Development and thermoenergetic performance assessment of cool concrete tiles for roofing residential buildings: pilot study in São Carlos-SP

estudo piloto em São Carlos-SP

Abstract

Much of the national research on cool materials sought to analyze and understand the thermal and optical properties of materials, mainly solar reflectance. There is a lack of study focused on the development of reflective materials, especially tiles. This research presents the results of a pilot study of a bigger research which seeks to fill this gap by producing and assessing a cool concrete tile for Brazil. This study presents an assessment of the thermoenergetic performance of a cool concrete tile for São Carlos-SP (humid subtropical climate, Cwa). Computer simulation on EnergyPlus 9.2 software was used to calculate the heat and cool degree-hours, and the energy consumption of a single-family house. The cool concrete tile reduced 339 degree-hours of heat from the 5475 annual hours analyzed, and a reduction of approximately 40% in the energy consumption of the air conditioner. These results confirm the performance of the cool concrete tile cited by literature and support the next steps of this research: literature review; production of concrete tiles with reflective components (pigments or other elements); measurement of their physical, mechanical (water absorption, impermeability and transverse rupture strength), thermal, and optical properties (spectral reflectance, thermal emittance, surface temperatures and color parameters), including the effects of natural aging on these properties; simulation of thermoenergetic performance; and an economic analysis for the Brazilian context.