Improving School Building Quality In The State Of São Paulo, Brazil

This paper presents the results of an investigation conducted in the State of São Paulo, Brazil with the architects who are responsible for the design of school buildings for the public sector. The study was based on structured interviews to characterize the specific design process. Questions on the specific design concepts applied by the architects included environmental comfort aspects and sustainability as a guiding principle. Results showed that the design process is strongly influenced by local school building agency - FDE (Fundação para o Desenvolvimento da Educação) with little leeway for innovation. In relation to aspects of thermal comfort and sustainability the professionals mentioned few items. One of the reasons for this lack of concern can be attributed to the standardized construction system adopted by the State and the need for cost reductions. The design process was compared to recommendations found in the literature on high performance school buildings. Some opportunities for change could be identified. Although the results are not encouraging in bringing about improvements in the school building conditions, there are signs of change that should be explored. Finally, the characterization of the local school design process indicates the need for better assessment tools and access to technical information directly applicable to design issues.169174Gomes Da Silva, V., Kowaltowski, D.C.C.K., Pereira, P.P.R., Minette, L., Deliberador, M.S., Analysis of the building process and of energy efficiency of public schools in the state of São Paulo, Brazil (2009) Proceedings of CSSAAR 2009 International Conference, 1, pp. 255-270. , Tripoli, Libya, 03-05 of NovOrnstein, S.W., Post occupancy evaluation in Brazil (2005) Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, , http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/26/49/37905357.pdf, Access in March, 2008Kowaltowski, D.C.C.K., Graça, V.A.C., Petreche, J.R.D., An evaluation method for school building design at the preliminary phase with optimization of aspects of environmental comfort for the school system of the state of São Paulo in Brazil (2007) Building and Environment, pp. 984-999. , UK: Pergamon Press, FebThe Collaborative for High Performance Schools Best Practices Manual, , http://www.chps.net/manual/index.htm#score, CHPS Access in June, 2009Deliberador, M.S., (2010) O Processo de Projeto de Arquitetura Escolar no Estado de São Paulo: Caracterização e Possibilidades de Intervenção, , Masters DissertationUniversidade Estadual de Campinas-SP (UNICAMP), CampinasDudek, M., (2007) Schools and Kindergartens: A Design Manual, , Berlin: BirkäuserNair, P., Fielding, R., The language of school design (2005) Design Patterns for the 21st Century School, , India: National Clearinghouse for Educational FacilitiesFord, A., Hutton, P., A sense of entry (2007) Austrália: Melina Deliyannis, 6, pp. xxx. , SECTION NAMESanoff, H., (2001) School Building Assessment Methods, , Washington: National Clearinghouse for Educational FacilitiesCIC Design Quality Indicator, , http://www.dqi.org.uk/DQI/Common/DQIOnline.pdf, Access June, 2009Alexander, C., Ishinawa, S., Silverstein, M., (1977) A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Constructions, , New York: Oxford University PressMoreira, D.C., Kowaltowski, D.C.C.K., Discussão sobre a importância do programa de necessidades no processo de projeto (2009) Ambiente Construído, 9 (2), pp. 31-45. , JunPeña, W.M., Parshall, S.A., (2001) Problem Seeking: An Architectural Programming Primer, , New York: John Wiley and SonsHershberger, R.G., (1999) Architectural Programming and Predesign Manager, , New York: Mc Graw-HillFigueredo, F.G., (2009) Processo de Projeto Integrado Visando À Melhoria do Desempenho Ambiental de Edificações: Levantamento, Análise e Comparação de Dois Estudos de Caso, , Campinas: 2009. Masters Dissertation Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), CampinasWon, F.W.H., Lam, P.T.I., Chan, E.H.W., Optimising design objectives using the balanced scorecard approach (2009) Design Studies, 30, pp. 369-392Normas de Apresentação de Projetos de Edificaçõ es, , http://consfde.edunet.sp.gov.br/catalogo/setembro/HTML/atualizacao/ subpages/arquitetura.pdf, FUNDAÇÃO PARA O DESENVOLVIMENTO ESCOLAR (FDE) Access in Feb. 200