Abstract

SOSA G, MARIA EUGENIA. Façades design strategies in a warm-humid climate to reduce thermal loads in Venezuelan buildings. Rev. Fac. Ing. UCV [online]. 2007, vol.22, n.4, pp.89-98. ISSN 0798-4065.

Contemporary architecture of non-domestic buildings in Venezuela has introduced inappropriate design and technology criteria for the warm-humid climate because of ineffective regulations. As a result these buildings are responsible for high energy use and high costs. These results represent a first exploration for developing a method to evaluate design strategies for commercial buildings. It is based on a comparative study of several techniques in west façades, to evaluate the effect of the selection of opaque and translucent components on the cooling loads of the air conditioning system and electric lighting. The aim is to provide a method to compare diverse strategies in the design of the facade, specifying its advantages and relative defects in relation to the energy efficiency, and also to relate that to environmental impact and the cost ofconstruction and operation. The façade design strategies are supported by the literature and by ad-hoc simulations, for the latitude of Venezuela. In facades, the total translucent surface area and the orientation influence the increase of the cooling loads of the air conditioning system. In west facades, for the same area of windows, a greater increase of cooling load is observed. A decrease in the cooling load, in a warm-humid climate, is a result of using windows or curtain walls with spectrally selective glass of low solar gain. Nevertheless, traditional solutions, such as external shading, balconies and vegetation in windows, have a significant effect in reducing cooling energy; for they are the most energy efficient and economic design strategies.

Keywords : Façade; Sustainable design; Energy efficient; Building envelope; Warm-humid climate; Non-domestic buildings.