Thermal performance-based design using parametric modelling

Abstract

The emergence of performance standards and programs to encourage and evaluate the energy efficiency of buildings (PBE Edifica, RTQ-R, RTQ-C) has reinforced discussions about the thermal performance of residential buildings, one of the indispensable requirements for the comfort and well-being of users. Computer simulation is recommended during the early stages of the project to evaluate the building envelope even before it is built. This work aims to carry out a form-finding simulation, seeking the best thermal performance according to the calculation of the percentage of occupancy hours within the operating temperature range (PHFT) of NBR 15.575-1. In this sense, parametric modeling is a facilitator for initial performance analyses. To this end, the methodology is based on Performance-Based Design, considering a design process oriented towards a performance parameter, by carrying out thermal simulations and modifying geometry parameters and material properties until optimum performance is achieved. The results show that it is possible, through design optimization combined with computer simulation, to simulate more than 750 scenarios of configurations of a model, which can present a configuration with a performance up to 50% better than the worst-case scenario, with a PHFT of 100% being achieved in 523 scenarios, and the importance of choosing the absorptance of the paints of the building envelope in order to provide better performance, and the orientation of the openings of the model in the thermal performance.