Concepção, construção e verificação da aplicabilidade de uma câmara bioclimática de baixo custo em estudos de conforto ambiental

Abstract

Prevailing indoor permanence at present is a prerogative to ensure user’s indoor comfort and to improve the envelope of buildings. Under these circunstances, it is presented the development of a Cost-effective Bioclimatic Building Chamber (CBBC) an innovative Brazilian facility dedicated to the investigation of environmental comfort, bioclimatic architecture, and building performance. The study includes design, construction, instrumentation detailing and analysis of chamber applicability in experimental research. In order to encourage studies supported by climate chambers, CBBC was conceived as a simplification of existing chambers, taking into account the scarcity of similar facilities in Brazil. A 40’ container was adapted to the construction of two identical modules of 5.39m² each, based on the constructive guidelines for Bioclimatic Zone 1. The control module will remain with the default structure, whereas the experimental module can be changed to perform comparative experimental research. The rotatable structure allows independent manipulation of solar orientation and natural ventilation. CBBC was installed in February 2018, at the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Curitiba/PR. CBBC's thermal, lightning and acoustic performance was evaluated by the monitoring of environmental variables. In order to analyze the CBBC occupants' satisfaction, 136 students were invited to collaborate with CBBC Post-Occupancy Evaluation, regarding thermal, light, acoustic, ergonomic, and environmental comfort. In addition, the performance of the air conditioning and lighting system installed in each module was evaluated.