Estudio de sensibilidad de las características constructivas para edificios residenciales en Quito mediante simulación.

Abstract

This research aims to identify the impact of building shape, orientation, roof material, wall material, floor material, infiltrations, window to wall ratio, glazing type and orientation on the thermal comfort of residential buildings in Quito using energy simulation. Similar research done for different building types and climatic conditions are reviewed and computational programs used for this study are described. The evaluated values of construction and design characteristics used for the parametric study are presented together with their EnergyPlus model. Based on ASHRAE 55 standard, thermal comfort conditions for residential buildings in Quito are defined. Statistical results of the parametric study are presented followed by a sensitivity analysis which is performed to identify the relative impact of the parameters on thermal comfort. Finally, the influence of constructive and design parameters is studied in terms of their relationship with the building inner operative temperature and thermal comfort. Results show that thermal mass, infiltration rate, and total glazing area are the most influential parameters in the building’s thermal comfort for Quito’s climatic conditions. Overall these parameters interact with each other changing the thermal behavior of a building.