Restoration, Water Harvesting, and Scenic Beautification: A Sustainable Model of Harmony in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico

Marcial Reyes Cazarez, and Rigoberto Tovar Aguilar

PatzcuaroInstitute of Technology, Avenida Tecnologico No. 1, Tzurumutaro, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, México

Abstract: In light of the current EU guidelines in the energy field, improving building envelope performance cannot be separated from the context of satisfying the environmental sustainability requirements, reducing the costs associated with the life cycle of the building as well as economic and financial feasibility. Therefore, identifying the “optimal” energy retrofit solutions requires the simultaneous assessment of several factors and thus becomes a problem of choice between several possible alternatives. To facilitate the work of the decision-makers, public or private, adequate decision support tools are of great importance. Starting from this need, a model based on the multi-criteria analysis “AHP” technique is proposed, along with the definition of three synthetic indices associated with the three requirements of “Energy Performance”, “Sustainability Performance” and “Cost”. From the weighted aggregation of the three indices, a global index of preference is obtained that allows to “quantify” the satisfaction level of the i-th alternative from the point of view of a particular group of decision-makers.

The model is then applied, by way of example, to the case-study of the energetic redevelopment of a former factory, assuming its functional conversion. Twenty possible alternative interventions on the opaque vertical closures, resulting from the combination of three thermal insulators families (synthetic, natural and mineral) with four energy retrofitting techniques are compared and the results obtained critically discussed by considering the point of view of the three different groups of decision-makers.

Key words: multi-criteria analysis, AHP, building envelope, energy retrofitting, sustainability