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Abstract: This paper analyzes the thermal and energy behaviour of apartments in three-story block buildings located along a NE-SW axis (azimuth=120°) in a temperate-cold climate (latitude: 36°57′; longitude: 64°27′) in the city of Santa Rosa, La Pampa, central Argentina. Four apartments had been monitored during May and June 2009. Three of them are located in Block 126. Two of these apartments face South: 15 and 23 on the SE end, ground and first floor, respectively; 18 faces N on the second floor. Finally apartment, 12 is located in Block 374, on the first floor, faces N and shows a carpentry-closed balcony. The purpose of this work is – to study the evolution of the indoor temperature in each apartment; to analyze energy consumption and comfort conditions; to study energy potential and energy intervention in order to reduce energy consumption; to analyze bioclimatic alternatives feasibility and the possibility to extrapolate results to all blocks. On the basis of the analysis of natural gas historical consumption records, results showed that regarding heating energy consumption during the period May–June, Apartment 12, facing N, with its only bedroom facing NW and its carpentry-closed, transparent glass balcony, presented a mean temperature of 21.2°C, using a halogen heater for 6h/day between 9pm and 2am (0.16kWh/day/m2). Apartment 15, on the SE end, first floor of the block consumed 22.5kWh/day (0.43kWh/day/m2) (mean temperature=22.2°C). Apartment 23, located on the second and top floor (on top of Apartment 15) with higher energy loss, consumed 28kWh/day (0.54kWh/day/m2) (mean temperature=23.7°C). Apartment 18, also on the second floor and facing N, located in the centre and with its only bedroom facing SE, consumed 18.8kWh/day (0.48kWh/day/m2) (mean temperature=22.3°C). Apartment 23, with higher thermal loss through its envelope, but with heat transfer from the apartment located below, is the one that showed the highest level of consumption/m2. Closing the balcony with carpentry produced an important reduction of energy consumption while reaching comfort conditions. The analysis of the experimental results allowed: (a) to determine through analysis of historical consumption of natural gas prior to the year 2009 that the owner lived under conditions of comfort, (b) to evaluate possible interventions in the building that would lead to saving heating energy. Thermal insulation of roof and envelope appears as the most feasible alternative whereas closing balconies constitute a very good design option in winter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The energy performance of two bioclimatic buildings located in Santa Rosa city, a temperate semi-arid agricultural region of central Argentina, is analysed. The bioclimatic design included direct solar gain, thermal inertia, natural ventilation, thermal insulation, external shading, building orientation, and dwelling grouping. Each double-story building is aligned on an East–West axis and it has a compact shape with 350m2 of useful floor area (58m2/apartment). The solar collection area is around 18% of the apartment''s useful area on the ground floor and 14% on the upper floor. This paper describes the energy performance of the buildings during the period 2001–2008. The analysis includes: (a) the energy consumption (natural gas and electricity) during 2001–2007 (natural gas: annually, bimonthly; electricity: monthly); (b) the natural gas consumption and the thermal behaviour during the winters of year 2001 (between July 27 and August 3) and 2008 (between August 8 and 13); (c) the daily natural gas consumption and the thermal behaviour during 2001 and 2008 winters; (d) the comparison between the energy consumption for heating in bioclimatic and conventional buildings. The authors concluded that the results confirm the large potential of solar buildings design to reach significant levels of energy saving. The comparison of solar and conventional buildings in terms of natural gas consumption demonstrates the magnitude of such potential. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]