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Application of adaptive comfort behaviors in Chilean social housing standards under the influence of climate change

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Abstract

Currently, energy performance indicators for buildings are associated with the primary energy source consumption, CO2 emissions or net energy distribution, which together set the building’s energy efficiency. The evaluation is frequently based on setpoint temperatures and hours of operation. However, these fixed parameters are not suitable for social housing simulation as their performance tends to be in free running, excluding extremely cold or warm conditions. Therefore, a more successful assessment for the efficiency of these buildings is the users’ capability to live within adaptive comfort ranges without air conditioning systems. The aim of this research is to analyze new Chilean standards for sustainable social housing in the context of climate change using the adaptive comfort approach addressed in EN 15251:2007. Using EnergyPlus simulation software, 16 parametric series are analyzed for current conditions and validated against on-site measurements. Meanwhile, a prediction for the climate in 2050 has also been taken into account. The case study is the most widespread low cost dwelling model. The study demonstrates that the period of time within thermal comfort conditions varies substantially if analysis is done using the adaptive comfort standard or the Sustainable Construction Code (CCS) for Chilean housing. Considering climate change, the percentage of time fluctuates from −19.00% to 24.30%. Concluding that the adaptive comfort model has a greater capacity to positively assess indoor temperatures for social housing in Central-Southern Chile. This research also establishes that it is possible to provide homes where standards are improved within comfort conditions without using artificial means, 99.67% of the time currently and 88.89% in the future.

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Acknowledgements

The authors belong to the Sustainable Architecture and Construction Research Group (GACS) at the University of the Bío-Bío and would like to acknowledge that this paper is part of the FONDECYT research project 3160806 “Study of the feasible energy improvement standard for social housing in fuel poverty by means of post occupational adaptive comfort assessment and its progressive implementation” funded by the Chilean National Commission for Research in Science and Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Building Construction II, Higher Technical School of Building Engineering, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain

    Carlos Rubio-Bellido

  2. Department of Building Science, Faculty of Architecture, Construction and Design, Universidad del Bío-Bío, Concepción, Chile

    Alexis Pérez-Fargallo & Jesús A. Pulido-Arcas

  3. Department of Architectural Theory and Design, Faculty of Architecture, Construction and Design, Universidad del Bío-Bío, Concepción, Chile

    Maureen Trebilcock

Authors
  1. Carlos Rubio-Bellido
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  2. Alexis Pérez-Fargallo
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  3. Jesús A. Pulido-Arcas
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  4. Maureen Trebilcock
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Correspondence to Carlos Rubio-Bellido.

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Rubio-Bellido, C., Pérez-Fargallo, A., Pulido-Arcas, J.A. et al. Application of adaptive comfort behaviors in Chilean social housing standards under the influence of climate change. Build. Simul. 10, 933–947 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-017-0385-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-017-0385-9

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