Abstract

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