Title: Las patologías de los recubrimientos en muros y su repercusión en la salud respiratoria de los usuarios
Abstract: The level of indoor air quality (IAQ) has a direct incidence on the human health, therefore, is the object of study of bioclimatic design, since it promotes the harnessing environmental factors for the creation and conditioning of spaces in which users experience comfort and well-being. In addition, to encourage construction with common sense, where the rational use of resources and low energy dependence prevail. In this thesis it has been identified the properties of the materials that make up the most common wall coverings (hydrated lime, cement, cement mortar and gypsum) for recognizing those that best adapt to the weather in Mexico City, as it could be verified, they contribute to the control of some risk factors (physical:moisture, chemical:toxics and biological:microbes) related with a low indoor air quality at dwellings. This function mitigates or reduces the appearance of some of the most frequent respiratory ailments in users such as: allergies, asthma, rhinitis, flu and sinusitis. The analyses to which the coatings of four binding materials were subjected, allowed to evaluate their performance in the face of semi-controlled environmental factors (temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration) inherent to the operation of the interior space itself and the place of its location. Obviously, all the coatings reacted differently and according with the physical and chemical properties of the materials in each of them. Being the most representative and satisfactory variations, those related to the permeability and biocidal effect of coatings made with hydrated lime mixture. The pathologies that some coatings showed throughout the monitoring period, due to insufficient moisture management, the high microbial development, and the chemical nature of the binding material, were cryptoefflorescences, mold, bacteria and particle shedding/dissemination; they were defining to establish that in similar way to living beings, building materials need specific hygrothermal ranges, to let them works in an optimal state. According with the above, it is considered convenient to raise awareness among the population on issues as important for social welfare, such as the selection of materials and -consequently- conservation of wall coverings, not only to reduce the costs of execution and maintenance, but to take advantage of their properties, since they have a direct incidence in all related with the control of basic environmental conditions, the regulation of indoor air quality and therefore, in users’ health. This work can begin in the formative stage of construction professionals, with the intention of standardizing the study or correct selection of construction systems depending on the weather, but also identifying the function of each space; to guarantee that the design proposals will respond -satisfactorily- to the requirements of humidity regulation, through its absorption, transpiration and/or evaporation.