The cost-quality relation: some economic aspects of thermal comfort

Abstract

This paper proposes a methodology for joint analysis of cost and quality in dwelling buildings. In order to give an illustrative example of the application of this methodology, the "cost" referred to the construction, maintenance and energy for heating, while the "quality", in its turn, referred to some aspects of thermal comfort. The authors try to prove that there is not always a directly proportional relation between the cost of buildings and the real quality reached in them. Bioclimatic, social, economic, technological and morphological variables have been analyzed. The final objective is to obtain a "weighting cost" (cost according to the achieved thermal benefit). This allows the determination of an order of priorities among various alternative solutions proposed for mass construction of dwellings.