Optimization of the use of the standard project for basic health units as to energy efficiency and natural ventilation

Abstract

The standard project for Health Buildings, as in the case of Basic Health Units (BHU or UBS in Portuguese) is inserted as a building that provides municipalities with advantages of constructive rationalization and savings in the construction process. However, environmental comfort conditions are not systematically considered as a design principle. The adequacy of the projects must, among other aspects, consider adequate implantation and orientation of the buildings, besides guaranteeing a low energy consumption. This paper aims to evaluate the use of standard projects (for two typologies of BHU) regarding energy efficiency and Natural Ventilation. For this first parameter, the criteria established by the Evaluation based on the Technical Quality Requirement (RTQ) for commercial, service and public buildings regarding the envelope were considered. For the second parameter, these typologies were simulated in the four guidelines indicated by the RTQ-C in PHOENICS software that uses the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) principle in order to identify regions with positive and negative pressure and the potential for using natural ventilation in these buildings. The results showed that it is possible to use the projective configuration, provided that some precautions are taken, especially concerning the use of materials from the building envelope systems. This research is expected to present a proposal for the implementation of the Standard Project that is more adapted to the conditions of thermal performance, and that can provide greater comfort to users.