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This study presents a state of the art and design proposal for membrane sunspaces, as alternative to conventional ones, in glass, commonly used in the functional refurbishment of old buildings. Sunspaces are passive solar systems that can be easily integrated in existing buildings. Enclosing balconies with glazing has an impact on existing building functional performance (useful area, thermal performance and acoustic improvement) and it may even postpone the renovation need of the intervened building. However, inevitably, many of old buildings are located in areas with access restrictions and other physical constraints on the movement of materials, components and equipment - that limits its construction and maintenance processes and thus demand for alternative solutions. Glass is being applied in all types of sunspaces, so architects and engineers take for granted that it has to be inevitably used. However, a major weakness of glass is its weight and cost, specially associated with installation complexity, framing systems and accessories needed. The fact that membrane requires less substructure, changes the architectural approach - giving more freedom to design options. Membrane construction technology and installation process could be a practical alternative to traditional construction methods for closing balconies in old buildings. For this research, a full-scale Membrane Alternative Sunspace prototype was implemented into an old building (taken as case study) to evaluate the real construction process aspects and compare it with the common glazed solutions. Results were examined from an environmental, economic and building technology's point of view - regarding production, construction and maintenance phases.

With the growing concern about material savings and climate change, it is important to analyse how membranes have been applied to constructions over time according to geographic location and type of use. There are many requirements associated with membrane building technologies and structures, though, currently, there is no membrane in the market that fully meets all requirements. In this way, the criteria to use architectural membranes must be weighted according to the intended application and location. Because of it, this research presents an overview on membrane constructions regarding their use and geographic related aspects, such as climate and risk vulnerability to natural disasters.

Climate change, natural hazards, and human actions are threatening cultural heritage in urban areas. More than ever, building regulations' procedures and criteria are essential to guarantee the protection and safeguarding of urban areas and their buildings. These procedures and criteria are crucial to assist stakeholders in decision-making, especially when facing rapid transitions and transformative changes in urban heritage areas. Several institutional stakeholders in charge of urban heritage protection strengthen the need for a better implementation of building regulations through flexible criteria to support intervention procedures in buildings with different features and in different contexts. Under this topic, the present study uses a twofold method. Firstly, the authors analyze and compare the urban and building regulations of three Southern European countries, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, concerning procedures and criteria directed to the built heritage; secondly, they highlight and compare the views of different institutional stakeholders from the same three countries, at different levels (national, regional, and municipal), to understand the impact of the implementation of the regulations on the ground. The findings show the relevance of the institutional stakeholders' views to improve the regulations and their practice. They highlight the need to promote inventory and cataloging procedures, as well as flexible criteria when dealing with urban heritage buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an integrated methodology for the assessment of inhabited built heritage, referred to as metodologia de avaliação de património edificado habitado (MAPEH), which emerges from the need to solve gaps resulting from the existence of fragmented studies that do not take into consideration the complex interaction of the different aspects involved in the interventions on built heritage. In particular, it incorporates a multidisciplinary analysis that combines three dimensions: patrimonial, technical, and social, which are associated with criteria such as identification of characteristics and values; assessment of safety and housing conditions; and recognition of residents' profile, expectations, and basic needs. The paper also presents the results of the application of MAPEH to a case study: the inhabited old residential buildings of Porto, Portugal, underlining the interaction and importance of the three dimensions and the need for flexible and proportional criteria in the application of building codes and legislation, offering new input for establishing better-oriented intervention procedures on built heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]