The protection of the Baserri as an energy efficient building: the optimized insulation strategy

The Baserri is the vernacular farm of the Basque Country and it is considered to be one of the most important elements of the Basque cultural and architectural heritage. Living spaces, stable, barn and workplace are gathered in the same compact and self-sufficient building that is, above all, an efficient productive system. For almost 500 years, baserris have always been able to adapt to the contemporary needs of the society, overcoming some periods of strong crisis. But nowadays they still have not found an answer to the latest social changes that took place during the industrial revolution of the XXth century, which brought the gradual emptying of these farms. Consequently, lots of them are currently being abandoned and demolished. Their preservation is at serious risk. In order to respond to this situation and with the goal of providing the best preservation possible for baserris, this paper aims at an optimized insulation system for an efficient energetic refurbishment. Firstly, the architectural and bioclimatic features of these buildings will be analyzed and quantified, and then various efficient insulation strategies are going to be compared through energetic performance computer simulations. Finally, this paper will conclude with the proposal of the most efficient insulation strategy. Baserri, energy, refurbishment, heritage, monitoring