Avaliação do uso de fachadas verdes para isolamento térmico

Abstract

This study analyzed the influence of green façades on the thermal performance of buildings, considering their ability to reduce heat gains and improve indoor thermal comfort. Although several thermal insulation materials, such as glass wool and polyurethane foam, are widely used, they present environmental impacts associated with their production and disposal, encouraging the search for more sustainable alternatives. In this context, green façades represent a passive strategy capable of reducing the direct incidence of solar radiation on external building surfaces, contributing to lower wall temperatures and more stable indoor thermal conditions. This study performed a computational analysis of the thermal performance of green façades applied to an academic building at the Federal University of Technology – Paraná, using SketchUp for three-dimensional modeling, the Euclid plugin to convert the model into an EnergyPlus-compatible format, and EnergyPlus to perform the thermal simulations. Four simulation scenarios were evaluated, considering east- and west-facing façades with and without climbing plants, using hourly and climatic data for an entire year. The results showed that green façades reduced the external surface temperature of the walls during hot periods, reaching reductions of up to 6.5 °C on the east façade and 4.2 °C on the west façade. Indoor temperatures were reduced by up to 4.1 °C, while thermal amplitude decreased and more stable indoor thermal conditions were maintained. During cold periods, a thermal retention effect was also observed, contributing to higher indoor temperatures and reducing heat losses. The results further demonstrated that the east-facing façade presented the best thermal performance when combined with green façades, highlighting the influence of solar orientation on the efficiency of this passive system. It can be concluded that green façades constitute an effective passive strategy for improving the thermal performance of buildings by reducing heat gains and providing more stable indoor thermal conditions, while also representing a sustainable alternative for applications in the construction industry.