The Constructive Evolution of the Envelope. The Impact on Indoor Thermal Conditions in Andean Regions

Abstract

The introduction of new technologies and materials in recent decades has significantly reduced construction times around the world. These changes have brought about a standardization of construction systems, which don’t account for different cultural, social or even climatic contexts. Ecuador, and all its regions, have conformed to these changes, leaving behind their vernacular architecture which had been made of mud or guadua cane, and replacing them with industrialized systems which use materials such as concrete or metal. However, it is not clear whether these changes have been advantageous or disadvantageous for the interior thermal performance of the buildings. In this context, this chapter presents a thermal analysis of the different construction systems used in housing projects built in the last 4 decades, viz. 1980–1990, 1990–2000, 2000–2010 and 2010–2020, taking as a case study the Andean region of Ecuador. For this purpose, 10 dwellings from each period have been analyzed, and the average characteristics of their materials (Envelope weight) and the building morphologies (window/wall ratio) have been established. The impact of these variables on the interior temperature has been measured through energy simulations with the Design Builder program and its calculation engine Energy Plus, which has been configured to a base model for the four periods, in order not to bias the results. The study establishes that residential buildings in this region have, on the one hand, seen considerable reduction in the weight of their envelope, and on the other hand, seen considerable growth in the proportion of the glazed surface. These changes have had repercussions the thermal oscillation in the most recently built buildings tends to be greater than in the older ones, as the morphological and material changes results in a reduction in thermal mass and an increase in thermal transmittance.