%0 Journal Article
%T Optimizing the indoor thermal behaviour of housing units in hot humid climates: Analysis and modelling of sustainable constructive alternatives
%A Eduardo Roji
%A Jes¨²s Cuadrado
%A Jes¨²s M. Blanco
%A Yokasta Garc¨ªa
%J Indoor and Built Environment
%@ 1423-0070
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/1420326X18793965
%X Indoor housing temperatures in tropical climates exceed values associated with thermal comfort, whenever mechanical climate-control systems usually are not allowed due electrical restrictions especially in poor areas where infrastructures are inadequate to maintain a standard of living. This study aims to address thermally efficient and sustainable constructive alternatives in such severe climates. It shows how single-family residential building can achieve comfort conditions, through low-energy consumption. Different alternatives were modelled through DesignBuilder (powered by EnergyPlus), analysing options for roofs and facades solutions for comparison with a reference model for the warmer week of the year. The finding identified the most suitable orientation, and verified the influence of key aspects, such as roof-slab shading and a combination of both fa£¿ade and roofing strategies. The study compared alternatives tested for different roof systems to establish the comfort hours, showing an increase of 17.86% with solely the roof system, while actions taken exclusively on fa£¿ades increased the comfort hours by up to 6.55%. Finally, the combined performance of the best roof and facade options showed improvements of up to 92.86% in terms of comfort hours, with an economic impact of 4.8% needed for the practical implementation of the best alternative
%K Energy efficiency
%K Housing
%K Sustainability
%K Thermal comfort
%K Tropical climate
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1420326X18793965