Evaluation of Well-Being and Thermal Comfort of the LAD-MA Construction System for Low-Cost Homes

This work is part of a research into the state of conservation and behavior of a group of self-built social housing. The construction, which dates from 1990, was carried out with an original low-cost construction system that uses clay and wood bricks called LAD-MA. This was implemented by the NGO Urban Technical Assistance Center “Taller Norte”, in the Peñalolén commune, Santiago de Chile, Metropolitan Region. The study focuses on the evaluation of well-being and thermal comfort in these homes, which is determined through environmental monitoring by meteorological stations installed for six months in 4 homes. It is established that the houses do not comply with the parameters set up by the international standards ISO 7730 and ASHRAE 55. For this, constructive solutions are proposed to thermally improve the current houses, and update the LAD-MA construction system to comply with the thermal Insulation standards stipulated for the Sustainable Housing Certification of the Ministry of Housing and Urbanism.