Energy component at the different stages of a building project in Switzerland: internship at Putallaz Ingénieurs-Conseils

Tese de mestrado integrado em Engenharia da Energia e do Ambiente, apresentada à Universidade de Lisboa, através da Faculdade de Ciências, 2013The present document was developed in the context of an internship in a Swiss company active in the domain of consulting and engineering in the energy component of buildings. The aim of this study was to discriminate the different stages of a building project in terms of energy and to describe the process and the legal context in each of these stages. In Switzerland the building sector has a strong role in the energy policies of the country, since it represents 46% of the national energy consumption. Therefore the energy component of a building project has to respect several legal requirements in order to ensure an efficient and rational use of energy. Concerning the canton of Geneva, where this study was focused, the energy demands in the building sector are one of the highest in Switzerland. For each stage of a building project there is a list of requirements to follow. These are mainly focus in the following aspects: i) Quality of the thermal envelope; ii) The obligation of using renewable energies; iii) The use of an air conditioning system only when justified; iv) Higher requirements for public buildings and large buildings; v) Correct sizing and installation of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems; vi) Energy consumption control. As demonstrated, each of the different stages has its importance in the building project, and the correct performance of the building is dependent of each one of them