Investigation of the viability of reducing energy consumption in residential buildings through the implementation of passive strategies for environmental comfort

Abstract

A preocupa????o com a sustentabilidade sugere a busca pela otimiza????o dos recursos naturais. Um dos aspectos necess??rios ?? adequar as edifica????es para o clima em que est??o localizadas, reduzindo o consumo energ??tico da habita????o e ampliando o conforto ambiental. O objetivo desta pesquisa ?? investigar a viabilidade t??cnica e econ??mica da aplica????o de crit??rios de desempenho t??rmico em edifica????es residenciais. A investiga????o foi centrada na identifica????o dos custos e da energia no ciclo de vida de projetos simulados com solu????es baseadas em conforto ambiental passivo (natural) e ativo (artificial), verificando a influ??ncia no consumo de energia da edifica????o. Foi aplicada em projetos de edifica????es residenciais verticais e horizontais, de classe m??dia e baixa, em dois climas distintos (Porto Alegre e Bento Gon??alves, RS), examinando o tipo de envelope, as absort??ncias e o uso de elementos construtivos. Para an??lise do desempenho t??rmico foi adotada a norma de desempenho NBR 15575 e m??todo graus-hora, com modelagem BIM, utilizando o Revit/Autodesk e para as simula????es t??rmicas foi empregado o EnergyPlus, software especializado em an??lise energ??tica para edifica????es. O ciclo de vida dos projetos propostos foi analisado considerando-se um per??odo de 50 anos, comparando os custos e a energia incorporada das alternativas. Como um segundo par??metro de sustentabilidade, tamb??m se analisou a efici??ncia energ??tica conforme o selo de efici??ncia energ??tica Procel Edifica. Os resultados indicam que com o aumento do isolamento da envolt??ria se verifica uma melhoria do conforto t??rmico, de at?? 54%, e economia de energia, em ambos os climas, com um per??odo de retorno de 2 a 6 anos, em alguns casos.The concern with sustainability brought the need for optimization of the energy resources to reduce the consumption of electric energy and of natural resources. One of the aspects is the need to adapt the buildings to the climate in which they are located, reducing the energy consumption of housing. The aim of this research is to investigate the technical and economic viability of applying some criteria of thermal performance in residential buildings. The methodology is based on the identification of the costs and energy in the life cycle of projects based on environmental comfort on passive (natural) and active (artificial) ways, detailing the influence on energy consumption of the building. It was applied in residential projects, both vertical and horizontal, of lower and middle class, in two distinct microclimates (Porto Alegre and Bento Gon??alves, southern Brazilian cities), examining alternatives of envelope, insulation and the use of architectural fa??ade elements. To analyze the thermal performance was adopted the Brazilian standard NBR 15575 and degree-hour method, with BIM modeling through Revit/Autodesk and for the thermal simulation Ecotect/Autodesk and EnergyPlus. The life cycle of the proposed case studies was analyzed by considering a period of 50 years, comparing the costs and embodied energy of alternatives. As a second measure of sustainability, energy efficiency was also analyzed with the Brazilian standard of energy efficiency Procel Edifica. The results showed that with the increment of envelope???s insulation there are improvement of thermal comfort, of 54%, and energetic economy, in both climates, with a payback period of 2 to 6 years, in some cases