Considering environmental requirements in low income housing projects: a case study

Abstract

This paper discusses the assessment of the environmental impact produced by low income housing projects (LIHP), since inadequate design and implementation processes have often resulted in environment degradation problems. Failures in
fulfilling requirements for environmental sustainability have origins in the lack of process approach in product development, resulting in failures in the information flow and, consequently, in value generation. The research strategy used was a case study developed in a medium sized town. Based on the analysis of the approval process of LIHB by government bodies, the authors identified as one of the main problems the lack of criteria and tools for evaluating those impacts. For the analysis of the environmental impacts, both the users and the community were
considered as clients in the development of LIHP. A major contrinution of this article is the proposal of instruments for the analysis of environmental
requirements that must be considered in the approval process for LIHP.