Desempenho térmico e eficiência energética de construções em wood frame no Semiárido do RN

Wood frame is an alternative technology for the construction of residential buildings that is slowly increasing in Brazil. For this reason, this study aims to answer the following question: does wood construction in the Semiarid region meet the Brazilian technical regulations for thermal performance for the construction sector? Seeking to answer this question, the main objective of this study is to analyse the thermal and energetic efficiency of wood frame construction in the Semiarid region. The hypothesis of this research is that wood frame constructions in the Semiarid region meet the thermal efficiency norms and regulations. This study used the software Domus – Eletrobras to perform simulations of indoors temperature in a residential building located in Caraubas/RN. The building consists of a 46,24m2 area and 4 inhabitants were considered. The analyses considered the temperature performance of the building constructed by three different materials: wood, ceramic brick and concrete block. Additionally, it was also possible to achieve the PROCEL energy seal through the Domus – Eletrobras software. Based on the results of this research, it was possible to notice that the material wood presented a satisfactory thermal performance. However, in relation to the energetic efficiency, wood did not show suitable results as good as structures made of concrete blocks. Based on these results, it was noticed that wood proved to be an efficient material, but still inferior to concrete block in certain aspects. These results offer an opportunity for a future research, which can study different characteristics about the use of wood for the construction of residential buildings.