 45-758 Opole, Poland; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] (C.B.); [email protected] (G.N.T.) Abstract: Outdoor tourism is a form of outdoor holiday that is growing rapidly today, and that stands out from other forms of tourism for its immediate relationship with the landscape which becomes for the tourist the main attraction of the holiday intended as a break from ordinary urban life. Outdoor tourism today represents a growing percentage in the tourism sector, in which mobile homes are the real players. Despite the considerable use of this product in open-air accommodations located in relevant landscapes, there is still no sensitivity in the constructive approach and in the choice of materials in terms of sustainability. In the open-air tourism sector, the lack of ecological sensitivity results from two levels of application: one regarding the whole settlement and the public spaces of outdoor accommodations and one regarding the mobile unit from the design to the production process. This paper will provide some practical strategies to introduce the ecological theme in the mobile home for the tourism sector. The research aims to analyze the production system of mobile Citation: Berizzi, C.; Nirta, S.; homes in order to introduce alternative materials within the existing assembly line.
    [Show full text]