2.6.1. Basic Model: Definition and Test

Recalling the information provided in the Introduction, INFONAVIT is the organization that manages social housing for workers. As portrayed in its official housing catalogue, they used to build the same housing model in different cities and states due to having the most economic design and construction [20]. The principal aim of our project was applying the Mexican standard to social housing, so the first step in the testing stage is the definition of a universal basic model, using the analogous example from the INFONAVIT housing catalogue. This model is the most replicated and affordable house in the catalogue.

The construction system used for the basic model was a reinforced concrete structure, with brick walls with plaster (17 cm wide). The floor was a 30 cm foundation bed/slab, and the ceiling was a joist and block concrete slab. After designating the tested climatic cities for the testing exercise, the base model was simulated for each of the EPW weather files (corresponding to each city). The add-on for Open Studio was run, and the model compliance with NOM-020-ENER-2011 was tested. None of the climatic zone models complied with the standard because all resulted in a negative energy savings of –151%. In other words, if the reference model had an allowed heat gain limit of 1519 Watts for thermal envelope, the base model had a calculated heat gain of 3816 Watts for thermal envelope. It exceeds the limit almost 150%. These results showed the unsuitability of using the same housing model for all cities without considering the climatic characteristics.
