Dynamic façades for buildings in hot humid climates by integrated energy performance assessment.

• Grant number: 12/06715-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: December 01, 2012
• End date: March 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Architecture and Urbanism Technology
• Principal Investigator: Rosana Maria Caram
• Grantee: Kamila Mendonça de Lima
• Host Institution: Instituto de Arquitetura e Urbanismo de São Carlos (IAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The design of fenestration involves dealing with the weather conditions, which are dynamic and depend on the location considered. The dynamic facades, here understood as systems that have a glazed opening and movable mechanisms (manual or automated) for control of ventilation and sunlight, present the potential to promote environmental comfort and reduce energy consumption in buildings by allowing responsive strategies. However, the procedures currently used to evaluate the integration of active and passive strategies that influence the energy performance of the facade are not consolidated, especially when it comes to the case of buildings located in low latitudes, where there is predominantly hot and humid climate. Thus, the overall objective of the proposed doctoral research is to design solutions of dynamic façades applicable to buildings in places of hot and humid weather, considering its energy performance as a function of different criteria (internal air temperature, ventilation and lighting natural and drive lamps and air conditioning), integrated. This is done by performing parametric analysis of different types of facade on test cells using the energy dynamic simulation software DesignBuilder. The total energy consumption of artificial lighting systems and air conditioning will be quantified, resulting from use of natural light and ventilation and shading of openings in each solution. The novelty of this research proposal is therefore the address on design possibilities and integrated performance evaluation of façades, exploring the case of the hot and humid climate.