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- Práticas da sociedade portuguesa e reabilitação sustentável do parque edificado residencialPublication . Abreu, Maria Isabel; Lopes, Jorge; Oliveira, RuiA mudança nas atitudes e práticas dos utilizadores dos edifícios existentes face à sustentabilidade e à eficiência energética é uma das estratégias fundamentais para a passagem a uma sociedade de baixo carbono. Um dos desafios é motivar os proprietários a reabilitar os seus edifícios no sentido de adotarem soluções sustentáveis e reduzirem os seus gastos energéticos. Estudos recentes têm apontado para a importância do contexto social onde se insere o proprietário que, em muitos casos, sobrepõe-se às campanhas de sensibilização públicas e até ao aconselhamento técnico. Outros estudos revelaram que as estratégias de motivação têm que olhar o proprietário do edifício de forma personalizada. A decisão de reabilitar parece emergir das aspirações pessoais, dos estilos de vida dos indivíduos e das condições e práticas sociais do dia a dia e não exclusivamente da análise simples de retorno do investimento ou da sensibilidade ambiental. Este estudo pretende trazer para a discussão a dimensão social e cultural da reabilitação sustentável dos edifícios residenciais em Portugal, explorando o papel das rotinas e práticas domésticas e identificando fatores-chave que possam influenciar a tomada de decisão. Primeiramente, foi realizado um conjunto de entrevistas a um grupo de profissionais ligados a esta área. Seguidamente, com base nas entrevistas, inquiriu-se um grupo de proprietários de edifícios residenciais portugueses. Os resultados revelaram que a comunicação dentro da rede social onde os proprietários portugueses inquiridos estão inseridos, bem como os estilos de vida e as práticas diárias da vida doméstica, têm uma influência central na formação inicial de intenções de renovação de partes de um edifício. A decisão é um processo negociado ao nível familiar e emerge da combinação de algumas condições da vida doméstica com fatores pessoais e contextuais. Não é um evento único, mas insere-se na prática do “ir renovando”. As reabilitações energeticamente eficientes de edifícios acontecem, em muitos casos, em consequência da decisão de reabilitar por outros motivos já estar tomada. É importante abordá-las como qualquer outro tipo de reabilitação, sem torná-las excecionais ou à parte das outras. Por conseguinte, é fundamental introduzir a ciência social para compreender comportamentos, práticas e rotinas sociais e culturais dos proprietários, no sentido de definir as melhores políticas de motivação para a reabilitação dos edifícios residenciais.
- Energy-related housing renovations from an everyday life perspective: learning from portuguese homeownersPublication . Abreu, Maria Isabel; Oliveira, Rui; Lopes, JorgeChanging the attitudes of existing building users towards sustainability is a paramount strategy towards a low-carbon society. One of the challenges lies in encouraging owners to renovate their houses. Recent studies have pointed out the relevance of the homeowner’s social context which, more often than not, outstrips public awareness campaigns and even techno-economic advice. The decision to renovate seems to emerge from deep social issues rather than exclusively from the simple analysis of investment return or environmental awareness. The present study aims to bring discussion to these social subjects for single-family buildings in Portugal and identify key factors which may influence decision making. Firstly, a set of in-depth interviews were conducted with a group of experts. Subsequently, and based on the interviews, a group of Portuguese single-family homeowners, who undertook at least one energyrelated piece of work, were surveyed. Together with the survey a structured observation method was put into practice. The results revealed that homeowner’s stage of life, personal/family events, everyday practices, lifestyles and social network framework have a major influence on their prime intention to renovate their homes. The desire to maintain or change the routines and the way family uses the indoor spaces are common drivers, however, motivations linked to aesthetics, trends and social status were revealed to be extremely influencing. The decision process is negotiated inside the family involving not only desired domestic life conditions but also skills, understandings and social values shared by the dwellers. The energy-related renovations take place, in many cases, as a consequence of a previous decision to renovate, taken due to other reasons. It does not consist of one single event but is rather part of a practice of a “little-by-little renovation”. Motivational policies should be drawn considering the energy-related renovations as any other type of renovation and not separately from the others.
- Is there a causal relationship between construction activity and the portuguese economy? An econometric empirical applicationPublication . Nunes, Alcina; Lopes, Jorge; Balsa, CarlosIt has long been recognised that the role of the construction industry in a country’s national economy goes beyond its share in national output. Existing paradigms on the structural change of the construction industry as national economy develops over time have been evolving from an approach that stresses the role of construction investment (indeed physical capital) as an engine of economic growth to one where the pattern of the evolution of the industry should follow that of the general economy. Using time–series data drawn from the United Nations national accounts databases, this study applies an econometric methodology to assess the validity of the underlying propositions in Portugal. With the availability of long and reliable time-series data and the development of econometric methodology related to the study of economic relationships between variables a new set of studies has emerged. Indeed, making use of the most recent innovations in the literature of unit root tests, this paper uses the Granger causality methodology to investigate the relationship between construction activity, measured by the construction value added, and the Portuguese aggregate economy measured by its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The issues of concern here are whether the construction sector and the aggregate economy are interdependent and whether construction activity contributes to economic growth and/or economic growth contributes to the dynamics of the construction industry activity. This kind of economic research has not been applied, until now, in Portugal. However, the results could be of particular importance for policy makers and economic agents since they might affect not only all macroeconomic policy but also the management activities at a microeconomic level. The results have shown that there is, in the short and medium-run, a uni-directional relationship between GDP and construction output in Portugal. On the other hand, the results do not show any significant effect of the construction growth on the GDP growth, at least in the short and medium run.
- Characterisation of the portuguese R&M construction market: a special focus on heritage buildingsPublication . Oliveira, Rui; Sousa, Hipólito; Lopes, JorgeThe rehabilitation of heritage buildings is an important aspect in the safeguard and upgrading of the local environment, and contributes to the diversification of suppy in the property market. However, the contribution of the R&M segment to the total construction markek in Portugal is almost insignificant when compared to the other countries of the European Union. This study is part of a wider research project that investigates the different technological aspects of intervention in heritage buildings and their contribution to the development of the local property market. The data and information used in this study stem from Euroconstruct Report, and from a case study consisting of 57 heritage projects submitted to the government department responsible for the approval and listing of these buildings. Preliminary result show that the technology used in heritage buildings is similar to that adopted in new buildings, which seems to be incosistent with a conservation technique that safeguard the built heritage. This study also shows that policy measures to enhance the R&M market have been recently implemented. However, other initiatives are needed, including a clarification of the role of different actors, in order to tackle the constarints and specifics of the R&M market.
- Analysis of the causal relation between construction activity and the gross domestic product of two neighbouring economies : Portugal and SpainPublication . Nunes, Alcina; Lopes, Jorge; Balsa, CarlosIt has long been recognised that the role of the construction industry in a country’s national economy goes beyond its share in national output. Using time–series data drawn from the United Nations national accounts databases, this study applies the econometric Granger causality methodology to investigate the relationship between construction activity, measured by the construction value added, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of two neighbouring economies – Portugal and Spain. In a comparison basis, the paper intends to identify the existence of a causal relation between the construction sector and each one of the aggregate economies. In particular, it tries to verify if the construction activity contributes to economic growth and/or economic growth contributes to the dynamics of the construction industry activity in these two countries. For both countries is find evidence that GDP growth leads the growth in the construction sector, in the short and medium-run. The opposite is not observed.
- Is there a causal relation between construction activity and the Portuguese economy? An econometric empirical applicationPublication . Nunes, Alcina; Lopes, Jorge; Balsa, CarlosIt has long been recognised that the role of the construction industry in a country’s national economy goes beyond its share in national output. Existing paradigms on the structural change of the construction industry as national economy develops over time have been evolving from an approach that stresses the role of construction investment (indeed physical capital) as an engine of economic growth to one where the pattern of the evolution of the industry should follow that of the general economy. Using time–series data drawn from the United Nations national accounts databases, this study applies an econometric methodology to assess the validity of the underlying propositions in a high-income economy - Portugal - over the long period of 38 years. With the availability of long and reliable time-series data and the development of econometric methodology related to the study of economic relationships between variables a new set of studies has emerged. Indeed, making use of the most recent innovations in the literature of unit root tests, this paper uses the Granger causality methodology to investigate the relationship between construction activity, measured by the construction value added, and the Portuguese aggregate economy measured by its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The issues of concern here are whether the construction sector and the aggregate economy are interdependent and whether construction activity contributes to economic growth and/or economic growth contributes to the dynamics of the construction industry activity. This kind of economic research has not been applied, until now, in Portugal. However, the results could be of particular importance for policy makers and economic agents since they might affect not only all macroeconomic policy but also the management activities at a microeconomic level. The results have shown that there is, in the short and medium-run, a uni-directional relationship between GDP and construction output in Portugal. On the other hand, the results do not show any significant effect of the construction growth on the GDP growth, at least in the short and medium run.
- Práticas da sociedade portuguesa e reabilitação sustentável do parque edificado residencialPublication . Abreu, Maria Isabel; Lopes, Jorge; Oliveira, RuiA mudança nas atitudes e práticas dos utilizadores dos edifícios existentes face à sustentabilidade e à eficiência energética é uma das estratégias fundamentais para a passagem a uma sociedade de baixo carbono. Um dos desafios é motivar os proprietários a reabilitar os seus edifícios no sentido de adotarem soluções sustentáveis e reduzirem os seus gastos energéticos. Estudos recentes têm apontado para a importância da rede social onde se insere o proprietário/utilizador que, em muitos casos, sobrepõe-se às campanhas de sensibilização públicas e até ao aconselhamento técnico. Outros estudos revelaram que as estratégias de motivação têm que olhar o proprietário/utilizador dos edifícios de forma individualizada e como um consumidor. Em muitos países europeus, a decisão de reabilitar parece emergir das aspirações pessoais, dos estilos de vida dos indivíduos e das condições e práticas sociais do dia-a-dia e não exclusivamente da análise simples de retorno do investimento ou da sensibilidade ambiental. Este estudo pretende trazer para a discussão a dimensão social e cultural da reabilitação sustentável dos edifícios residenciais em Portugal, explorando o papel da comunicação e da informação no seio da rede social do proprietário e as suas rotinas e práticas sociais, identificando fatores-chave que influenciam a tomada de decisão para a reabilitação sustentável. Primeiramente, foi realizado um conjunto de entrevistas a um grupo de especialistas ligados a esta área. Seguidamente, com base nas entrevistas, inquiriu-se um grupo de proprietários/utilizadores de edifícios residenciais portugueses que efetivaram ações de reabilitação sustentável e enérgica. Os resultados revelam que a comunicação dentro da rede social onde os proprietários/utilizadores portugueses inquiridos estão inseridos, bem como os estilos de vida e as práticas diárias da vida doméstica, têm uma influência crucial no processo de decisão. A decisão é negociada ao nível familiar e baseia-se numa combinação de fatores pessoais e contextuais. Argumentos exclusivamente ligados à poupança energética e ao retorno do investimento têm uma ação limitada na decisão. Há que trabalhar com os diferentes perfis de proprietário/utilizador e com o seu contexto social e cultural. Implementar políticas a nível local também é importante. Redes sociais de informação e plataformas de aconselhamento assentes na proximidade com o cidadão precisam de estar ao alcance fácil dos proprietários/utilizadores dos edifícios.