Methodological Approach for the Development of a Simplified Residential Building Energy Estimation in Temperate Climate

Abstract

Energy ratings and minimum requirements for thermal envelopes and heating and air conditioning systems emerged as tools to minimize energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency and promote greater transparency with regard to energy use in buildings. In Latin America, not all countries have building energy efficiency regulations, many of them are voluntary and more than 80% of the existing initiatives are simplified methods and are centered in energy demand analysis and the compliance of admissible values for different indicators. However, the application of these tools, even when simplified, is reduced. The main objective is the development of a simplified calculation method for the estimation of the energy consumption of multifamily housing buildings. To do this, an energy model was created based on the real use and occupation of a reference building, its thermal envelope and its thermal system’s performance. This model was simulated for 42 locations, characterized by their climatic conditions, whilst also considering the thermal transmittance fulfilment. The correlation between energy consumption and the climatic conditions is the base of the proposed method. The input data are seven climatic characteristics. Due to the sociocultural context of Latin America, the proposed method is estimated to have more possible acceptance and applications than other more complex methods, increasing the rate of buildings with an energy assessment. The results have demonstrated a high reliability in the prediction of the statistical models created, as the determination coefficient (R2) is nearly 1 for cooling and heating consumption.

El tapanco en viviendas vernáculas de Querétaro, México. Uso y eficiencia higrotérmica

“…Existen muchas normas energéticas, sin embargo, estas no son aplicadas en todos los países, por lo que muchas construcciones las toman como base, de manera "voluntaria". Más del 80% de las iniciativas planteadas a nivel global consisten en métodos centrados solamente en la relación demanda-consumo y no en la EE (Reus-Netto et al, 2019).…”

“…La sensación física de los sujetos influye en su bienestar, su eficiencia y su confort. Con variación continua del ambiente, ellos toman acciones conscientes o inconscientes para recuperar el equilibrio térmico y estar confortables (Rincón-Martínez et al, 2022), acudiendo a sistemas mecánicos que implican altos consumos energéticos, variables en función del clima y la envolvente (Reus-Netto et al, 2019).…”

Low Energy Architecture and Low Carbon Cities: Exploring Links, Scales, and Environmental Impacts

“…Reus-Netto et al [32] offer a key contribution to mitigate the lack of utilization of energy rating systems in Latin America. They identify two issues: a lack of building energy efficiency regulations in some countries and an excessive complexity of such ratings or tools-where they do exist-that limits their adoption.…”

Multivariate analysis for assessing the thermal performance of vertical opaque envelopes in extended regions

“…The MLR is also applied to databases to develop, validate (using in situ measurements) and compare (with other methodologies) prediction models used in energy efficiency certification of existing buildings and standards (Catalina et al, 2013; Reddy, 2011). For example, Reus-Netto et al (2019) developed a simplified calculation method for estimating the energy consumption of multifamily housing buildings under real use conditions in 42 Latin American locations with a population greater than 200,000, characterised by their climatic conditions. The MLR analysis showed a high correlation between the heating and cooling energy consumption and the climatic variables (i.e.…”