We claim that sustainable construction and architecture has vital role in achieving the tourism full potential for conservation and development of the Douro Region, with recognized capacity for tourism growth. Buildings that make possible tourism occupation, involve extra consumption of energy and natural resources, when compared to average levels of local communities. To make progress on this, we are gathering a representative set of tourism compounds that will be analyzed through criteria from evaluation methods of sustainable construction. We are gathering data related with the comfort experience of this buildings users, aiming to know the ratio between tourists demands of comfort and final consumption of resources. As result of this research, we intend to refine environmental certification criteria in this specific geographical context and building category and, if necessary, define corrective intervention strategies and guidelines. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.