Innovation, Publications and R&D

Innovation and development: creating value through the environment

Innovation and applied development are part of IPA’s DNA; the organisation is involved in seeking innovative solutions and their applied development, either through specific projects or by integrating them into the development of services and projects. This development has contributed to creating value for the environment through its services and projects for its clients, often turning what is a problem into an opportunity. Manuel Duarte Pinheiro leads research at CERIS – Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability – on the Sustainable Built Environment (Environmental Impact, Energy and Carbon, Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costs), Environmentally Sustainable Design, and Sustainability Assessment and Management. Research into the Sustainable Built Environment (Environmental Impact, Energy and Carbon, Life Cycle Assessment, Life Cycle Costs), Environmentally Sustainable Design, and Sustainable Assessment and Management.

Publications

The IPA and its technical staff have produced or contributed to various publications for different organisations, which have been published by those organisations, such as the Guide to Environmental Monitoring and Assessment for the Community Support Framework (2000), the Technical Guide for the Preparation of Studies within the Scope of the Environmental Impact Assessment of Road Infrastructure (2012), and the editorial in the journal *Environments* on the theme ‘Impact Assessment – Exploring New Frontiers’ from 2024.

In the field of environmental management, one example is the SGA19 publication on ‘Sustainability in Environmental Management: Innovation and Challenges for Portuguese-speaking Countries’. Proceedings of the International Conference held on 4 and 5 June 2019, Técnico Congress Centre, Lisbon, Portugal.

In the field of sustainability, notable works by the head of the IPA, Manuel Duarte Pinheiro, include the book Environment and Sustainable Construction, published in 2006 by the Portuguese Environment Agency, and the book Sustainable Property (Changing the Paradigm and Proactively Integrating Sustainability), published in 2014 by Vida Imobiliária.

Book on the Environment and Sustainable Construction

This book explains the evolution of environmental policy and introduces the principles of sustainable construction, with a particular focus on the built environment, suggesting a set of environmental criteria to be considered in the pursuit of sustainability in construction, including an introduction to the LiderA system, which sets out the approaches, strategies and environmental criteria to be considered in the quest to create a healthy built environment, based on ecological principles.