Studio apartments as housing

Performance and thermal comfort in the face of climate change

Abstract

After the approval of the São Paulo Strategic Master Plan in 2014, there was a significant increase in the number of compact apartment releases in the city and, therefore, the studio typology became common in residential buildings, usually having only one wall with an opening to the outdoor environment, which is often (or there is the possibility of becoming) glazed, a design that generates an increase in the indoor temperatures and limits the ventilation capability. In addition, the increase in global temperature combined with  the local phenomena of urban heating, it becomes fundamental to problematize and study the thermal performance of these small apartments in future climate scenarios. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the built apartments stock with 50m² or less in the city of São Paulo and, from this, the selection of a unit considered representative for the study of thermal performance through computational simulation using the software EnergyPlus considering 2020 climate data and future projections for the years 2030, 2050 and 2080 aligned with RCP8.5 climate change scenario from IPCC AR5. Two glazing scenarios and a strategic scenario of increased external shading were analyzed. For 2080, the glazing scenarios showed a 43% and 66% increase in occupied hours in heat discomfort compared to the design situation, while the strategic scenario resulted in a 25% decrease in occupied hours in heat discomfort compared to the design situation.