CERIS Principal Researcher: Jónatas Valença

The project See+ aims to develop an assessment and monitoring framework for the maintenance and conservation of buildings, applying augmented reality (AR). Three specific goals were defined: (i) to perform a cognitive building inspection, enhancing the real building envelope based on previously observed and predicted anomalies; (ii) to confront theoretical and real degradation curves, calibrating the last; (iii) to offer a friendly, interactive, and systematic inspection experience – real-world environment augmented by digital elements, graphs, notes.

CERIS Principal Researcher: Miguel Bravo

The project WATERCRETE aims to analyse the performance of concrete produced with water from wastewater treatment plants in the following sequence: a) characterization of several treated waters from two different wastewater treatment plants; b) production and characterization of concrete with water obtained after secondary treatment; c) production and characterization of concrete with recycled water obtained in accordance with Decree-Law no. 119/2019 (classifying recycled water from “A” to “E”); d) proposal for classifying water from wastewater treatment plants for subsequent use in concrete.

CERIS Principal Researcher: Marta Cabral

The project AI-Anomaly aims at innovating, extending and automating the existing methodology for assessing the physical condition of vertical water assets, which is developed by a multidisciplinary team, including specialists in computer science and civil engineering, such as hydraulics, hydrology, construction and structures. Specifically, the aim is to apply and compare artificial intelligence (AI) methods, combining deep learning and computer vision methods to detect and classify structural anomalies in water storage tanks and pumping stations.

CERIS Principal Researcher: Maria Paula Mendes

This project aims to assess the influence of reported extreme weather events in recent years on the physico-mechanical behaviour of hydraulic lime-based renders incorporating textile waste. Namely, the aim is to replicate specific compound extreme weather events. Consequently, lime-based mortar specimens were subjected to three accelerated aging tests, each comprising 15 cycles.

CERIS Principal Researcher: Teresa Condesso de Melo

The AquaFire project aims to investigate the impacts of the wildfire that occurred in October 2017 in the Leiria Pine Forest on the hydrological cycle and groundwater quality. Despite the catastrophic nature of the event, which affected approximately 86% of the forest, its impacts have never been evaluated. Given the magnitude and scale of the fire, the geological background, and the cultural and historical importance of the forest, this study has the potential to enhance groundwater management, improve climate resilience, and ensure water supply for the population.

CERIS Principal Researcher: Ana Paula Falcão

BIM2ESCAPE project developed a methodology for identifying emergency routes, inside heritage buildings, taking into account the shortest path and seismic vulnerability. This research is especially challenging for buildings with complex geometries and older structures that may not have clear and easily accessible escape routes in the event of an earthquake.

CERIS Principal Researcher: Ana Silva

This project intends to achieve the following goals: i) automate the identification of anomalies in façades (e.g. through image segmentation and classification), using robotic platforms (by land and/or by air) to collect the images; ii) automate the estimation of the façades’ global degradation condition; iii) understand the citizens’ perception regarding the buildings’ degradation state, based on surveys and testimonies, and consequent linguistic modelling and sentiment analysis; iv) define a perceived limit that establishes the end of the façades’ service life, considering the “feelings” of the citizens.

CERIS Principal Researcher:Inês Flores-Colen

This project aimed to study the fire behaviour of conventional EPS-based thermal mortars and innovative ones, integrating aerogel into their composition. The study compared the fire reaction properties, determining the thermophysical and thermodynamic properties and proposing a risk matrix based on these results. For this, the experimental campaign included fire reaction tests to determine the heat of combustion and the ignitability of these products.

CERIS Principal Researcher: Rafaela Cardoso

BIOSELANTE project aims to evaluate the experimental effectiveness of biocimentation in terms of water-tightness for sealing crack structures in contact with pressurized water, which will be further applied to repair cracks in water storage tanks. Biocementation treatment was applied in cracks artificially created in small rectangular concrete plates 4 cm thick, with three crack widths (i.e., 0.1, 1, and 10 mm) to cover different real cases in which the repair with this technique is viable. The 10 mm width cracks were filled with sand before the treatment. 

CERIS Principal Researcher: Giovanni Borsoi

Bi-THEM project intended to define an innovative bio-hydrothermal model for External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS). The biological susceptibility of ETICS was foreseen by knowing their composition and monitoring the environmental temperature and humidity.

CERIS Principal Researcher: Moisés Brito

This project focused on the development of a smart camera and corresponding lighting systems. The commercial solutions currently available are relatively expensive and difficult to maintain, however, they offer a set of technical capabilities that are relevant for the sustained growth of innovation and the impact of CERIS research.

CERIS Principal Researcher: Isabel Boavida

EcoPeak intends to contribute to the knowledge of hydropeaking impacts in a multidisciplinary approach applied to a case study. This project aims to quantify the degree of alteration of a river reach due to the operation of an HPP and link the hydropeaking impacts to the fish biota in terms of fish stranding and dewatered spawning grounds. The major output of the EcoPeak project will be the quantification of hydropeaking indicators linked to fish stranding and the dry-up of spawning grounds. Also, the development of a methodology to assess the trade-offs between power production and habitat preservation focused on the fish biota will take place. 

CERIS Principal Researcher: Rita Nogueira

The aim of this research is to reduce the environmental impact of the concrete industry through the uptake of CO₂ during the concrete production phase, which would enable its application in the ready-mix concrete industry. Thus, this research aims at understanding the impact of CO₂ amount on the hydration reactions of cement in order to enable its adoption as a component mixture.

CERIS Principal Researcher: Maria Paula Mendes

The main aim of this work is to explore novel techniques related with the use of satellite images for assessing soil moisture content (SMC) and, by doing that, starting to develop tools which will support the aforementioned EU policies. Our study was conducted in the NVZ-T in a vineyard located at “Companhia das Lezírias”.