Feasibility of PassivHaus standards and alternative passive design on climatic zones of Chile - Determination of energy requirements with dynamic simulation

The current building envelope standards from Article 4.1.10 of the “General Law of Urban Planning and Construction” The current building envelope standards from Article 4.1.10 of the “General Law of Urban Planning and Construction” in Chile are applied on a typical residential building for the climate of Concepción (36° Latitude South, 73° Longitude West) and a detailed energy simulation program is used to assess the energy performance of this building. The simulation results of the Chilean standards are then compared with simulation results of PassivHaus standards upon the same building layout and with simulation results from the same typical building when applying alternative passive solar design and envelope upgrade techniques. The research aims to identify useful design strategies for achieving energy results comparable to those proposed by PassivHaus standards (i.e. less than 15kWh/m2 annum for heating and cooling needs). This would demonstrate to designers, developers and clients how to incorporate cost-effective features and build beyond current regulations in order to achieve large energy savings. In addition, this study is expected to be of use for policy makers, providing suggestions on how future energy regulations of Chile can promote low energy building designs. This study also aims initiate a discussion regarding future methodologies for assessing climate-responsive design in the Chilean context, in a way that useful passive features can also be considered, since they may represent a cost-effective alternative to PassivHaus standards.