Aim: The research aimed at carrying out a global comparative synthesis of the results of monitoring thermal energy behavior of single-family dwellings and apartments located in the city of Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina; and describing an architectural proposal that considers use of resources (land, morphology, materials and energy), lifestyle of inhabitants (qualitative variables) and critical analysis of the historical problems of the housing deficit in Argentina. Methods: The work includes a typological analysis of clusters of dimensional, morphological and thermo-physical indicators, energy performance and inhabitant’s behavior. Regarding energy heating consumption, multifamily buildings consume 52% less energy than the average single-family dwellings. Results: An architectural proposal taken into account the use of resources and energy efficiency strategies to give an answer to the housing deficit of the area under study showed that the densification of housing provides significant energy and economic benefits, especially if one incorporates passive solar design principles. Apartment blocks (B) and single-family dwellings (H) show 114.3 and 47.6 dwelling/hectare, and as a result, 39.4 and 16.4 inhabitant/hectare. Conclusion: Heating energy saving of B in relation to H is around 32% and the envelope’s cost is reduced to 47%. Argentina’s energy scenario, the possibility of reviewing regulations and building codes, the region’s growth trend in housing construction, the process of building labelling, among others, require a thorough analysis of the information on characteristics of building stock and its energy performance.

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New materials are being developed for architectural and design purposes. The recycling of waste is presented as an opportunity for new applications based on increased industrial waste and raw material shortages. Seeking an alternative to wooden panels, regional waste without sustainable disposal is being used as inputs in the production of lignocellulosic panels. We present the results of two experiments. The first one consists in the development of peanut husks ground-treated and untreated panels made in order to determine the influence of different particle sizes, shapes and their combinations, aiming to the physical and mechanical characterization of compact panels properties. In the second experiment, compact panels with whole peanut husks were made with polyurethane resin using castor oil painting. The object of this study was to analyze the influence of this new resin, without formaldehyde emissions, in the resulting panels physical and mechanical properties. It was concluded that the smaller particles had a positive influence in the panels physical-mechanical properties, and that the property characterization of panels made with castor oil resin was satisfactory for use in interior furniture. Peanut husks panels show good prospects for their integration in the field of design and architecture.

En el presente trabajo se estudia el comportamiento térmico-energético de viviendas compactas entre medianeras implantadas en barrios residenciales de baja densidad en la ciudad de Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina (latitud: 36º27'S y longitud: 64º27'W). Los objetivos son evaluar la temperatura interior y las condiciones de confort en invierno a través del monitoreo experimental y analizar el consumo histórico de gas natural en calefacción. Los resultados muestran que las viviendas compactas entre medianeras tienen un 50% menos de consumo de gas natural que la vivienda social unifamiliar en la misma región en estudio. El panorama energético de Argentina, la posibilidad de revisar Normativas y Códigos de Edificación, la tendencia del crecimiento de la construcción de viviendas en la región en estudio, el proceso de etiquetado de la edificación, entre otros aspectos, ameritan un análisis de la información de las características del stock de las edificios y de su performance energética. La creación de un protocolo de monitoreo armonizado de datos es imperativa.