Variables of influence on thermal performance of buildings under transient conditions

Residential buildings significantly increase electricity demand, especially in developing countries. In this case, the requirements addressed by the standards can ensure the climatic adequacy of the envelope, enhance thermal performance, and promote thermal comfort conditions while reducing energy consumption. However, the criteria for evaluating the thermal performance of a building’s envelope that is commonly adopted in energy performance standards and codes have proved to be inefficient in hot climates. The heat exchanges within buildings are dependent on solar radiation and ventilation. The purpose of this article is to establish the variables with the greatest influence on the thermal performance of naturally ventilated dwellings in hot climates (equatorial, tropical and subtropical). For this investigation, a factorial design was adopted for sensitivity analysis. The structure of the factorial experiment defined the simulations of four patterns of single-family and multifamily residential buildings. We varied the thermophysical properties of the external walls and roofs, the heat gain coefficient of the openings, and natural ventilation. Brazil was adopted as a basis for climate analysis, including equatorial, tropical and subtropical climates. The analyses were based on comfort hours in an adaptive model and statistically evaluated using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests. In general, the absorption of the walls and cover, the thermal transmittance of the cover and the natural ventilation were the variables of greatest influence on thermal comfort in a hot climate.