Livia Tirone

Livia Tirone (born 1961 in Lisbon) is a Portuguese architect, promoter, writer and consultant devoted to pioneering and mainstreaming sustainable construction and urban resilience in Portugal.

She was responsible for the design and development of Torre Verde (Green Tower), one of the best-known sustainable construction demonstration buildings in Europe and is the author of the book Construção Sustentável (Sustainable Construction for the Mediterranean Climate Region) and the editor of the magazine with the same name. She hosts more than 30 events on sustainable construction yearly and is a consultant for national and international companies and institutions.

Career

Between 1989 and early 2005 she was CEO of the company Tirone Nunes SA, founded together with Ken Nunes, that designed and built more than 200 Bioclimatic housing units, office and commercial areas in the Lisboa Region. Consisting of 41 flats, Torre Verde (Green Tower) is one of the best-known sustainable construction demonstration buildings in Europe and is located in Parque das Nações, Lisbon.

In 2007 she wrote and published the book Construção Sustentável (Sustainable Construction for the Mediterranean Climate Region) in Portuguese, off the base of which she coordinates and directs the Sustainable Construction Living Lab which looks to develop further solutions for sustainable construction by involving many leaders in the construction sector. She is also the editor in chief of the magazine Revista Construção Sustentável (Sustainable Construction magazine) published three times a year in Portuguese.

To mainstream and further all the knowledge incorporated in the Sustainable Construction Initiative, she coordinates and moderates around 30 yearly events, dedicated to the themes of sustainable construction and urban resilience, by hosting several internationally renowned speakers in the field of sustainable development.

By political assignment, between 2004 and 2009, she set up and managed the Lisbon Local Energy and Environment Agency. In 2009 she became an elected councillor for the opposition in Lisbon Municipality and was devoted to the specific challenges of the homeless, the elderly and social housing.

For the European Commission’s Directorate General Environment she chaired the Working Group “Sustainable Construction Methods and Techniques” during 2003. She also accepted the invitation of the Vice-president of the European Commission, and became a member of the European Design Leadership Board and contribute to the creation of the European Design Innovation Initiative and the report “Design for Growth and Prosperity”, published in September 2012.

She is also a member of the Lafarge Stakeholder Panel and consultant of large and very large enterprises in Portugal and world wide.

Current projects

After creating the flagship and demonstration buildings that prooved the concept of sustainable construction for the Mediterranean climate region, Livia shifted her focus on mainstreaming good practices in construction. No longer competition for design teams, she has become a leader in the field of sustainable construction and works on several fronts simultaneously, including ongoing professional training, coordinating knowledge networks, strategic content development in urban resilience and sustainable construction, policy recommendations and future and strategic visions for a increasingly resilient and sustainable urban reality.

The projects Livia Tirone is working on currently are:

  • Big Cities Big Challenges - setting up a strategic network of key urban stakeholders positioning business for Mega Cities post 2015.
  • Sustainable Construction Initiative - coordinating and moderating 29 ongoing professional training and raising awareness events in 2013 on the themes of urban resilience, renewable prosperity and sustainable construction with a focus on addressing the challenges of Mega Cities with growing population in informal settlements.
  • Authoring Sustainable Construction for the Mediterranean Climate Region e-Book - 4th edition in Portuguese and 1st edition in English (due in March 2013).
  • Editing the Magazine Construção Sustentável Magazine in Portuguese, due out in e-magazine format during 2013.

Selected Projects

Torre Verde

Built and inhabited since 1998, the Bioclimatic tower in Lisbon’s Parque das Nações has become a reference for sustainable construction in the residential sector for the Mediterranean climate region. The 12 storey residential tower has 41 apartments, half of which are voluntarily “unplugged” from central heating system, with indoor temperatures ranging entirely within the comfort range all year round (rigorously monitored during 12 consecutive months). Measures include: Continuous external insulation, high quality double glazed windows, high thermal inertia, mass walls, external shading to South, East and West windows, central solar thermal system, optional central heating system, green roofs, among many other sustainability oriented characteristics.

D. João II

Completed in 2002 this office building was a development designed and promoted by Tirone Nunes, in partnership with the investment fund Finimus. Set in the core of the Parque das Nações business centre, the building integrates many energy efficiency measures and has a green roof and podium connecting it to all the surrounding office buildings.

Parque Oriente

Located on the edge of Parque das Nações and on top of an underground station this project for a state of the art sustainable, large scale urban block has yet to be built. The fact that the approval process lasted for 8 years and coincided with the 2009 economical crisis, caused Tirone Nunes to bring their real estate promotion activities to a halt. Beyond the Bioclimatic measures that were thoroughly tested in various preceding projects, Parque Oriente integrates a full scale local grey water recycling system as well as a rainwater harvesting system and photovoltaic systems in most of the buildings. Many other innovative measures were negotiated and incorporated in the urban plan awaiting a better economical context.

Lisbon Energy and Environment Energy

By political assignment, between 2004 and 2009, during consecutive mandates, the Municipality of Lisbon nominated Livia Tirone Delegate Administrator of the Lisbon Municipal Energy and Environment Agency. The challenges were mostly local and included setting up, widening the scope of and positioning the agency among the leading non profit organizations addressing environment and energy issues at local level. Among the most relevant achievements during this commitment were: commissioning and coordinating the Lisbon Energy, Water and Materials matrixes, involving the relevant stakeholders every step of the way and, on the basis of these, defining the energy environmental strategy for Lisbon with specific performance targets, that were politically validated in 2008. Also, relevant at a national level, were the kick off of the local electrical vehicle charging grid, the first secondary water supply for urban hygiene and watering of green areas and various on-going open continuous professional development initiatives – all developed in partnership with the relevant institutions and actors.

Local Councillor for the Opposition in the Lisbon Municipality

Livia Tirone was elected councillor for the opposition in Lisbon Municipality for the mandate of 2009 until 2013, in the team of former Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes. During two and a half years contributed to local policy by presenting proposals and positions, some of which were actually adopted: scaling and fine tuning the sustainability dimension of the Lisbon Urban Master Plan revision and new strategic approaches on unresolved urban challenges such as social housing, the homeless and elderly people. Introduced the local political arena to innovative strategic concepts, including urban resilience and to innovations such as integrating green roofs and façades into storm water management strategies at the level of urban planning.

European Commission - European Design Commission

Accepting the invitation of the Vice-president of the European Commission, António Tajani, Livia Tirone became since 2011 a member of the European Design Leadership Board, asked to contribute to the creation of the European Design Innovation Initiative and the report “Design for Growth and Prosperity”, published since September 2012

Sustainable Construction Initiative

The publication of the book (in Portuguese) Sustainable Construction in the Mediterranean Climate Region, that has since become the reference for professionals and lay people in the field, with 10.500 copies sold in three editions resulted in the launch of the Sustainable Construction initiative in Portugal. Reaching between 2.500 and 4.000 people directly every year, this initiative includes the following activities: a dynamic web site (reaching over 2 million hits per month during many months of the year), a lecture series, workshops, seminars and periodical publications such as the Sustainable Construction Magazine.

Creativwirtschaft - One needs creative people to change the world - Livia Tirone, an example presentation of Livia Tirone in Vienna (in English).