ABSTRACT
The relative paucity of wintertime solar gains meant that Esteban Pardo had to come up with other means of reducing building's heat demand. The typical fade in building features an external thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) that has 16 cm of expanded polystyrene (EPS) on the outside over a ceramic brick wall that is plastered on the inside surface. The plaster, which is a traditional material in Spain, is the airtight layer. Since June 2013 the municipal plan for Villamediana de Iregua in La Rioja, Spain has called for all public buildings to meet the PH standard, thanks to the efforts of Pardo of Play Arquitectura, among others. Humidity generally is not a concern here, as it averages around 50 percent year-round. In Spain, many library users are young, says Pardo, and he wanted to give them the space and choice to take their books outside to read, which is often comfortable to do there, given the temperate climate.
