The First Laboratory focused on sustainable construction
In an article published in 2022, Hydro highlighted its partnership with the Federal University of Pará, which enabled the construction of the first laboratory in Pará focused on the development of sustainable construction materials and techniques. According to the publication, the investment in the construction was part of the company's technical and scientific cooperation agreement with UFPA. The construction of the LABTEC facilities involved an investment of approximately R$460,000 and took approximately seven months.
“Today, LABTEC has a laboratory infrastructure suitable for teaching Architecture and Civil Engineering, professional training and development of research activities. The core of LABTEC’s work is the training of human resources from the perspective of a construction with a smaller carbon footprint and energy efficiency, making optimal use of natural resources and seeking to use the waste generated from the inherent mining activity in the state. LABTEC integrates research associated with Embodied Energy (materials) and Operational Energy (thermoenergetic performance of the building), which will allow for a faster, more consistent and more complete response to the productive sector and society”, stated Professor Márcio Barata, coordinator of LABTEC.
“The projects that are part of the agreement with UFPA to carry out different lines of research are also a way to promote the sustainable development of the state. This laboratory is a pioneer in Pará and can contribute to the adoption of more sustainable construction methods in the region. It is a source of pride and satisfaction to support yet another successful initiative by UFPA,” says Marcelo Montini, senior chemical consultant at Hydro.
The agreement resulted in several publications, course completion papers, master's dissertations and doctoral theses completed and in progress, and there is a prospect of continuing the partnership between LabTEC and Hydro until 2024.
Belém 20|50°C
The city of Belém, located in the state of Pará, Brazil, has a hot and humid equatorial climate. In addition, it is subject to the influence of urban heat islands, global warming, and heat waves. In June 2023, a collaborative study conducted by CarbonPlan and The Washington Post warned that Belém was projected to become the second hottest city in the world by 2050. Belém serves as a representative city of the Amazon region and was chosen to host COP 30 (Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), the world's most significant international climate event, scheduled for November 2025.
In this context, Belém requires special attention from researchers and public policies to ensure the safety, health and quality of life of its population. Low-income communities are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, as they often do not have access to air conditioning systems, mainly due to the fact that Belém has the highest energy prices in Brazil. For this reason, Labtec is developing the Belém 20|50 ºC Project.
The first phase of the project (2020-2023) aimed to develop a new sustainable and climate-resilient Social Housing (HIS) model for Belém. To this end, the general objective was to create Sustainability Guidelines for the Municipal Social Housing Plan and project offices in the municipality. Through this objective, several research segments were addressed and transformed into course completion papers, scientific initiations, publications in international journals and congresses, among others.
The 2nd phase of the Project (starting in 2024) aims to diagnose, mitigate and adapt HIS to the current and future climate. To this end, mapping and proposing:
● A new HIS model;
● Climate diagnosis and solutions;
● Virtual and physical prototypes;
● Examples for COP 30;
● Hab.LabEEE Products, Master Plan, PMHIS, NBRs and INIs;
● Teaching, research and extension.
The Belém 20|50 °C project works in synergy with the Hab.LabEEE project of LabEEE -UFSC. Labtec-UFPA is the representative of the North region of Brazil in Hab.LabEEE. Hab.LabEEE is a project that aims to improve the quality of affordable housing in Brazil, seeking to understand how we can enhance the energy efficiency of housing and the environmental comfort of users, according to their realities.