COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THERMAL COMFORT OF A SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSE IN LSF AND BRICK MASONRY

Residential construction in Ecuador has recently grown a 35.6%. The typical construction system for housing envelopes is concrete block or brick; construction in Light Steel Framing (LSF) or galvanized steel frames is emerging. To solve the housing demand, the thermal comfort inside a two-story one-family home in the city of Cuenca is evaluated considering both construction systems, to know the comfort standards offered by homes in accordance with the Ecuadorian Construction Standard (NEC, Norma Ecuatoriana de la Construcción). The research was carried out with Design Builder and Therm, where the parameters that influence the energy performance of homes are analyzed. Under local conditions, the predominant system reaches annual hourly thermal comfort values of 51%, but the LSF system reaches 62%. However, with improvement strategies in the overall envelope, the LSF reaches 86%. The variables in decreasing order of thermal influence were: air infiltrations, envelope construction system and housing deployment. In Cuenca it is feasible to use the LSF with minimum insulation to reach acceptable levels of comfort, being an adequate alternative to be promoted for building one-family housings.