Study of historic buildings requires a pathology analysis of the construction materials used in order to define their conservation state. Usually we can find capillary moisture, salt crystalli-zation or density differences by deterioration. Sometimes this issue is carried out by destructive testing which determine materials’ physical and chemical characteristics. However, they are unfavorable regarding the building’s integrity, and they are sometimes difficult to implement. This paper presents a technique using infrared thermography to analyze the existing pathology and has the advantage of being able to diagnose inaccessible areas in buildings. The results obtained by this technique have been compared with those obtained in the laboratory, in order to validate this study and thus to extrapolate the methodology to other buildings and materials.

Architectural heritage, building materials and interior space are highly susceptible to temperature and relative humidity. A better knowledge of the hygrothermal dynamics inside buildings allows an adequate conservation of heritage. This work compares three non-destructive techniques (NDT), such as temperature and relative humidity sensors, finite element simulations (CFD) and thermographic pictures (IRT). The work has made it possible to carry out an assessment of the risk of condensation over a year and to identify affected periods and areas of the building. Sensors and IRT pictures provide real data to validate CFD simulations, facilitating a global analysis of the building. The results provided reflect a great concordance between the NDTs used.

Structures and elements buried beneath heritage buildings are frequent but are often unknown and inaccessible. Therefore, they are difficult to locate in general if an archaeological excavation is not carried out, with the economic cost and time involved. It is important to discover them in order to increase our knowledge of cultural heritage, as well as to know, recover and improve the state of conservation of the materials that make up these structures. This paper presents methodologies for locating old structures using a low-cost NDT approach, with a qualitative and quantitative analysis of GPR profiles in heritage buildings. Small perforations are performed at critical points and introducing an endoscope for verification. Various crypts have been located using the proposed methodologies in a real study case: The Church of the Asución of Llíria in Spain.

The present work tries to determine the factors that influence the crystallization of soluble salts in the stone material used in the construction of buildings in Valencia (Spain). Samples are obtained from a building which has served to accomplish observations and laboratory experiments necessary in order to determine the pathology of deterioration of the material. It was particularized in the exposition conditions of the material as a base for determining the morphologies of deterioration caused by salts in the same lithotype. The main contribution is the petrological study from the architectural point of view considering its orientation, sunlight in façade, and so forth. This study proves that both material petrology (its mineralogy and texture) and the properties related to the movement of water inside rocks play a decisive role in the conservation and development of elements in the alteration.

The use of green roofs entails environmental, economic and social benefits as sustainable tools of architecture. They present proven benefits in the path towards carbon neutrality and the reduction of the consumption of energy resources, especially in the field of renovation and improvement of the thermal envelope. In Spain, the current climate crisis also implies a problem of water stress, so it is necessary to analyse in more detail the behaviour of self-sustaining green roofs in the different climatic and rainfall zones into which the territory is divided. Evapotranspiration is the main mechanism of heat dissipation in green roofs, but in this study, it is observed that in the case of self-sustaining roofs with limited water content, the greatest losses through evapotranspiration occur in climates with high temperatures and solar radiation, above cities with higher rainfall and colder climates. On the contrary, the greatest energy savings are obtained in this type of cold climate. Evapotranspiration in self-sustaining roofs is not the most determining factor for achieving energy savings. The design of the roof, the geometry and orientation of the building, as well as the cooling energy consumption, play a more determining role.