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El artículo propone un aporte a la perspectiva integral de diseño para abordar los problemas ambientales del hábitat, indagando en las potencialidades de la Economía Circular. Se reconocen, sus principios generales, como los alcances de su implementación desde el campo académico y profesional. Se pone en relieve, en esta primera instancia, un enfoque circular centrado en la gestión de residuos de la construcción, asociado a una concepción material-instrumental del hábitat. Seguidamente, el artículo profundiza en las ideas y prácticas de experiencias periféricas (no-académicas), quienes orientan sus prácticas desde una visión ampliada del hábitat y una concepción biocéntrica de la naturaleza. El estudio abarca cinco casos que promueven los principios de la Permacultura, recuperándose emergentes conceptuales que permiten ampliar y complejizar la implementación de un enfoque circular en el diseño ambiental del hábitat. The article proposes a contribution to the integral perspective of design to address the environmental problems of the habitat, inquiring into the potential of the Circular Economy. Its general principles are recognized, as well as the scope of its implementation from the academic and professional field. In this first instance, a circular approach focused on the management of construction waste is highlighted, associated with a material-instrumental conception of the habitat. Next, the article delves into the ideas and practices of peripheral (non-academic) experiences, who guide their practices from an expanded vision of the habitat and a biocentric conception of nature. The study is delimited to five cases that promote the principles of Permaculture, recovering conceptual emergencies that allow expanding the implementation of a circular approach in the environmental design of the habitat. Fil: Di Bernardo, Alvaro. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo; Argentina Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional La Pampa-San Luis; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis; Argentina

El cambio climático, el constante crecimiento del consumo energético y los altos niveles de emisiones que registra el sector energético, requieren de la implementación de soluciones concretas. La rehabilitación de edificios ofrece una oportunidad significativa para contribuir en este aspecto. El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar el potencial de intervención en un edificio escolar perteneciente al Programa Nacional 700 Escuelas. Las mejoras en eficiencia energética se evalúan a través de simulación dinámica y se calculan indicadores respecto al consumo anual de energía para calefacción. Los valores para el edificio de referencia son de 74,5 kWh/m2 año y de 158 kWh/alumno. Con las propuestas de rehabilitación se podrían alcanzar ahorros energéticos de entre 39,7% y 60%. La alternativa R-Media se presenta como la más conveniente al lograr beneficios energéticos del 47%, con menores costos de inversión. Los indicadores de eficiencia energética para dicho conjunto de mejoras son de 39,2 kWh/m2 año y de 83,1 kWh/alumno. Los resultados alcanzados pueden servir de referencia para la rehabilitación de 71 edificios escolares erigidos en la provincia de San Juan entre los años 2004 y 2015, los cuales responden a una tipología constructiva con similitudes de materialización de la envolvente y configuración funcional. Climate change, the constant growth of energy consumption, and the high levels of emissions recorded by the energy sector, require the implementation of concrete solutions. Building rehabilitation offers a significant opportunity to contribute in this regard. The purpose of this work is to analyze the potential for intervention in a school building from the “Programa Nacional 700 Escuela” (National 700 Schools Program). The improvements in energy efficiency are evaluated through a dynamic simulation and indicators are calculated regarding the annual energy consumption for heating. The values for the reference building are 74.5 kWh/m2 year and 158 kWh/student. With the rehabilitation proposals, energy savings could be achieved of between 39.7% and 60%. The R-Mean alternative appears as the most convenient one as it achieves energy benefits of 47%, with lower investment costs. The energy efficiency indicators for said set of improvements are 39.2 kWh/m2 year and 83.1 kWh/student. The results achieved can serve as reference for the rehabilitation of 71 school buildings built in the province of San Juan between 2004 and 2015, which belong to a construction typology with a similarity of materials of their envelope and functional configuration. Fil: Re, Maria Guillermina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Instituto Regional de Planeamiento y Hábitat - Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Instituto Regional de Planeamiento y Hábitat; Argentina Fil: Mazzocco, Maria Pia. No especifíca; Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional La Pampa-San Luis; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis; Argentina

Las acciones o estrategias bioclimáticas y sustentables en el diseño de edificios se ha transformado en una necesidad urgente para bajar los niveles de consumo energético del sector. La envolvente de los edificios es la interfaz entre el ambiente interior y el exterior que afectan la ganancia y pérdida de calor interior alterando de manera directa el requerimiento de energía para calefaccionar o enfriar los espacios. La aislación térmica de la envolvente juega un papel predominante en el descenso de los valores de transmitancia para evitar pérdidas o ganancias. El objetivo principal de este trabajo es analizar la incidencia de la aislación térmica en muros y techos en la respuesta energética de viviendas unifamiliares de diferentes formas y materialidades en el período de enfriamiento para cuatro zonas bioambientales de la República Argentina. Se ha trabajado con la metodología de simulación paramétrica por medio de J-eplus, que permitió alcanzar la combinación de diferentes variables como: cuatro niveles de U para muros y techos, cuatro relaciones de relación muro opaco y vidrio (WWR), dos sistemas constructivos y tres tipologías formales diferentes; alcanzando un número de 3456 simulaciones. Los resultados muestran que en climas muy cálidos, cálidos y templados cálidos el consumo energético disminuye para valores de U más altos en muros, mientras que la incidencia de valores menores de U en techos refleja un consumo menor. Fil: Mercado, Maria Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ambiente, Hábitat y Energía; Argentina Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Barea Paci, Gustavo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ambiente, Hábitat y Energía; Argentina

Climate change will have great impacts on building´ energy consumption and design of future buildings should consider this situation. The aims of this research are to evaluate the impact of climate change on the energy performance of residential buildings and to analyze if bioclimatic strategies that are appropriate for present climatic conditions should be applied in the design of future buildings. A compact conventional housing that represents an Argentinean typical mid-income house was simulated with EnergyPlus software and calibrated with measured data. Energy consumption and bioclimatic strategies were analyzed for future data under A2 scenario. The change of annual energy use between the baseline period (1961-1990) and 2080 is predicted to range from − 25% to 8% for conventional housing buildings. The energy destined to air heating and cooling will be 23%?59% lower and 360-790% higher, respectively, in 2080 than in the baseline period (1961-1990). These values correspond to decreases between 6.0 and 7.6 kWh/m2-decade (heating) and increases between 1.7 and 8.4 kWh/m2-decade (cooling). Recommendations on future building design and building retrofit are done. Sunshading together a with reduction of direct solar gains and natural ventilation were found to be the most effective design strategies to counteract climate changes in future buildings. Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Barea Paci, Gustavo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ambiente, Hábitat y Energía; Argentina

Aim: The research aimed at carrying out a global comparative synthesis of the results of monitoring thermal energy behavior of single-family dwellings and apartments located in the city of Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina; and describing an architectural proposal that considers use of resources (land, morphology, materials and energy), lifestyle of inhabitants (qualitative variables) and critical analysis of the historical problems of the housing deficit in Argentina. Methods: The work includes a typological analysis of clusters of dimensional, morphological and thermo-physical indicators, energy performance and inhabitant’s behavior. Regarding energy heating consumption, multifamily buildings consume 52% less energy than the average single-family dwellings. Results: An architectural proposal taken into account the use of resources and energy efficiency strategies to give an answer to the housing deficit of the area under study showed that the densification of housing provides significant energy and economic benefits, especially if one incorporates passive solar design principles. Apartment blocks (B) and single-family dwellings (H) show 114.3 and 47.6 dwelling/hectare, and as a result, 39.4 and 16.4 inhabitant/hectare. Conclusion: Heating energy saving of B in relation to H is around 32% and the envelope’s cost is reduced to 47%. Argentina’s energy scenario, the possibility of reviewing regulations and building codes, the region’s growth trend in housing construction, the process of building labelling, among others, require a thorough analysis of the information on characteristics of building stock and its energy performance. Fil: Sulaiman, Halimi Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro Experimental de la Vivienda Económica; Argentina Fil: Sipowicz, Eugenia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro Experimental de la Vivienda Económica; Argentina Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional La Pampa-San Luis; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis; Argentina Fil: Oga Martinez, Lautaro Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro Experimental de la Vivienda Económica; Argentina

Two different analyses of the energy behavior of dwellings in Santa Rosa city (36°27' S, 64° 27' W, 182 m above sea level), in central Argentina, are presented. Firstly, a retrospective analysis of the operating energy -electricity and gas- of 10 compact housing in a period of 50 years is presented. Periods with missing data were fulfilled through predictive statistical models. Then, a “case study” was used to study different retrofitting strategies and to make a prospective analysis for future weather conditions calculated through the CMIP5-Coupled Model Intercomparison Project-Phase 5. The results indicate that the addition of thermal insulation in walls and roofs is highly beneficial, but the increase of glazed areas seems to be counterproductive. The energy demands for 2010 and 2039, for both the conventional and the retrofitted dwelling, show a decrease in winter and an increase in summer. We conclude that it is necessary to revise the dimensions suggested for the glazed areas, in order to deal with present and future indoor overheating. This paper presents the integration of past, present and future, towards a better comprehension of the challenges to be faced in the next decades. Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Ricard, Maria Florencia. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina Fil: Santamouris, Mattheos. University of Athens; Grecia

Extreme heat events result in higher indoor temperatures in buildings, increased energy consumption, and more frequent health problems, mainly between the children, the elderly over 65, and vulnerable low-income people. The indoor environment plays a key role in reducing the effects of extreme heat events. While the benefits of passive cooling measures on thermal and environmental aspects are well known, their effects on resilience are less well explored. This paper aims at studying the indoor environment in low-income housing from the energy and heat resilience points of view, during extreme hot periods, together with possible passive cooling measures to be applied in the houses in order to improve both, heat resilience and energy efficiency. A low-income neighbourhood in La Pampa, central Argentina, was selected as a case study. Transient thermal simulation, electricity consumption bills obtained from the Energy Company, and health statistics from the data-base of the nearby hospital were used. We conclude that the houses are not capable to manage hot/heat wave periods in a resilient way because of their energy inefficient design. Moreover, the cooling equipment is sub-used due to economic reasons. Indoor temperatures exceeded 33 °C and Heat Index reached “Extreme caution” health risk level. Sudden changes in the meteorological conditions seems to increase the number of consultations of health disorders previous or after the hot periods. The best set of passive strategies is to favour night ventilation together with shading of the envelope (i.e., by trees, climbing plants, green walls, or by installing ventilated opaque facades) and an improved roof (light colour coating and addition of thermal insulation). These strategies could both, improve the heat resilience and the thermal behavior of the indoor environment while reducing the electricity consumption in the hottest months of summer.

Se estudia el comportamiento térmico-energético de una vivienda social en la región central de Argentina. El objetivo es evaluar energéticamente la vivienda para un período histórico entre 1960 y 2011 y obtener el modelo termo físico a través de la simulación con ECOTECT y SIMEDIF para proponer su rehabilitación. La disponibilidad de datos reales del consumo de energía permitió la calibración a través de la simulación y la obtención del modelo, base de la rehabilitación orientada a la conservación y a la solarización a través de la incorporación de aislación térmica en la envolvente y un aumento del 10,8% al 20,3% del área vidriada colectora al norte. Los resultados muestran que la rehabilitación energética permite, además de satisfacer las recomendaciones de las Normas IRAM, mejorar el nivel del etiquetado energético con ambientes térmicamente confortables. A partir de la intervención energética la energía contenida se incrementa un 4,3 y un 7,1 % para alcanzar el Nivel B y A de la Norma IRAM, respectivamente con un ahorro de energía del 53,7 y del 85,6% en la calefacción (H) de los espacios. El consumo anual por metro cuadrado de superficie útil es de 34,9 kWh/m2, valor auspicioso aún no pudiendo alcanzar el Nivel Passivehouse. This study is concerned with the thermal- energy behaviour of a social dwelling in the central region of Argentina. The aim is to evaluate the energy consumption of the dwelling during the historical period between 1960 and 2011 and to obtain the thermo-physical model through simulation with ECOTECT and SIMEDIF. The availability of real data on energy consumption allowed the calibration through simulation and the design of the model. The retrofitting guidelines aimed at energy conservation and solar collection through the incorporation of thermal insulation in the envelope and an increase from 10.8% to 20.3% of the north facing solar glazing area were applied. The results showed that, in addition to meetingthe recommendations of the regulations in force, energy retrofitting leads to the achievement of the objective of this study, improvingthe level of energy labelling with thermally comfortable environments. From an energy intervention perspective, the contained energy increases by 4.3 and 7.1%, reaching Level B and A of the IRAM Standard, respectively, with heating energy savings of 53.7 and 85.6%. The annual consumption per square meter of usable area is 34.9 kWh/m2, which is an interesting value, even though it does not yet reach that of the passive house level. Fil: Mazzocco, Maria Pia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro Experimental de la Vivienda Económica; Argentina Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Córdoba. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Manfredi; Argentina Fil: Sulaiman, Halimi Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro Experimental de la Vivienda Económica; Argentina Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina

El enfriamiento pasivo a través de la ventilación natural presenta un gran potencial para viviendas unifamiliares en climas templados continentales como lo es el de la ciudad de Mendoza, ubicada alcentro oeste de la República Argentina. Esta estrategia persigue evitar riesgos de sobrecalentamiento y reducir la necesidad de uso de los equipos mecánicos. El objetivo del estudio expuesto es evaluar lainfluencia de la ventilación natural diurna y nocturna en el consumo de energía en condiciones reales de uso de una vivienda con construcción tradicional y construcción industrializada. Para ello, se usó unmodelo computacional de una vivienda unifamiliar, modelada y ajustada en el programa Energy Plus v8.6. Y, para el modelado de la ventilación natural, se utilizó ?Airflow Network? (algoritmo AIRNET), validado por Gu (2007) y Crawley et al. (2001). Los resultados indican que, tanto en la construcción másica como en la liviana, con ventilación nocturna, los consumos energéticos son menores en 50% que ventilando de día. La ventilación natural en edificios bioclimáticos resulta una estrategiaindispensable para el enfriamiento del mismo. En esta situación radica la importancia de contar con una herramienta de simulación para el ensayo de diferentes modos de uso y control de la misma. Passive cooling through natural ventilation has a great potential for single-family homes and temperate continents such as the city of Mendoza, located in the central west of the Argentine Republic. This strategy seeks to end the risks of overheating and reduces the energy consumption of mechanical conditioning equipment. This study aims to evaluate the influence on energy consumption, in two ventilation scenarios (day and night) for two constructive resolutions (light and mass). For this, a computational model of a single-family house, modeled and adjusted in the Energy Plus v8.6 program was used. For the ventilation model, “Airflow Network” (AIRNET algorithm) validated by Gu (2007) y Crawley et al. (2001) was used. The results indicate that, in the construction as well as in life, with night ventilation the energy consumptions are lower in 50% than they ventilate during the day. The natural ventilation in bioclimatic buildings is an indispensable strategy for the cooling of the same. In this situation lies the importance of having a simulation tool to test different scenarios of use and control of the same. Fil: Mercado, Maria Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ambiente, Hábitat y Energía; Argentina Fil: Barea Paci, Gustavo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ambiente, Hábitat y Energía; Argentina Fil: Esteves Miramont, Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ambiente, Hábitat y Energía; Argentina Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina

Energy retrofit of existing buildings was highlighted as an efficient massive action to decrease energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases. But, detecting the optimal retrofit strategies for groups of buildings is nowadays a highly complex problem. Their energy consumptions are influenced by building-related factors (climate, building envelope, building services and systems) and by user-related ones (building operation and maintenance, occupant behavior, and indoor environmental quality). Detecting the contributions of each factor and grouping buildings with similarities –in order to establish similar retrofit strategies – are the main issues that can be faced by statistical multivariate methods. In this paper, we present a new and broader view to propose retrofit strategies adapted to a climate change scenario and analyzed from the economic and energy-poverty points of view, by using multivariate and clustering techniques that include building-related and user-related metrics influencing the energy consumption of groups of buildings. A group of 10 single-family houses in Argentina were selected as a case-study. The contributions of eleven building-related driving metrics and four user-related ones to the energy consumption were analyzed. Then, the more representative house of the cluster was selected for a retrofit analysis for current weather conditions and for future weather under a climate change scenario. The analysis also included an economic assessment in relation to the energy poverty. The higher CV values found in the user-related metrics highlight the influence of occupants in the energy consumption that can result in huge gaps between real and predicted energy performance of buildings. This holistic study contributes to reveal the internal structure of energy consumption and to generate useful knowledge about energy retrofit of the built environment in cities, particularly for those householders which are more susceptible to suffer the adverse effects of energy poverty and climate change. Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina Fil: Ricard, Maria Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina

Previous experience in designing and monitoring bioclimatic buildings in central Argentina suggests that their thermal behavior is a matter of concern and that further research is needed. Thus, the objectives of this work are: to describe the design and the post-occupancy evaluation of a new non-domestic solar building in a continental semiarid region of central Argentina (37°38′ latitude S, 63°34′ longitude, 175 m above sea level), to analyze the building's hygrothermal and energy performance, and to estimate the PMV and PPD. The design guidelines were: to minimize the consumption of conventional energy in thermal-lighting conditioning, to use traditional technology, to maximize the thermal comfort, and to reach an extra-cost lower than 10%. The post-occupancy monitoring of the building was performed along one complete year (August 9th 2011-August 18th 2012). Data-loggers were installed in each functional area to sense the indoor temperature and relative humidity at time steps of 10 min. A meteorological station was installed near the building. The experimental results showed that during winter the average temperature in the areas of permanent use was 20.3 °C (average outdoor temperature: 10.1 °C) and the heating energy consumption was around 73.5 kW h/m2. During summer the average indoor temperature in the building was 26.9 °C, 1.7 °C below the outdoor temperature average (28.6°C); cooling systems were turned on when the indoor temperature reached 28 °C, at approximately 11:30 AM, when the outdoor air temperature exceeded 30 °C. Mechanical cooling consumed around 59% of the daily electricity consumption. The PDD results obtained for winter and summer representative days meet the requirements of ISO Norm 7730. Heating and cooling energy saving was around 63% and 76.5% respectively. The monitoring showed that the thermal behavior and energy performance met the expectations of both designers and users, and it is considered satisfactory and promising for low-energy consumption buildings. Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina Fil: Marek, Marcelo Aurelio. No especifica

The objectives of this research were to estimate the thermal transmittance and some physical-mechanical properties of a housing cover built with roofing tiles made from recycled plastics and rubber and compare them with three other traditional solutions for housing cover: ceramic roofing tiles, concrete roofing tiles, and zinc sheets. This roofing tile has technical advantages over the others, due to its higher thermal insulation, higher resistance to freezing, higher resistance to hail, higher flexural resistance, lower specific weight, and lower water absorption, with lower cost than the traditional glazed black ceramic roofing tile. And it is also friendlier to the environment. Fil: Gaggino, Rosana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro Experimental de la Vivienda Económica; Argentina Fil: Kreiker, Jeronimo Rafael. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro Experimental de la Vivienda Económica; Argentina Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Sanchez Amono, Maria Paz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro Experimental de la Vivienda Económica; Argentina Fil: Gonzalez Laria, Julian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro Experimental de la Vivienda Económica; Argentina Fil: Peisino, Lucas Ernesto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro Experimental de la Vivienda Económica; Argentina

Using plants in building walls is a bioclimatic strategy to obtain savings in building energy consumption, between other important benefits of aesthetic, psychological and economic origins. The plant, as a living component of the facade, responses to the environment conditions in a very complicated way. The simulation of this response is not straightforward and some simplifications are needed in order to include it as a building component. The aim of this paper is to present two alternative simplified models to simulate a green wall with EnergyPlus. A discussion about why the green roof model cannot be used in a vertical green facade is also included. Both models are used to simulate a prototype with a green facade. Inside and outside glass temperatures, plant foliage temperature, and window heat gain and losses are calculated. The results are discussed and recommendations for simulating green facades are done.

The aim of the present study is to evaluate historical consumption of natural gas for heating, between 1996 and 2009, in multifamily buildings, using stepwise selection and multivariate analysis. 72 apartments of the capital of the province of La Pampa, Argentina, were studied. Some apartments were previously monitored, thus information about their thermal and energy behaviour is available. There are many variables that could influence the winter energy and annual consumption of the apartments. Based on the characteristics of buildings in Argentina and on previous research, ten variables were selected, from which the most representative ones were selected by using a stepwise method. Then, the apartments were grouped by applying clustering techniques, and the centroids for each cluster were determined by averaging the variables that describe the cluster. It was shown that the apartments monitored in previous works, having good thermal behaviour, are close to the centroids of the group to which they belong and could be taken as references of their group. The annual heating energy consumption average for the sample is 118.2 kWh/m2/y. However, a significant percentage of apartments showed energy consumptions lower than 70 kWh/m2/y, which is a widely accepted value to define a building as a "low-energy" one. Thus, some apartments could be classified as "low-energy", but for the actual Argentinean Norm they do not qualify even for the worst energy level label. The results make evident a strong disagreement between the Argentinean standard label and the real energy consumption for heating. This fact should be considered as fundamental in order to review the Norm. Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Ricard, Maria Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina

When using passive solar heating systems, it is necessary to have available an Equator-facing facade on which to install them. Rooms without such a facade are not the best option for conventional passive solar heating systems. SIRASOL is a passive solar radiant system that captures solar energy and is to be installed in the ceiling of the room. This room must not necessarily have an Equator-facing facade. Solar energy heats up a metal sheet, which is the radiant panel, which transfers heat by long-wave radiation to the room below it. This paper presents a mathematical model and a sensitivity analysis. The mathematical model was used to analyze radiant panel temperature, radiant mean temperature, operative temperature and panel surface area. Results of the sensitivity study showed that when solar radiation rises (from 200 to 800W) panel temperature increases from 36°C to 92°C, whereas variations in outside and inside air temperature have a negligible impact on the panel temperature. Thus, the use of SIRASOL is possible in locations with clear skies. Moreover, from panel temperature values we calculated mean radiant temperature and thereby the room's operative temperature, which is proportional to the radiant panel area. When this area is 50% of the room's floor area, operative temperature grows 3.1°C higher than inside air temperature when solar radiation is 500W/m 2 . The analysis shows that a thermal asymmetry appears only when SIRASOL's surface area to floor area ratio is higher than 32%. Fil: Mercado, Maria Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Esteves Miramont, Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Ciencias Humanas, Sociales y Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina

This paper analyses the thermal-energy behaviour and the comfort/discomfort conditions in four compact massive housing located in a temperate climate in the central region of Argentina. The study has the following main objectives: (a) the thermal and energy monitoring of compact single family housing with the same technology, with different orientations, along the same period of summer 2010; (b) the statistical analysis of the indoor temperature behaviour, comfort conditions and electricity consumption for a historical period; and (c) the extrapolation of the results obtained in one of the studied dwellings to a sector of the neighbourhood. The analysis for summer showed that these houses would not reach indoor conditions of thermal comfort without using mechanical air conditioning. Monthly energy consumption average, summer consumption and February consumption for the historical period 2000–2009 were obtained. The average and a statistical analysis of the collected data revealed a normal distribution for the series. When monitoring results from 2010 were added to the statistical analysis, it was observed that the annual behaviour is similar to that of 2009 except for one of the houses in which the increase in consumption is the result of adding a split air conditioner. Extrapolation of results to houses in another block allowed us to infer – by analyzing electricity consumption patterns – that dwellers did not live in comfortable conditions. The addition of insulation on the roof was studied as a strategy to improve indoor conditions and reduce energy consumption. The cooling load, by assuming an indoor temperature of 25 °C, of a house with a thermally improved roof would reach energy savings of around 18%, figure that can be considered highly promising for a growing city. Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Salta; Argentina

The investigation presented in this paper has three main objectives. The first one is to study, through a case study, if it is possible to acceptably predict the energy consumption of a massive residential free-running building, when the exact behavior of the occupants is unknown or actual indoor conditions are not monitored, assuming standard use and occupation schedules, for the dry climate of the Argentinean Northwest. The second objective of the paper is to detect the possible causes of differences between actual and predicted energy consumption through an exhaustive thermal monitoring and occupant's behavior, in order to obtain an improved model of the building giving more accurate predictions of the energy consumption. The third objective is to analyze the effect on the annual energy consumption of changing the massive envelope by a lightweight one. The comparison of real and simulated consumptions under comfort conditions defined by ASHRAE Standard 55 shows that simulations overestimated the energy consumption for heating and cooling. The main causes were detected from the experimental monitoring, indicating a lower use of the air conditioning equipment than the supposed initially. Simulations were improved to consider actual use and occupation conditions. Finally, an annual simulation of the improved model performed by changing the envelope material to a lightweight one showed that energy consumption for heating was increased, while energy consumption for cooling was decreased. In an annual balance, the massive walls are preferable over lightweight ones in arid sunny climates as in the Argentinean Northwest, giving energy savings of around 25%. Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Salta; Argentina Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; Argentina Fil: González, Silvina Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Salta; Argentina

This paper analyzes the thermal and energy behaviour of apartments in three-story block buildings located along a NE-SW axis (azimuth = 120°) in a temperate-cold climate (latitude: 36°57′; longitude: 64°27′) in the city of Santa Rosa, La Pampa, central Argentina. Four apartments had been monitored during May and June 2009. Three of them are located in Block 126. Two of these apartments face South: 15 and 23 on the SE end, ground and first floor, respectively; 18 faces N on the second floor. Finally apartment, 12 is located in Block 374, on the first floor, faces N and shows a carpentry-closed balcony. The purpose of this work is – to study the evolution of the indoor temperature in each apartment; to analyze energy consumption and comfort conditions; to study energy potential and energy intervention in order to reduce energy consumption; to analyze bioclimatic alternatives feasibility and the possibility to extrapolate results to all blocks. On the basis of the analysis of natural gas historical consumption records, results showed that regarding heating energy consumption during the period May–June, Apartment 12, facing N, with its only bedroom facing NW and its carpentry-closed, transparent glass balcony, presented a mean temperature of 21.2 °C, using a halogen heater for 6 h/day between 9 pm and 2 am (0.16 kWh/day/m 2 ). Apartment 15, on the SE end, first floor of the block consumed 22.5 kWh/day (0.43 kWh/day/m 2 ) (mean temperature = 22.2 °C). Apartment 23, located on the second and top floor (on top of Apartment 15) with higher energy loss, consumed 28 kWh/day (0.54 kWh/day/m 2 ) (mean temperature = 23.7 °C). Apartment 18, also on the second floor and facing N, located in the centre and with its only bedroom facing SE, consumed 18.8 kWh/day (0.48 kWh/day/m 2 ) (mean temperature = 22.3 °C). Apartment 23, with higher thermal loss through its envelope, but with heat transfer from the apartment located below, is the one that showed the highest level of consumption/m 2 . Closing the balcony with carpentry produced an important reduction of energy consumption while reaching comfort conditions. The analysis of the experimental results allowed: (a) to determine through analysis of historical consumption of natural gas prior to the year 2009 that the owner lived under conditions of comfort, (b) to evaluate possible interventions in the building that would lead to saving heating energy. Thermal insulation of roof and envelope appears as the most feasible alternative whereas closing balconies constitute a very good design option in winter.

The energy performance of two bioclimatic buildings located in Santa Rosa city, a temperate semi-arid agricultural region of central Argentina, is analysed. The bioclimatic design included direct solar gain, thermal inertia, natural ventilation, thermal insulation, external shading, building orientation, and dwelling grouping. Each double-story building is aligned on an East–West axis and it has a compact shape with 350 m2 of useful floor area (58 m2/apartment). The solar collection area is around 18% of the apartment's useful area on the ground floor and 14% on the upper floor. This paper describes the energy performance of the buildings during the period 2001–2008. The analysis includes: (a) the energy consumption (natural gas and electricity) during 2001–2007 (natural gas: annually, bimonthly; electricity: monthly); (b) the natural gas consumption and the thermal behaviour during the winters of year 2001 (between July 27 and August 3) and 2008 (between August 8 and 13); (c) the daily natural gas consumption and the thermal behaviour during 2001 and 2008 winters; (d) the comparison between the energy consumption for heating in bioclimatic and conventional buildings. The authors concluded that the results confirm the large potential of solar buildings design to reach significant levels of energy saving. The comparison of solar and conventional buildings in terms of natural gas consumption demonstrates the magnitude of such potential. Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Salta; Argentina Fil: Canori, M.. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa; Argentina

The exact 2-D transient solution of a slab with an embedded array of parallel circular pipes for heating/cooling is developed. The boundary and initial conditions are: constant temperature at the pipe surface, upper slab surface subjected to convection heat transfer, thermal insulation at the slab bottom, and constant initial temperature. The analytical solution of the transient bi-dimensional problem is obtained together with the fluid temperature. A calculation example is analysed at the end of the paper to enlighten practical issues appearing in the computation of the analytical solution.

This paper analyzes the energy consumption during the period 2001–2006 of 192 flats distributed in three-storey buildings, in order to understand how current policies related to energy use could be improved for increased residential energy efficiency in Argentina. The buildings (1, 2 and 3 bedrooms) are located in La Pampa, central Argentina, in a moderate cold climate. The dimensional and energy-consumption variables are studied (area, envelope's area, FAEP=envelope's area/floor area; envelope's thermal resistance R , volumetric heat loss G and auxiliary heating Q aux ). The natural gas consumption is analyzed at annual and seasonal levels. Consumption variability among buildings, storeys and flats is calculated. The quantitative analysis is coupled to a qualitative description through direct observation of the buildings. The results show: (a) a high incidence of natural gas consumption in the total annual energy consumption (natural gas+electricity), (b) seasonality of natural gas consumption, with a maximum value in the cold period July–August (variability=80%), (c) little variability among buildings of the annual natural gas consumption (4.17%), (d) the lowest average energy consumption at the first floor, (e) high variability among flats on each storey, (f) winter consumption of a multi-family dwelling lower than a single-family dwelling of similar area and (g) little seasonal variability of the electricity consumption.

There is a wide variety of thermal analyses that can be used to characterize the thermal behavior of a wall under certain outdoor conditions. The selection of a particular wall configuration for a building project involves not only the outdoor climate, but also the whole building characteristics, orientation, percentage of glazed areas, occupation periods, lifestyles, etc. In this paper we apply common available methods for wall thermal analysis to two particular wall types, a massive brick wall and an insulated brick wall, in order to compare the information given by each method and to evaluate how these methods can help in the selection of a certain type of wall. The studied methods include the estimation of the wall time lag and decrement factor, the harmonically heated slab model, the Athanassouli’s method, and numerical simulations. The study was performed for the walls of a residence for university students and it was built in La Pampa (Argentina). Once the building was finished, the transient thermal behavior of two walls was monitored during one summer week. The experimental results are presented and the fitting with the thermal behavior predicted by each method is discussed. The thermal comfort indicators PMV (predicted mean vote) and PPD (predicted percentage of dissatisfied) were calculated for two flats, at ground floor and first floor respectively.

The analysis of the winter and summer thermal behavior of a low-income dwelling, built by Provincial Institute of Dwelling in Salta, is presented. For both orientations of the major axis, the mean indoor temperatures in winter were around 14°C with a daily thermal swing between 5°C and 10°C, values that are outside the comfort area. Thus, auxiliary conventional heating is needed during all the day. In summer, the dwellings are almost all the day outside the comfort area, with indoor temperatures higher than outdoor air and thermal swings between 7°C and 10°C. Clearly there is a lack of storage mass to moderate the internal air swing. A set of alternatives to improve the indoor thermal comfort was ana- lyzed. The program SIMEDIF for Windows was used to simulate the hourly thermal behavior of the dwelling.

In this paper we describe the design and thermal behaviour of a bioclimatic Auditorium at the National University of La Pampa, used for teaching activities in Santa Rosa, La Pampa (Argentina). The building was monitored in winter and simulated with SIMEDIF for Windows, a code developed at the Non Conventional Energy Research Institute (INENCO, Argentina). Then, a new project of a similar building was proposed for General Pico city, and the obtained physical model was used to simulate the building under the summer temperatures of the new city. The building was redesigned and passive solar strategies were applied to reduce heating and cooling loads. The final layout and the monitored thermal behaviour of the new building in winter and summer are described. Without additional costc, the new building savings were 50% in heating requirements respect to the conventional layout, and 70% in the requirements of conventional energy for cooling.

This paper summarizes the results obtained from the energy and thermal performance assessment of residential and non-residential low-energy buildings that were designed to minimize fossil energy use. They are located in the province of La Pampa, central Argentina, in a temperate continental climate that shows extreme hot and cold records during the summer and winter seasons, respectively. The common applied technologies for saving energy were passive solar heating, natural ventilation for cooling and daylighting. The glazing area in the principal functional spaces facing to the North oscillates between 11 and 17% of the building useful areas. All the studied buildings are massive, with the exception of an auditorium that was designed with a lightweight insulated technology. The mean thermal transmittance of the envelope is 0.45 W/(m 2 K). Double glazing and hermetic carpentry were used to reduce thermal losses ( U -value = 2.8 W/(m 2 K)). The volumetric heat loss coefficient ( G -value) oscillates between 0.90 and 1.00 W/(m 3 K). During the design and thermal simulation convective-radiative heat transfer coefficients were estimated through a dimensional equation ( h = 5.7 + 3.8 ws, wind speed ). On internal surfaces, convective-radiative heat transfer coefficients of 8 and 6 W/(m 2 °C) (for surfaces with and without solar gain, respectively) were applied. The monitoring process provided information on the energy and thermal behaviour under use and non-use conditions. The measured value of energy consumption was similar to the expected value that was used during the pre-design stage. Building technologies work well during the winter season, allowing 50–80% of energy savings. However, overheating is still an unresolved problem during the summer. Interviews with occupants revealed that they need both, information about functional details, and good-practice guidance to manage thermal issues of the building. In most cases, the annual consumption of energy was lower than those established by the Low Energy Housing German Standards and the Minirgie Switzerland Certificate. Despite their relative cost increase during the last years, the use of insulation technology and the application of passive solar devices involved an extra cost of only 3% in our works. Provided the expected depletion of natural gas production in the coming decade, the importance of applying energy-efficiency guidelines will increase very soon in Argentina in order to match the requirements of a new national energy matrix.

Socio-economic, educational and environmental reasons have driven the building of energy-efficient dwellings for low-income students in University of La Pampa. The buildings are located in the central region of Argentina (35° 70′ of South latitude), an area of warm temperate climate. Energy conservation devices, passive solar heating, natural ventilation and solar protection were the main strategies of design. The resulting design comprised three blocks of housing with a useful floor area of 900 m2. Two bedrooms, a dining room and essential services make up each house. Solar gains through transparent areas to the North are provided for all main spaces. Northern shading devices and metallic pergolas protect all windows in summer. In spite of high external temperature variability, the simulated performance during the design stage showed a remarkable internal thermal stability. The thermal and energy monitoring started in September 1999 and had two phases: (a) under real conditions of use and (b) during student's summer holidays (when the buildings were not inhabited). The results from the monitoring process suggest that interpretations about the building behaviour cannot be restricted to constructive issues. Useful inferences cannot be done from design and building technology only. The thermal behaviour was the result of construction, non-construction factors like dwellers habits, and their interaction. Energy saving in heating during the winter season was around 50%.

The monitoring and simulated thermal behavior of a passive solar school at the Northwest of La Pampa province (Argentina) and the results of social-environmental surveys are presented. The passive design strategies are direct solar gain, thermal mass, insulated building envelope, daylighting, and natural ventilation. The monitoring is carried out under normal conditions of use (with the heaters working because of students attendance) and during an unoccupied period in winter holidays. The transient thermal simulation is carried out with SIMEDIF for Windows, a software developed at INENCO (Non Conventional Energy Research Institute) and widely used by researchers of Argentina. Northern glazed areas, orientation, internal heat gains, and use of the heating system, are analyzed. The daily heating energy consumption is 0.009 m3/m2 of the building’s useful area. When compared to conventional schools, 90% of heating energy savings are noticed. The surveys show that a predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD) is around 5, with mean temperature and relative humidity around 17 C and 27%, 1.6 clo (with jacket), and 1.8 met of metabolic rate (1 met = 58 W/m2). Therefore, ISO 7730 standards are satisfactorily accomplished.

The use of plants attached to the building walls is a bioclimatic strategy that has grown in popularity due to the savings in building energy consumption. The plant is a living component of the façade that responds to the environment in a very complicated way, by regulating their transpiration levels. The simulation of this response is generally not included in the available software for transient thermal simulation of buildings, thus making difficult the simulation of green walls by architects and building designers. The aim of this paper is to present a simplified method to simulate a green wall using a traditional wall/glazing element, with fictitious properties, whose thermal model is included in transient simulation softwares. Thus, green walls can be simulated with softwares that do not provide specific modules for plant calculation. The model is more accurate under humid conditions and for low wind speeds. An application example is presented, consisting of a building prototype with a green façade that was simulated through EnergyPlus software. Inside and outside glass temperatures, plant foliage temperature, and window heat gain and losses were calculated. The results were discussed and recommendations for simulating green façades were done. Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Lesino, Graciela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina

Double skin glazed facades (DGF) are an actual worldwide trend in new and refurbished buildings, even in warm climates with high solar radiation levels as in the Middle East and in Mediterranean climates. In such climates, overheating of indoor spaces and therefore excessive energy consumption are the main problems to be faced. These issues are commonly addressed mostly by thermal simulation or experimental evaluations on small prototypes. However, measurements on real-scale buildings with DGFs are very unusual. This information is crucial to understand and validate the predictions of the thermal behavior of the DGF technology. In this paper, thermal measurements were carried out in an unoccupied office building with a West DGF placed in the Northwest region of Argentina during 3 months in spring/summer. The air temperature exceeded in 10°C the outdoor air and that indoor temperatures have not exceeded the outdoor levels in the hottest hours. Two correct design decisions were the use of low-e double hermetic glazing and the addition of a screenpainting to the external DGF panel. The experimental data showed that well-designed DGFs can reduce the summer energy consumption of buildings, even using West DGFs, in sunny climates. Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energía no Convencional; Argentina Fil: Zegarra Rengifo, Jorge Luis. GRG Arquitectos Asociados; Argentina Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina

The present work analyzes the consumption of energy of three typologically and technologically different buildings, and its interaction with dimensional, morphological, and thermal indicators. The comparison of heat energy consumed by the conventional and the solar buildings (individual and apartments) allows the evaluation of the energy saved through the use of passive solar techniques and thermal envelopes. The study buildings are located in Santa Rosa (capital of the province of La Pampa) in Argentina. The latitudinal variation of degree days oscillates between 1300 and 1600 C to the north and the south, respectively. The results show the high correlation between the energy consumption and the energy loss through the building’s envelope. In buildings with conventional technology, the envelope (without insulation) reaches a G value of 4.13 W/m3 C, higher than the admissible maximum value stipulated by the N. IRAM 11604 for the study region. The technologically optimized construction through the use of an energy-efficient envelope, a carpentry with double glazing, and a collecting area of 12% with respect to the building’s useful area allowed an energy saving of around 75% during winter. The results confirm the large potential of the solar building design to reach significant levels of energy saving, and the comparison of solar and conventional buildings in terms of natural gas consumption confirms the magnitude of such a potential.

During the year 2000, energy-efficient buildings for low-income students at La Pampa University were designed and constructed. Buildings are located at the centre of La Pampa province, in a temperate semi-arid region of central Argentina Socio-economic, educational and environmental reasons have driven the design. Energy conservation devices, passive solar heating, natural ventilation and solar protection were the main strategies. The resulting design comprises two blocks of apartments with a useful floor area of 700 m 2 and main spaces. Two bedrooms, a dining room and essential services make up each apartment. Solar windows are provided for all main spaces. Northern shading devices and metallic pergolas protect all windows in summer. Once the building was finished, a monitoring plan started on December 2000. This paper shows the results of the thermal and energy behavior of apartments. The evolution of internal temperature was different in each apartment. The consumption of natural gas varied among dwellers, but the volume consumed was lower than that of conventional dwellings. Without extra building cost dwellers live under good higrothermal conditions at 50% of the auxiliary energy consumed by conventional dwellings.

The objectives of this work are (I) to describe the design and building technology details of a solar school built in a continental semiarid region of central Argentina, (II) to show data from energy, hygrothermal and environmental monitoring, and (III) to compare the behavior of a solar and a conventional school building in response to design and human management factors. Both buildings are located on 36° 24′ latitude and 63° 25′ longitude. With respect to the solar school, good outdoor climate conditions during the study period in winter, plus unnecessary auxiliary heating, have led to indoor temperature increasing beyond 24 °C under real use conditions. Similarly, overheating of functional areas in autumn and spring was the result of temperate outdoor conditions, uncontrolled use of auxiliary heating and internal gains. Even without incoming sunlight, indoor temperature reached 27 °C on some days in summer, while outdoor temperature peaked to 35 °C. Based on the parameters of ISO 7730, more than 10% of people experienced discomfort when temperature exceeded 25 °C. In contrast, an average indoor temperature of 16 and 21 °C was recorded, respectively, for the conventional and the solar building. However, the consumption of natural gas for heating was 50% less in the solar school. Furthermore, this consumption could also be smaller if we take into account that a large proportion of people expressed discomfort at noon because of overheating during the winter time. This demonstrated once more that proper use of heating devices is a very important factor to be considered in solar designs. The work allowed a good validation of methods to assess energy gains and losses during the winter.

A large variety of construction patterns can be found in public-housing programs for lower-mid income families in Santa Rosa, a fast growing city located in a temperate area of central Argentina. Very little attention has been paid to the energy assessment of different patterns that are needed to prescribe energy-saving guidelines for improving the energy performance of housing plans. The objective of this work was to describe the energy profile and understand the energy behaviour of public housing programs which differ in their construction patterns. The annual and seasonal energy behaviour of public and non-public residential dwellings was compared in terms of electricity and gas consumption. A similar comparison between remodelled and non-remodelled dwellings was performed within the public-dwellings sample. Results showed that public and non-public dwellings did not differ in terms of electricity consumption, but they differed greatly in terms of gas consumption. Non-public dwellings, which are larger and heterogeneous, demand more gas for heating during the winter. No difference in annual energy consumption was found in the comparison of remodelled and non-remodelled public dwellings. However, they differ in electricity consumption patterns during the critical winter season: the lower winter consumption of remodelled dwellings could be partially explained by a construction change aimed at lowering the expensive consumption of electricity. In spite of the fact that the energy behaviour of public dwellings seems to be seasonal, dependent upon more than design factors alone, a significant energy saving can be obtained by introducing well-known design technologies.

An energy-efficient building, featuring energy conservation, passive solar heating, and natural cooling strategies, was designed and built in La Pampa, a province in the temperate semi-arid region of central Argentina. Of compact design, it houses 350 m 2 of useful floor area in a roughly linear scheme, with the main spaces facing north and ancillary spaces (services) facing south. Solar windows running from above spandrel and up to ceiling height are provided for all the main spaces, and clerestory windows are provided for the solar gain to the south-facing spaces. An integrated sunspace is incorporated into the centre bay of the north facade, providing additional heat to inner spaces as well as functional and visual expansion. In the design stage, a simulation analysis was performed to assess the environmental and energy performance of the alternatives. The main energy features of the resulting building are a volumetric loss coefficient of 1.09 W m −3 °C −1 , and a predicted solar savings fraction of 70%. The summer cooling strategy includes the passive induction of exterior air into the building through earth-coupled ducts. Cooling by cross-ventilation is made possible during the night, but to preserve the security of the building from sudden storms, this occurs only when the building is occupied. Shading devices protect all windows in summer. Provisional monitoring, started during the 1995 winter period, showed encouraging possibilities of energy savings with adequate comfort conditions, demonstrating the technical feasibility of the scheme.

El estado hace entrega del 30% de las viviendas que se habitan por año en la ciudad de Mendoza, Argentina. El presente trabajo evalúa: (a) la calidad térmico-energética de una vivienda social, por medio de mediciones in-situ en condiciones de uso real; (b) el requerimiento energético necesario por medio de un balance; (c) la simulación de la vivienda en el programa SIMEDIF, donde se ajustó el modelo y se ensayaron mejoras de aplicación fácil y económica; y (d) un sondeo cualitativo de las sensaciones térmicas. Los resultados mostraron que el edificio presenta un déficit en su rendimiento térmico-energético: los consumos energéticos reales son menores a los resultados obtenidos por cálculo. Esto se presume debido a que el usuario se ve imposibilitado de asumir el costo económico por el consumo energético que supondría mantener la vivienda en condiciones de confort. Las mejoras de la calidad térmica de la envolvente, simuladas luego de ajustado el modelo, implican el 35.6% de ahorro de energía auxiliar y el logro de condiciones de confort dentro de los espacios. The state provides 30% of houses per year in the city of Mendoza. This study evaluates: (a) the thermal-energy quality of a social house, through in-situ measurements under conditions of actual use; (b) needed energy requirements through a balance; (c) a simulation of the house using the SIMEDIF program, in which the model was adjusted, and some easy to implement and economical improvements were tested; and (d) a qualitative survey of thermal sensations. The results indicated that the building has a deficit in its thermal and energy efficiency: real energy consumption is lower than the results obtained by calculation. This is presumably because the user is unable to bear the financial cost of the energy consumption that would keep the house in a comfort situation. Improvements in the thermal quality of the envelope, which were considered in the simulation, result in 35.6% of energy savings and the achievement of comfort conditions in the housing spaces.

En el presente trabajo se estudia el comportamiento térmico-energético de viviendas compactas entre medianeras implantadas en barrios residenciales de baja densidad en la ciudad de Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina (latitud: 36º27’S y longitud: 64º27’W). Los objetivos son evaluar la temperatura interior y las condiciones de confort en invierno a través del monitoreo experimental y analizar el consumo histórico de gas natural en calefacción. Los resultados muestran que las viviendas compactas entre medianeras tienen un 50% menos de consumo de gas natural que la vivienda social unifamiliar en la misma región en estudio. El panorama energético de Argentina, la posibilidad de revisar Normativas y Códigos de Edificación, la tendencia del crecimiento de la construcción de viviendas en la región en estudio, el proceso de etiquetado de la edificación, entre otros aspectos, ameritan un análisis de la información de las características del stock de las edificios y de su performance energética. La creación de un protocolo de monitoreo armonizado de datos es imperativa. In this research work, the thermal-energy behaviour of compact dwellings between party walls built in low-density residential neighbourhoods in the city of Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina (latitude: 36 ° 27'S and longitude 64 ° 27'W) is investigated. The objectives are to evaluate the indoor temperature and comfort conditions in winter through experimental monitoring, and to analyze the historical consumption of natural gas for heating. The results show that compact dwellings between party walls consume 50% less natural gas than single-family social houses in the same region. The Argentinian energy scenario, the possibility of revising Standards and Building Codes, the trend of growth in housing construction in the region under study, the building labelling process, among other things, merit a data analysis of the stock of buildings and their energy performance. The creation of a harmonized monitoring protocol data is imperative. Fil: Filippin, Maria Celina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Sipowicz, Eugenia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Flores Larsen, Silvana Elinor. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energia No Convencional. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Investigaciones en Energia No Convencional; Argentina