Multidimensional Comparative Framework for Assessing the Refurbishment of a Fisherman’s Dwelling in Valencia, Spain

The refurbishment of protected traditional dwellings requires balancing heritage conservation with current demands for habitability, energy efficiency, environmental sustainability and economic viability. The aim of this study is to develop a multidimensional comparative framework capable of identifying synergies and trade-offs between these requirements at the scale of individual construction decisions. This framework is applied to a traditional fisherman’s dwelling in the Cabanyal-Canyamelar district of Valencia, refurbished in 2022. Eight construction actions were assessed through four complementary dimensions: heritage compatibility, embodied environmental impacts assessed through Life Cycle Assessment product and transport modules A1–A4 (excluding use, maintenance and end-of-life stages), direct construction costs, and four months of post-intervention hygrothermal monitoring. In this case, conservation, repair and reuse measures generally achieved the most balanced performance and lower initial direct costs than their industrial equivalents, mainly due to reduced expenditure on new materials. In contrast, modification of the courtyard enclosure emerged as the main point of conflict, combining lower heritage compatibility with high embodied environmental impacts and direct cost. Post-intervention monitoring showed greater thermal stability in the east-facing area during the study period, although high relative humidity persisted. The framework makes synergies and conflicts between individual construction decisions explicit without aggregating the dimensions into a single score, thereby supporting more transparent decision-making in protected traditional dwellings.