Bioclimatic sub-urban building in a moderate cold climate in Argentina

Abstract

The design and the technology of a bioclimatic building located in Santa Rosa, province of La Pampa (Argentina) are described in this article. The latitude and longitude of the city are 36º57’ y 66º27’, respectively. The general guidelines for the design were: heating and natural cooling, day-lighting and visual comfort. 72% of the housing floor area receives direct solar gains from the north (17.5% of the useful area). The envelope thermal resistance is 1.60 and 3.65 m2ºC/W for walls and roof respectively. The aim of this study is to evaluate the thermal performance and energy consumption of this building. Between April 19 and May 24 (unoccupied) the mean indoor temperature was 21º C (mean outdoor temperature of 15.9ºC, maximum irradiance between 400 and 500 W/m2). Results for winter were satisfactory: comfort conditions were kept with a daily natural gas consumption of about 0.09m3/m2/day (57% saving as compared with traditional buildings). The results showed a good performance during spring (mean indoor temperature of 22.2ºC, mean outdoor temperature of 16ºC). During summer the indoor mean temperature was 25.4ºC without mechanical cooling system (mean outdoor temperature of 25.2ºC). The additional solarisation-conservation cost was 6.4% (2007).