Simulação termoenergética e proposta de melhoria em espaços de ensino e aprendizagem : estudo de caso campus Unisinos São Leopoldo

Abstract

Built space habitability affects productive capacity of people. In this sense, it is necessary to search for alternatives to optimize the thermal performance of buildings, aiming to ensure adequate comfort conditions. Surveys carried out with the student body of Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS), at São Leopoldo campus, pointed out the need of classrooms thermal comfort enhancement. This study proposes to evaluate the current temperature conditions of those rooms and to investigate alternatives to improve thermal performance of existing buildings by means of thermoenergetic simulations. Using Energy Plus software, settings were analyzed considering possible changes on characteristics of the building envelope in order to improve its thermal performance and, therefore, reduce the need for artificial climatization systems. The study considered aspects of technical and economic feasibility of implantation and operation of the systems in a set of classrooms taken as pilot. In addition, the simulated systems were compared with technical proposals obtained in the market. The results show that combining air conditioning with changing the color of the roof the white, it is possible to reduce energy consumption by up to 37.34%. The payback for implementation of this solution, painting the roof white and installing the air conditioning equipment is 13.1 years.