Urban climate and heritage buildings refubrishment: a case of study in the UNESCO protected area of Valparaíso, Chile

Heritage protection and refurbishment is very important for many cities across the world. Valparaíso, Chile, is a city with an important UNESCO protected area, that include many buildings declared national monument and a larger urban area denominated as "typical zone" for Valparaíso historical development among XVI and XX Century. In such area, Astoreca building locates, facing the Echaurren square and Serrano Street, and constituting a very significant building to be refurbished. On the other hand, Valparaíso metropolitan region, and the city center in particular, are suffering an increase in urban heat production and are getting more and more vulnerable to heat waves, a phenomenon that is increasing in all the central Chile, where the city locates. To be consistent with heritage protection and responsible with urban climate change management, new refurbishment methods should be investigated and applied. Bioclimatic architecture concepts can contribute to both heritage protection and urban climate control. Some specific strategy that can be applied are: ventilation patios and openings of building, green roofs, water management (e.g. for irrigation of squares around the building and provide evaporative cooling). This presentation shows the research work developed by the students of the local Master Course in “Sustainable Architecture Refurbishment” by using Envi-Met simulations to sustain projected interventions on the building, assuring increase in both indoor and outdoor comfort. The project was developed in the bigger framework of building retrofit and valorization as an heritage example of Chilean architecture of the beginning of XX Century.