Comparison of the simplified and simulation methods proposed in the new Brazilian regulations for the labeling of public buildings

Abstract In 2018, a public consultation was held on the INMETRO Normative Instruction for Energy Efficiency Class for Commercial, Service and Public Buildings (INI-C), aimed at updating and replacing the Technical Quality Regulation for the Energy Efficiency Level of Buildings (RTQ-C). The aim of this paper is to compare the results obtained by applying the INI-C’s simplified and simulation methods in a Brazilian Army pavilion. The authors evaluated two simulation softwares (DesignBuilder and EnergyPlus), three types of roof modelling (according to the design, modelled as equivalent material with the same thermal properties as the design, and adiabatic), two types of weather files (“SWERA” and “INMET 2016”), and two types of objects for modelling the building's air conditioning system (“PTAC” and “IdealLoads”). On the whole, 52 scenarios were compared to each other. In all scenarios, the ENCE obtained was class “A”, but with differences in energy consumption. It was concluded that the results obtained by both INI-C methods are compatible, especially when using the weather file “SWERA”.