Social housing : the absence of LCC

Abstract

To face qualitative and quantitative lack of dwelling, important public investiments were made in social housing. Providing adequare sheller to low income families was a major focus of this public investment in the last quarter of the twentieth century in Portugal. However, most social dwellings haven’t been built in compliance with essential sustainability principles, therefore cornpromising their present value. This has been confirmed with a recent field survey conducted by the authors to a set of social dwelllngs in Aveiro district, in the centre of the country. The early deterioration of the buildings, the deficient thermal and acoustic insulation, contributes to its lack of quality. Its degradation level is consequence of low durability design solutions and deficient construction processes control, increased by the absence of maintenance actions. The restricted budgets and the absence of Life Cycle Costs (LCC) studies, also contribute to the above scenario. The public Porluguese entities responsible for this building stock never made LCC analysis te support their decisions. Nowadays to face the buildings deterioration problems, reactive actions are taken. The aim of this paper is to present the results of the most relevant problems detected ia a sample of rental social dwellings, and the consequences of the inexistence of the LCC. This will he used in the scope of a research project being carried which am is prioritize refurbishment interventions in the Portuguese social housing stock.