ECOLOGICAL HOUSE IN PORTUGAL

After my first intermediate examinations I was given the chance to plan and build a house in Portugal in the Algarve. It has been built entirely with limestone mortar and plaster.

It has been create a way that in winter you have passive solar gains and on the other hand uses cooler summer winds. As a result the temperature is never lower than 17 centigrade in winter and hardly ever higher than 28 centigrade in summer. No technical gadgets needed, just by orientation and ventilation.

In winter there are cold winds from the north-east. So houses are cooled down. When the wind changes and wind comes from the south-west, from the Atlantic, houses here become soaked with water. Therefore you can find fungi in almost all houses. No wonder so many people are complaining about sinusitis here in winter. Perhaps you have heard about the tradition of whitewashing houses at Easter. This is what it comes from. Important are therefore two layer walls with a ventilated gap, passive solar gains to keep the indoors temperature higher in order to drive the moisture out.