Let's make a home! Part 3

In the first part of this section, I covered a little extensively (I confess) the definition of the three basic objectives of the construction project of your house. Cost, Time and Quality are fundamental elements that we must keep in mind, as no one will be able to define them for us. After all, we know how much we want or can spend, when we want the project ready and the quality of it... If you think about these goals, they end up being your restrictions for your project. But we will continue to call them goals so as not to confuse you. From here, and after having made the decision to move forward, the time has come to put your trust in the technicians who are qualified to help us. What technicians? What documents do I need to get started? These are the themes of the second part of this section “Housing Project”. Before getting into the part of hiring and discretizing the technicians needed to continue your project, it is important to talk about the issue of the land where you will build your house. There are two hypotheses: You have land in your possession: The acquisition of the same is not within the scope of this construction project of your house, so it will be expected that the area of the same and the conditions of the same have been taken into account in the definition of your idea, especially in terms of program, where you defined more at least the size of the house they intend to build. No land: The acquisition of land is one of the tasks that you have to include in your house project. In this case, it was possible for you, in defining your idea, to also take into account, especially in terms of cost, the size of the land you need to carry out your project. I won't go into the location of the land, as this is mainly a matter of taste, although it makes a big difference in the total costs of the project. After all, having a house by the sea or in the city center is not the same as having a house in a parish in the countryside. So let's imagine from now on that we have our land acquired... The time has come to define which projects and respective professionals will be needed so that I can start planning my idea. For those who haven't read the article I made about the vision of the project, we are at this stage entering the Planning stage of our Project. According to the Municipal Chambers, the usual thing is that the following elements are required for the licensing of any housing construction project: • Architectural Project - Architect • Accessibility Project - Architect • Exterior Arrangements Project - Architect • Stability project that includes the excavation and peripheral containment project - Civil Engineer • Gas Installations Project - Engineer with the specific course • Water and sewage network design - Civil Engineer • Rainwater Project - Civil Engineer • ITED Project (telephone and telecommunications installations) - Electrical Engineer • Study of thermal behavior and energy pre-certificate - Engineer or Architect with the specific course • Fire safety data sheet - Technician with the specific course • Acoustic Conditioning Project - Civil Engineer • Health and Safety Plan - Technician with the specific course • Plan for the Prevention and Management of Construction and Demolition Waste - Technician with the specific course In conclusion, I would especially like that with this article, you would get to know the wide variety of knowledge that is needed to carry out all these projects. The team needed to carry out a construction project, in this case of a house, must be multidisciplinary and have the ability to work as a team, trying to make all these specialties compatible as much as possible so that the client obtains a quality product. Be aware and aware of the importance of having a good work team to develop your project! More than complying with the law, these Projects aim to ensure compliance with many rules that ensure our comfort and the organization of our space and the space that surrounds us. It is important not to forget that we live in society and that we necessarily share various public services that guarantee us the basic resources of life, such as water and electricity. In addition to these services, it is essential that projects respect the constraints of the location of your land, such as the maximum number of floors in the house and their alignment, the percentage of area that can be built, the percentage of permeable area, among others... All this, in order to understand that licensing exists to avoid disorganization, excessive and disorderly use of spaces and technical problems in the solutions provided. Licensing is also the document that holds the authors of the respective projects responsible for the positive or negative results that may result from what was designed. Is licensing enough to build my house? Do I have to personally hire all those technicians to do my project? Do I have to manage and make all those specialties compatible? After that, am I in a position to proceed with the construction? Is the licensing project sufficient to guarantee the success of my project? I will try to answer all these questions in the third part of this heading. Until then, Good Projects to all! #MiguelÁvila

In the second part of this section, I made known all the technicians necessary to carry out the various technical specialties of the project of your house. It is important to recognize the importance of all these technicians and their respective projects, especially their correct compatibility, and ensure that we hire a multidisciplinary team capable of developing our project according to our expectations. A very common question that arises several times from those who are starting to organize and define their goals for the construction of their home is related to hiring. Where do I go? Do I have to personally hire all the technicians involved? The answer is no! It is true that the client has the free choice of hiring A or B according to his will, and he can build and define the entire project team himself. However, the normal thing is that there will always be someone who will coordinate the project, that is, they will be the link between the client and the rest of the project team. Whoever is going to build a house does not necessarily have to have the availability or even the ability to manage or coordinate all the parties involved. Let's do it by steps! What is it for this manager or project coordinator to do? • Assemble the best team, that is, proceed with the hiring of the various technical specialties necessary for the execution of the housing project. • Present the project's basic objectives to the project team. It is important that everyone is aware of the intended costs, the desired quality and the deadline for the execution and delivery of the projects. • Ensure compatibility between all specialties, so that there are no technical problems and that the client's objectives are duly respected. (For example beams to pass in areas that the architect did not foresee, electrical panel or sewage pipe without the necessary space for its implementation, final price of the house above expectations etc.). As you can see, the project coordinator has a fundamental role in the execution and planning of your house's technical projects. In housing projects, this coordinator is, in most cases, someone who is part of the technical team (architect or engineer of some specialty involved). What usually happens is that the client chooses an architect that he likes, or the one that presented him with the best conditions through his consultation (Yes, it is important to always consult several proposals so that we can compare). Once the architect has been chosen, he will present in his proposal the price for all the special projects that are needed and he will be the project coordinator. Of course, the client can always ask the architect to include technician A or B because he knows or thinks he is the most capable. Another completely valid option, which also happens several times, is for the client to meet or consult someone who may also be part of the team, for example a civil engineer. The civil engineer in this case will do exactly the same as I described in the previous paragraph. You will consult the different specialties and will present your global or separate proposal but including all the necessary work for the project of your house. He may be the project coordinator or he may eventually delegate this function to the consulted architect. Another alternative is for the client to consult a project manager or person capable of this coordination task to whom they wish to delegate these functions. We have some examples of real estate companies or even builders that offer turnkey solutions with all this management and coordination service included. Briefly, the client (you!) has these options for the project coordinator: • You as project coordinators. • Member of the project team as coordinator (architect or engineer consulted by you). • Known person to whom this function is entrusted. (For example, it can happen that your builder will take care of everything, because you already have it defined before the project and he is committed to taking care of everything). • Company that does all this management and coordination work, hiring the well-known “turnkey” service. As you can see, there are several ways to proceed, and all of them are valid. I have presented to you those that are the most common of happen. (There may be more). Still within this stage of hiring, it is important to touch on and address a subject that, as they say, “has cloth for its sleeves”. I'm talking about the frequent question that you will be asked (or not), which is: Do you just want the licensing project? Or do you also want the execution project? As if you had to know how to differentiate these concepts... I think the problem starts right here! There is a clear lack of information and knowledge that will allow you to make this decision consciously and in accordance with the objectives of your project. I will try to explain these two concepts very well. As I said in the previous article (Part 2), we live in community and we have to share and respect the space that surrounds us with order and organization. This order and organization is established by rules that are imposed by our legislation. These rules exist in all aspects of our lives, and for that reason the construction of a house could not escape the rule. Can you imagine if everyone could build wherever and however they wanted, even on their land? It is up to the municipal authorities to manage and organize the territory in order to properly regulate the construction of real estate. This control is obtained through the licensing of the architecture, in which the developer submits his project for approval. If the project does not comply with any pre-established rule, it is rejected and has to be edited. In relation to the other specialties, this concept may be more complicated to explain and even to accept, however keep in mind that a licensing project only serves to license your project, and for that reason it is not required to be properly optimized and detailed to be executed. What happens in practice is that these projects have only the minimum required by the municipal authorities in question, complying with the parameters of safety, dimensioning, compatibility and territorial planning. For work, this type of project may not be so effective, usually causing difficulties for the builder who does not always have the elements (designed parts) with enough detail to be able to perfectly execute what is required in architecture. In addition, the licensing project does not always contain properly optimized solutions so that the least possible costs can be reduced in the execution phase of the work. Unlike the licensing project, the execution project is well described in the legislation without leaving many doubts as to how it should be done. This must contain the following elements in accordance with Ordinance 701-I/2018 of 29 July: • Descriptive and justificative memory; • Justification calculations; • Measurements and quantity maps; • Budget estimate based on forecasted quantities; • Designed pieces; • Technical Conditions. The execution projects, both of architecture and of all engineering specialties, when well prepared, must contain all the information that allows the project to be executed without any difficulties on the part of the executing entity. In practice, these projects, even though they do not have all the elements mentioned above, are composed of (or at least they should) drawn pieces in detail and on a scale that allows there to be no doubts in their interpretation. The fact that these projects are elaborated in more detail makes it possible to expect a greater optimization of resources as well as a very approximate cost and timelines involved in completing the project. The question that now naturally arises is the following: Is it worth paying for the execution project? This question is not always answered in the best way, and the truth is that some proposals that will be presented to you may not even make this distinction, thus leaving the designers in the hands of the details with which they will prepare and deliver your projects. For that reason, the great advice I give you, if your proposal doesn't make this distinction, is to ask how the project will be, what it's including and what is its level of detail! They care about what they are paying for and only in this way can they properly compare the different offers they have! Is it substantially more advantageous and safer to carry out an execution project? I don't have any doubts. If they are vast, the examples of construction works (even of houses) whose price skyrockets during the construction phase because a project was not carried out with due detail? Yes! On the other hand, I also believe that there are projects whose low complexity allows a simple licensing project to fulfill and allow a careful execution and a favorable result. However, I would venture to say that this is an exception to the rule! One of the possible ways of answering this big question of whether to execute the project or not is the following: it depends on what the client is willing to pay and accept as a result of his project. A client who only pays for the architectural license cannot expect the materials and coatings to be applied to be detailed or to have the drawings for all the interior parts of his building! It will be he or the builder to decide or “imagine” some details. The designer cannot be held responsible for any material incompatibilities, if the finished product is not the same as imagined, or if any aesthetic effect does not turn out as expected, as it was not included in its licensing project. In relation to engineering specialties, the builder who only has a licensing project in his possession can ask him some questions, such as: How is the connection in this area where this wall and the roof converge? (Houses are not always rectangular and simple to build) What outlets should I put in this room? Should I put cable TV outputs here? Etc... These drawings and specifications may not appear in the parts of the licensing project. In practice, think that everything that actually needs more detail, detailed design or technical stipulation, from the start, will not be in the licensing project, as it was only intended to license the project and not to execute it. As a general rule, I would say that more and more people are choosing to contract licensing and execution projects, however there are still those who choose to trust their builder and their capabilities, and just pay for the licensing project. Worse than that, there are still many good people who choose the cheapest project (licensing), because they are not properly informed and sensitized. Think and reflect well if you are actually saving on your project (as a whole), or if it is just a matter of cost reduction in the technical design phase, but which will translate into increased costs in the execution phase! I believe that sometimes it can really represent a cost savings, especially in smaller projects, but I believe that most of the time, paying 2 or 3 thousand euros more for an execution project can mean greater rigor and optimization that translates into work on site. in savings above 10 or 20 thousand euros. What I really intend with this publication is to provide people with the necessary knowledge to make this decision to hire or not the execution project with the utmost awareness. I hope you don't interpret this as a kind of appeal to contract execution projects, or that I'm saying that if you just do the licensing things will go wrong. None of that! I just want you to make that decision properly informed! When we buy a garment from a white label, we know what we are buying! When we choose to spend a holiday in a 2-star hotel instead of a 5-star hotel, we also know what we are buying. In both situations described, we opted for a cheaper solution but with due knowledge and awareness. For this reason, we will not be surprised at first if the shirt is damaged after a few washes or if the hotel is not as clean and comfortable as possible. The same should happen when we build a house and we have to make decisions! We must seek to know and understand well the differences and what we are hiring. In this way, decisions will be made with greater awareness and the results obtained will be in accordance with our expectations and with what we choose to pay in advance. So far we have seen how to define our basic goals to take into account when we decide to move forward with the construction of our house. The construction of our house is indeed a project of great importance in our lives, and for that reason its planning must be very well thought out! We also got to know the technicians of the different specialties and the importance of them being able to work as a team, trying to obtain the best compatibility of the specialties involved and therefore present a quality project in the end. We have just mentioned the various alternatives for contracting this service, which involves the entire team and the coordination of the project itself. We have seen the difference between licensing projects and execution projects, this being a very important part, as the decision to hire or not the execution project must be very well thought out and taken into account. After the team is completed and the projects are licensed, are we in a position to move forward with our work? Can I talk to the builders now? Do I have to be the one to talk to them? In the next article in this section, we will probably describe the entire process that still needs to be done until the first stone is laid. Until then, good projects to all! #MiguelÁvila

The planet where we live takes about 365 days to complete a complete revolution around the sun. In turn, during 24 hours, the same Planet makes a complete rotation around itself. A normal working schedule in Portugal is around 7 to 8 hours a day, normally making up the 35 to 40 hours a week that we spend in our work. In fact, time is something immutable and that transcends any barrier that we can imagine or fight. As much as we look for time for something, “looking for time for” will always be an act of managing what we have available, and never an addition to what we need! This applies to all our daily activity, whether in the development of our personal or professional routines. After all, we always walk around these two weights in a kind of scale and hourglass at the same time! To what extent is this time management (or lack thereof) jeopardizing the quality of the services we provide on a daily basis? The competitiveness of the labor market has transformed companies, and in this case their professionals, into true machines of “knowing how to do everything” and as if it were not enough “with deadlines to meet yesterday”. It is very important and above all gratifying that there is work, that is, that the demand for services is on the rise. After all, it is this demand that drives companies and gives jobs to the thousands of young people (and not only) who yearn for their opportunity every year. However, to what extent is this scenario leading companies and independent professionals to compromise the quality of their services due to this increase in demand? Will the professionals be able to reject some billing (work), so as not to compromise their quality of service? Are customers aware that their pressure for shorter deadlines can often compromise service quality? Will they have this knowledge to understand if this "cheap" price and in a short space of time is due to this decrease in quality? It was based on these 3 concepts, Quantity, Billing and Quality that I gave the title to this article, which I think define a cycle that increasingly corresponds to the reality in which many companies and professionals live. A cycle with two very different sides of the same coin, in which on one side is a poorly served customer, and on the opposite side a professional earning money! To what extent is a professional able to know their responsiveness and have the humility to say “I can’t accept this job in the time frame you ask me!” instead of saying yes to everything and continuing to automate and lower the quality of your service? And will the client (private or private) have the dexterity to evaluate several proposals (it is very important to have a comparison term) and understand which one guarantees a realistic deadline according to the quality you want? The fact that I work in the Project area and write this article on a Blog called #SaberProjeto, gives the idea that I only refer to this professional area. It really is easier and even timely to talk about this subject when it happens in my professional area. However, if we think about it, how many times have we heard that such a very good restaurant on that precise day that it was “at the bar” the food came raw or took almost 2 hours to be served, or that great concert that turned out to be a disappointment because I couldn't move and got bumped all the time? Technicians must know its structure, technical capacity and responsiveness! They cannot be carried away by this capitalist way of managing, whose objective is often solely and exclusively to make a profit. With this article, I want to make you aware that it is important to stop this vicious cycle that I have just described. Both professionals and clients, although the latter have less knowledge to do so, have in their hands the power to stop this not-so-great future for the quality of services provided in the most diverse areas. The worker must have enough pride in just accepting jobs, whose deadlines allow him to guarantee the quality that the client believes he is paying for! The client needs to be more informed and sensitized. Ask for several proposals for analysis and above all realize that deadlines and prices often differ from proposal to proposal, because the quality of the service will also be different! In both cases, both the worker and the client must value the great factor that was presented at the beginning of this text. The time. This one doesn't "stretch" as the slang says. Time exists and must be managed in the best way to achieve certain goals! Time is one of the vertices of the triangle that I have already presented in this Blog, which together with quality and cost define a result of a particular service. As a final note, I would like to leave the following sentence in the air for reflection: Investing in the quality of a service provided and in our performance is a very solidary way of investing in the world we live in! Good projects to all! #Miguel Avila

Looking around us, in the same country, region, city or even in the same street, we can highlight robust buildings or works of art, others more elegant with different materials and shapes that characterize an era, a generation or simply a special idea of an architect. All buildings need sustenance, that is, they need to be based on a certain support and resist all the forces that interact with it. In addition to sustenance, it is necessary that all the parts that make up the Building (floor, walls and ceilings) also manage to be properly connected with each other in order to give the desired shape and appearance. In short, we can see all Buildings or Bridges as the Human Body, which needs a good and healthy skeleton to live, with the difference that living in buildings most of the time is being properly “still”. As Newton's 3rd Law tells us, for every action (Force) we have a reaction (Another force with opposite direction and of equal intensity). The first objective when it comes to Structural Engineering applied to Buildings is that the result of all these forces that interact in your body is null, and so we have our Structure balanced and safe. This would all be so simple, if we only had the weight of the materials that make up the Building together with the number of people who inhabit or carry a certain fraction. However, it is not that simple... Each structural element of a building can be subject to a wide variety of external forces and pressures that tend to unbalance our structure. I'm talking about earthquakes, wind, rain pressure in the case of retaining walls, the actual expansion of materials due to thermal amplitude, among others. The connection between all the elements of the structure is also very important to guarantee the proper functioning of the structure and the safety of all of us. This short explanation is aimed at the common citizen, who, being a layman in the matter, often ends up, due to lack of knowledge and due advice, for underestimating the importance and potential that a structural project has in the life of a Building. The design of the structures must be very well thought out and analyzed, as it will be based on their solutions that the Building will have such a functional balance, avoiding unpleasant surprises over the years for its users. After all, we want a building to last a lifetime, as they say! In future articles, we will address other issues related to the design of structures, which are also important, such as the structural elements that constitute a building, the constitution of the structure design itself, the way in which it can influence the total costs of the construction, the What to expect when you hire your project, the way in which it should be compatible with the other elements of the Building, among others. Good projects to all! #Miguel Avila

Little by little, we are hearing more and more about the terms “Thermal Behavior of Buildings” or “Energy Certification”. But what are these concepts all about? One more thing that the State invented for us to pay, or one more thing to make my work more expensive? These are the conversations that I hear when contacting the owners or future owners of buildings who are obliged to certify their home or to make a pre-certificate in the act of licensing their construction work. I will try to approach this topic in a succinct and practical way so that everyone can understand what it consists of and who knows even believe in the added value of having a more energy efficient home. We can look at our home or workplace as an organism in constant energetic exchange with the outside. Let's imagine our body. If it's too cold, our body will feel the need to warm up and for that reason it will somehow try to make the most of the energy we have to stay warm, at the same time avoiding at all costs that this energy is expelled to the outside. Now imagine in the summer with high temperatures, when the body needs to cool down and then we start to see it releasing all its heat to the outside through our sweat. The human body has its own thermal balance, and for us to be able to be well according to the environment in which we are exposed, some of our organs are forced to work in order to guarantee the ideal temperature for our survival. Now let's think about a Building... When we are in winter, with low and unpleasant temperatures, the normal thing is to look for some thermal comfort inside our home or place of work, right? How do we do it? Let's turn on the heaters so that they heat up and make the environment pleasant that allows us to be comfortable without having to be loaded with clothes. This season is called the heating season, as at this time buildings need to heat up to provide the necessary thermal comfort to be inhabited. Now let's think about what happens in the summer. High temperatures and that feeling of hot breath that makes us sweat and breathe with some difficulty... What do we do if we can? Air conditioning on, fans and windows open! Everything that gives me that fresh feeling whether to work, sleep or even relax on the couch. The crucial idea that we need to understand here is that just as our body needs to expend energy to maintain the ideal temperature of our organism and keep us alive, the current buildings of developed societies also expend a lot of energy to maintain the temperature of the environment. your environment in perfect conditions for us. This largely electrical energy is responsible for about 40% of total energy consumption in Europe. Can you imagine the amount of CO2 that is released into the atmosphere just to keep us comfortable? Did you think it was just the car, the plane or the chimney at the Factory to blame for this? We have some commitment to make here, as we are the energy managers of our own home and often even our workplace and we often have the power to decide at the project stage for more or less energy efficient solutions that will the difference in the future. It was in this sense that the need arose to make spaces, in this case, buildings more energy efficient. The main idea is to avoid waste both in summer (cooling season) and winter (heating season). The first major concern to avoid waste in both stations is to thermally insulate our comfort space. By thermally insulating the walls, ceilings and windows of buildings, we are guaranteeing that the temperature generated inside them will not change so easily. Basically, we are fighting the normal functioning of thermodynamics, which is always looking for thermal balance, that is, if in winter it is warmer inside the house, the heat will try to go outside. On the contrary, if in the summer the interior is cooler than the exterior, the heat from outside will want to enter and increase the temperature. What Engineering has sought to optimize in buildings in terms of energy efficiency is to ensure, among other things, that these exchanges between the interior and the exterior are reduced as much as possible, maintaining the ideal interior temperature for our comfort. This optimization is achieved through the adoption of more efficient construction systems and materials with insulating characteristics throughout the house's surroundings that separate the interior environment from the exterior. There are other parameters to be optimized that will also make all the difference in the overall behavior of the building, however this will be the subject of a future article. In this article I tried to explain in a succinct and simple way what this is about the thermal behavior of the building, not addressing the Energy Certification itself. This Certification, which aims to assess the energy efficiency of the building, involves other parameters such as indoor air quality, the type of energy used to heat and cool the environment and sanitary water, among other things. All of this will also be addressed in future articles, however I thought it was important to explain first the basic concept of this topic, as this makes it clearer what is currently intended for buildings in terms of thermal behavior which will therefore give them a good performance and efficiency. in energy terms. Good projects to all! #Miguel Avila

I'm starting to lose count of the number of times I hear some people refer to building a house as something time-consuming, boring, complicated and complex. Deep down, they imagine a big headache and that they need a big act of courage to get into an adventure (we'll call it Project from now on) of this nature. The decision to build a house should not be taken lightly, nor should it be taken lightly, in the same way that we decide to take a vacation or buy a car. The construction of a house is indeed a big Project and requires the proper definition of all the steps that I discussed in a succinct and relaxed way in the previous article on the Lay Vision of a Project. But let's not think it's an impossible task and only for those looking for a hassle and headache. None of that! The lack of knowledge in this matter and the disorganization of our ideas (completely normal), the fact that we often want to assume all responsibilities and the normal human complacency, may explain this unusual fear in making the house of our Dreams. Note that it is not being discussed here whether it is better to buy or have it made. That's not the point! What I want to reinforce is that with the proper advice and hiring the right technicians, it is possible to develop a Project that will remove most of these headaches associated with those who build a house from scratch. In the best case scenario, you can even hire a project manager to provide you with a turnkey solution with due logistical and technical support. In addition to the help and hiring the appropriate technicians, your knowledge, even if more superficial, as well as the proper organization of your ideas can help immensely to face this challenge. As I said before, the purpose of this Blog is also to help people with no knowledge in the matter, in their decision making about the various topics related to the possible projects that they may have to promote or embrace. Why not start with the exciting project for the construction of a single-family house? This is without a doubt a challenging project for any developer, which in this case, could be any of us who decides to effectively build their house from scratch according to their personal taste and resources. As a rubric, I will try to sequentially describe some of the most important steps when building your home. I will try to use the logic of the Project that I presented to you, and which is explained in the cover image of this page, which ranges from Idea, Planning, Execution and Control. In this first section, of course, we are going to talk about the definition of your idea. In my view, and it is important to underline this, as this is my view of what the first decisions to make should be, I suggest the following questions when we think about which house we want to build: How many rooms do I want? Want to have a large backyard or make the most of the covered area? A big, comfortable room or something more modest and cozy? Will my master bedroom be a suite with a bathroom and a spacious dressing area or will it be a simple bedroom like the rest of the house? Do I want a large kitchen with a dining room or something smaller with a dining area in the same space? How many bathrooms do I want to have? Do I want a house with two floors, or do I want everything on the ground floor? Do I want a garage and storage room or is it unnecessary? Of course, all these issues may be conditioned by the fact that you already have a plot of land where you will build, but let's imagine that you don't have anything, and that your project also includes the acquisition of the land. These types of questions are irrevocably useful to help us define something very important in our project, if not the fundamental piece, which is Cost. If you remember, cost is one of the basic objectives of any project. After defining some of these issues, the next step will be to define the quality of the materials that we intend to apply in the construction of our house. This is undoubtedly one of the factors of great influence on the cost of our house, in addition to its size of course. As an example, and to have a little idea, imagine a mosaic of 10 €/m2 and another one of 50 €/m2. If we imagine a bathroom with 8 m2, we will spend €80 on the first and €400 on the second. And we're just talking about a bathroom floor! This logic applies to every room in the house and to all its materials, from crockery and sanitaryware, tiles, carpentry, exterior and interior coverings, false ceilings, equipment, etc... So far, in summary, let's define two important actions: Define the program: Answer the questions I indicated, defining the type and amount of spaces I want to have in my house. Define quality: This action is arguably more difficult than the first one. In practice, nobody wants to apply only and exclusively low-end materials in their home. However, it is not to be expected that whoever builds their house will have to use the most expensive materials on the market. The challenge here is to find a balance between the quality and price of the material that guarantees the durability and guarantee we want for a given space. It is also very usual to proceed with the selection of materials by spaces, preferring to apply something more expensive in our dream kitchen, because it is a space that we personally like more while that office, bedroom or bathroom is accepted something cheaper. All these ways of thinking are valid and vary from person to person. But undoubtedly these are issues that must be considered at this stage of designing the project. So far we have addressed some key questions that help us to define two basic objectives that should be part of the idealization of any project. Cost and Quality! Do you still remember the other vertex of the triangle that I covered in the chapter on the Project? I'm talking about the third basic objective of any project. the deadline. Without wanting to go too far into a more technical aspect of project definition, it is normal that key objectives are defined in larger projects. For example when it comes to building a hotel to be launched in the year of the Olympic Games or creating a product to be launched in the next autumn season, the deadline will probably be seen as a key objective of this project, and therefore it will be acceptable and even It is expected that more will be spent to obtain and respect this deadline, but above all it will be very important that all definition and planning take into account respect for the project deadline. The same no longer applies to projects whose main nature is, for example, to obtain the lowest possible cost, for example when dealing with social housing projects or whose funding sources are very limited. Here the entire project management will be aimed in this direction. Returning again to the topic of our heading, all this served to explain that in fact the deadline is usually the least important objective when building our house, with rare exceptions of course. That is, it is not customary for a person to accept paying more or lowering the quality of their home in order to get it built in a shorter period of time. After all, we are talking about our home that will serve for the rest of our lives! In no way do I want to convey the message that the construction of your house could take years, and that the important thing is to be well done and at the expected cost. Far from it! The idea here is to try to describe how this objective is treated according to our reality. Unlike projects of another nature and complexity, the construction project of a house does not usually have the habit of defining compliance with a certain deadline as a key objective. What usually happens is, at the time of contracting, the client reaches an agreement with the designers and later with the builder about a deadline that is to the client's liking, but which at the same time is possible to meet. That is, realistic deadlines must be defined and contracted without being dependent on several “ifs”. At this stage of defining your idea, what I think is important to keep in mind from a deadline point of view is really whether this is a key objective or not. At this stage, just try to define a long term for yourselves, answering, for example, the question “When would I like to have the house ready?”, this just to have a preconceived idea when you decide to go ahead with the Project. When you move on to the next phase, where the hiring and decisions of who will manage, plan, coordinate and execute your project begin, you will obtain more information about it that will allow you to detail and define this objective in a more approximate way. After having defined these objectives, the concern will be to ensure that quality and cost are met, even if in the meantime there may be some delays, both in the design phase and in the construction phase. The great challenge is that the Planning is so rigorous and detailed that it really allows that these objectives in the execution phase do not suffer many deviations. However, it is important not to forget that a project is often a dynamic and sequential process, and that normally, in order to obtain the desired satisfaction in our key objectives, we may have to change other objectives, as in this case the deadline due to unexpected situations that were not properly foreseen. The general rule, or rather what I believe, is that when we have the desired quality and cost in mind, and we do the proper planning and control of the execution in this sense, the realistic deadline that was defined is usually not a problem. But be careful, (because it is very common to happen), if there is no proper planning, everything can go wrong, from quality, costs and even what would be less important, the deadline. Believe that everything is interconnected, and that is why managing a Project is not an easy task, and we must place this trust in duly qualified technicians and we must not, as I said in the previous article, devalue the importance and influence of the Project with all its steps and elements. So far, we've seen (from my point of view) how to define the triangle of our basic goals! These questions are usually the ones we should ask at a very early stage, when we are in reflection with our family or spouse with whom we will share this challenge. These are the first steps, when everything is still just a dream or a wish, but due to their influence and importance in what will be the Plan and therefore the expected Result, they must be seen as tasks of a fundamental stage that sustains the entire Project! In the next section, we will enter that phase in which we effectively gained the courage to go ahead with our dream and embrace the Our House Construction Project. Let's be the Promoters of a Project of great importance and complexity! Who will I hire? What logistics to deal with first? Do I have to coordinate and take on all the responsibilities and hassles? I will try to answer these and other questions in the next section “Housing Project”. Until then, Good Projects to all! #MiguelÁvila

Olhando à nossa volta, conseguimos no mesmo País, Região, Cidade ou até na mesma Rua destacar edifícios ou obras de arte robustas, outras mais elegantes com diversos materiais e formas que caracterizam uma época, uma geração ou simplesmente uma ideia especial de um arquiteto. Todos os edifícios necessitam de sustento, isto é, precisam de estar assentes num determinado suporte e resistir a todas as forças que nele interagem. Para além do sustento, é necessário que todas as peças que perfazem o Edifício (Chão, paredes e tetos) consigam também estar devidamente ligadas entre si com o objetivo de dar a forma e o aspeto pretendido. Em suma, podemos ver todos os Edifícios ou Pontes como o Corpo Humano, que precisa de um esqueleto bom e saudável para viver, com a diferença que o viver nos edifícios na maior parte das vezes é estar devidamente “paradinho”. Como a 3ª Lei de Newton nos indica, para cada ação (Força) temos uma reação (Outra força com direção oposta e de igual intensidade). O primeiro objetivo no que toca à Engenharia Estrutural aplicada aos Edifícios é que a resultante de todas estas forças que interagem no seu corpo seja nula, e assim termos a nossa Estrutura equilibrada e em segurança. Isto seria tudo tão simples, se apenas contássemos com o peso próprio dos materiais que perfazem o Edifício juntamente com o número de pessoas que habitam ou carregam uma determinada fração. Contudo não é assim tão simples… Cada elemento estrutural de um Edifício pode estar sujeito a uma grande variedade de forças e pressões exteriores que tendem a desequilibrar a nossa estrutura. Estou a falar dos sismos, do vento, da pressão da chuva no caso de muros de suporte, a própria dilatação dos materiais devido à amplitude térmica, entre outras. A ligação entre todos os elementos da estrutura é também muito importante para garantir o bom funcionamento da mesma e a segurança de todos nós. Esta pequena explicação é direcionada para o cidadão comum, que sendo um leigo na matéria, acaba muitas vezes, devido à falta de conhecimento e o devido aconselhamento, por menosprezar a importância e o potencial que um projeto de estruturas tem na vida de um Edifício. O projeto das estruturas deve ser algo muito bem pensado e analisado, pois será com base nas suas soluções que o Edifício irá ter o tal equilíbrio funcional, evitando surpresas desagradáveis ao longo dos anos para os seus utilizadores. Afinal queremos que uma construção dure para toda a vida, como se costuma dizer! Em futuros artigos, abordaremos outros temas relacionados com o projeto de estruturas, também eles importantes, como por exemplo os elementos estruturais que constituem um edifício, a constituição do próprio projeto de estruturas, a forma como este pode influenciar os custos totais da construção, o que esperar quando contrata o seu projeto, a forma como este se deve compatibilizar com os restantes elementos do Edifício, entre outros. Bons Projetos a todos! #Miguel Ávila

Aos poucos vamos ouvindo cada vez mais falar dos termos “Comportamento Térmico dos Edifícios” ou “Certificação Energética”. Mas afinal do que se tratam estes conceitos? Mais uma coisa que o Estado inventou para nós pagarmos, ou mais uma coisa para encarecer a minha obra? São estas as conversas que vou ouvindo durante o contacto com os proprietários ou futuros proprietários de Edifícios que se veem obrigados a Certificar a sua casa ou a fazer um pré-certificado no ato de licenciamento da sua obra de construção. Vou tentar abordar este tema de forma sucinta e prática para que todos consigam perceber no que consiste e quem sabe até acreditarem na mais-valia que é ter uma casa energeticamente mais eficiente. Podemos olhar para a nossa casa ou local de trabalho como um organismo em constante troca energética com o exterior. Vamos imaginar o nosso corpo. Se está muito frio, o nosso corpo vai sentir necessidade de se aquecer e por essa razão de alguma forma vai tentar aproveitar ao máximo a energia que temos para se manter quente, ao mesmo tempo evitando a todo o custo que esta energia seja expulsa para o exterior. Agora imaginem no Verão a grandes temperaturas, em que o corpo necessita de se arrefecer e então começamos a ver este a libertar todo o seu calor para o exterior através do nosso suor. O corpo humano tem o seu próprio equilíbrio térmico, e para que nós possamos estar bem conforme o ambiente em que nos expomos, alguns dos nossos órgãos são obrigados a trabalhar de forma a garantirem a temperatura ideal para a nossa sobrevivência. Agora vamos pensar num Edifício… Quando estamos no Inverno, com temperaturas baixas e desagradáveis, o normal é procurarmos algum conforto térmico dentro da nossa casa ou local de trabalho, certo? Como fazemos isso? Vamos ligar os aquecedores para que estes aqueçam e tornem o ambiente agradável que nos permita estar confortáveis sem ter de estar carregados de roupa. Esta época é chamada de estação de aquecimento, pois nesta altura os edifícios têm a necessidade de se aquecer para conceberem o conforto térmico necessário para serem habitados. Agora vamos pensar no que acontece no Verão. Temperaturas altas e aquela sensação de bafo quente que nos põe a suar e a respirar com alguma dificuldade… O que é que nós fazemos se pudermos? Ar condicionado ligado, ventoinhas e janelas abertas! Tudo o que me dê aquela sensação de fresquinho seja para trabalhar, dormir ou até mesmo relaxar no sofá. A ideia crucial que é preciso entender aqui é que tal como o nosso corpo tem a necessidade de gastar energia para manter a temperatura ideal do nosso organismo e nos manter vivos, os edifícios atuais das sociedades desenvolvidas, também gastam imensa energia para manter a temperatura do seu ambiente em condições perfeitas para nós. Essa energia em grande parte elétrica, é responsável por cerca de 40% dos consumos totais de energia na Europa. Já imaginaram a quantidade de CO2 que é libertada para a atmosfera só para nos manter confortáveis? Pensavam que eram só o carro, o avião ou a chaminé lá da Fábrica os culpados disto? Temos aqui algum compromisso a assumir, pois somos nós os gestores energéticos da nossa própria casa e muitas vezes até do nosso local de trabalho e muitas vezes temos o poder de decidir em fase de projeto por soluções mais ou menos eficientes em termos energéticos que farão toda a diferença no futuro. Foi neste sentido que surgiu a necessidade de tornar os espaços, neste caso, os edifícios energeticamente mais eficientes. A ideia principal passa por evitar desperdícios tanto no Verão (Estação de arrefecimento) como no Inverno (Estação de aquecimento). A primeira grande preocupação para conseguir evitar os desperdícios em ambas as estações é isolar termicamente o nosso espaço de conforto. Ao isolarmos termicamente as paredes, tectos e janelas dos Edifícios, estamos a garantir que a temperatura que for gerada no seu interior não se vai alterar tão facilmente. No fundo estamos a combater o normal funcionamento da termodinâmica que está sempre à procura do equilíbrio térmico, isto é, se no Inverno está mais quente dentro de casa, o calor vai procurar sair para o exterior. Pelo contrário se no Verão o interior está mais fresco do que no exterior, o calor do exterior vai querer entrar e fazer aumentar a temperatura. O que a Engenharia tem procurado otimizar nos edifícios em termos de eficiência energética, é fazer, entre outras coisas, com que estas trocas entre o interior e o exterior sejam reduzidas ao máximo, mantendo a temperatura interior ideal para o nosso conforto. Esta otimização é conseguida através da adoção de sistemas construtivos mais eficientes e materiais com características isolantes em toda a envolvente da casa que separa o ambiente interior do exterior. Existem outros parâmetros a ser otimizados que irão fazer toda a diferença também no comportamento global do edifício, contudo será matéria para um próximo artigo. Neste artigo procurei explicar de forma sucinta e simples o que é isto do comportamento térmico do edifício, não abordando ainda a própria Certificação Energética. Esta Certificação que visa avaliar a eficiência energética do edifício envolve outros parâmetros como a qualidade do ar interior, o tipo de energia utilizada para aquecer e arrefecer o ambiente e as águas sanitárias, entre outras coisas. Tudo isto será também abordado em futuros artigos, contudo achei importante explicar em primeiro lugar o conceito base deste tema, pois desta forma torna mais claro o que se pretende atualmente dos edifícios em termos de comportamento térmico que por conseguinte o dará um bom desempenho e eficiência em termos energéticos. Bons Projetos a todos! #Miguel Ávila

O Planeta onde vivemos demora cerca de 365 dias a completar uma volta completa ao redor do sol. Por sua vez durante 24 horas, o mesmo Planeta efetua uma rotação completa ao redor de si próprio. Um horário normal de trabalho em Portugal ronda as 7 a 8 horas diárias, perfazendo normalmente as 35 a 40 horas semanais que dispensamos no nosso trabalho.