Abstract

Homes are one of the major energy consumers and generate significant environmental impact inChile and globally. The improvement of existing buildings or new projects is a procedure basedon multidimensional simulations and the energy evaluation of housing. However, there is a lackof strategies to identify appropriate modifications. Normally, the original situation is compared withan improved scenario according to general estimates, but without analyzing the most effectivealternatives, building process, economic projections or acceptability for the occupants.Based on the study of a dozen, representative dwellings in south-central Chile, in whichconstruction records, computer models, environmental monitoring, and occupancy patterns werecompared, this work presents a methodology for the effective analysis of residential environmentalimprovement. Considering a selection of relevant existing or projected conditions, energysimulation was carried out according to consolidated background information, and alternativeswere identified according to a catalog of suitable building solutions for each type of housingstudied. Thus, performance results were analyzed using a methodology known as Life-Cycle CostAnalysis (LCCA) for the financial analysis of the simulated alternatives in order to determine themost effective action packages.In this way, construction proposals were created, applied through computer simulations andimplemented in reality. The purpose of this work is to compare the values of energy savingsproduced by improvements obtained with energy efficiency analysis programs, with the results ofbuilding monitoring.