Architecture, tourism and sustainable development for the Douro region

this paper deals with sustainable construction and architecture in the douro Region touristic facilities. We claim that this has vital role in achieving the tourism full potential for conservation and development of the region with recognized potential for tourism growth. Buildings that make possible tourism occupation, involve extra consumption of energy and natural resources, when compared to average levels of local communities. To make progress on this, we are gathering a representative set of tourism compounds that will be evaluated through criteria from evaluation methods of sustainable construction like SBtool, LiderA, LEED and BREEAM. We are gathering data related with the comfort experience of this buildings users, aiming to know the ratio between tourists demands of comfort, and final consumption of resources. As result of this research, we intend to refine environmental certification criteria in this specific geographical context and building category, and if necessary, define corrective intervention strategies and guidelines.