Procedure for retrofit of the heat power performance of educational buildings by applying passive strategies conditioning

Author(s)

Luciana Oliveira Fernandes

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo
• Defense date: 2015-12-16

Examining board members

Lucila Chebel Labaki; Alberto Luiz Francato; Doris Catharine Cornelie Knatz Kowaltowski; Alberto Hernandez Neto; Joana Carla Soares Gonçalves

• Advisor: Lucila Chebel Labaki

Abstract

Retrofitting is an important strategy for existing buildings to meet the current standards of performance. It can also improve the environmental quality of buildings and increase their life cycle. The aim of this research is to develop an analysis procedure of the performance of retrofit strategies taking into account energy consumption and thermal comfort. Passive strategies can provide benefits to the thermal and energetic performance of buildings. Therefore their contribution to retrofit projects will be investigated. The hypothesis is that passive strategies can be advantageous in retrofit processes and that the application of a simplified procedure for comparative analysis that embrace thermal and energetic aspects of theses strategies can be practicable. The retrofit topic is more consolidated in European countries and in the U.S.A. than in Brazil. The increasing need for retrofit actions in educational buildings in Brazil is a consequence of an old building stock and the establishing of new standards. However, these standards focus on the energy consumption and there is no detailed evaluation of the thermal comfort for building users. For the development of this research a building was chosen to apply the proposed procedure. It is located at the campus of State University of Campinas, in Campinas/SP (Brazil). Data of total energy consumption and indoor temperature and humidity from rooms were monitored. The software EnergyPlus was used to estimate the performance of the building and its passive strategies: daylighting through dimmers and automated blinds, thermal chimney, natural daytime and nighttime ventilation. A systematic retrofit study was developed taking into account thermal and energetic aspects for choosing the strategies and exploring the benefits of passive techniques. For the studied case no improvements were obtained for the thermal comfort in summer due to the high levels of humidity. However, the daylighting and the daytime ventilation provided energy reductions of 16% for lighting and 14% for cooling, respectively. The aplicability of the proposed procedure that relies on a simplified visualization of the results in a single graph was demonstrated. This work also provided a methodology for the calibration of a building energy simulation model for a mixed-mode building. Further studies can be included to the scope of this procedure as: the evaluation costs of the retrofit strategies, payback and provided energy savings (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/23661-0 - Institutional public buildings - Methodology for assessing the viability of retrofit for labeling
• Grantee: Luciana Oliveira Fernandes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate