Architectural structure and environmental performance of the traditional buildings in Florina, NW Greece

This paper presents various aspects, which characterise the traditional architecture in the town of Florina, north-western Greece, and can be related to bioclimatic and environmental architecture. The study is based on the documentation and the analysis of the architectural and bioclimatic aspects of a sample of forty (40) remaining houses of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The analysis of the architectural aspects concerns the building typology, the form, the materials and the construction techniques, whereas the analysis of bioclimatic aspects involves the thermal behaviour of the building shell, the thermal and the visual comfort conditions. The aim of the study is to document and assess, both qualitatively and quantitatively, all the afore-mentioned aspects in order to draw conclusions concerning the principles, which characterised this architecture and can be integrated to the refurbishment of existing buildings or the design of new ones in traditional surroundings.