Abstract

Earth–Air Heat Exchangers (EAHEs) are passive systems that use the thermal interaction between air and soil along buried ducts to moderate supply air temperature, thereby lowering building energy consumption and improving indoor comfort conditions. This device has been employed in several countries and under diverse climatic characteristics. The integration of EAHE systems with bioclimatic design strategies contributes to improved building energy performance and more efficient use of thermal resources. This study aims to computationally investigate the thermoenergetic performance of EAHE system, for both cooling and heating purposes, installed in Social Housing (SH) across different Brazilian bioclimatic zones, and to propose strategies that improve the energy efficiency of these built environments. The study involves the validation and verification of a computational model and the thermoenergetic assessments of an SH unit, investigating different solar orientations and the installation of EAHE. These evaluations are performed via dynamic simulations conducted with the EnergyPlus software. The results show that the installation of the EAHE system coupled to the SH improves the thermoenergetic performance of the indoor environment, mainly by enhancing thermal comfort across different Brazilian bioclimatic zones (BZ). In BZ2R, the EAHE increased the annual PHFT by 4.5%, corresponding to seventeen additional days per year within the acceptable operative temperature range. The highest monthly improvement was observed in BZ1M, where the PHFT increased by 14.3% in January, equivalent to more than four additional days of thermal comfort in that month. The system proved to be more effective in zones 1M, 2R, 3B, and 4B, particularly in climates with lower annual average dry-bulb temperatures. Regarding energy performance, the EAHE showed benefits in specific months and conditions, indicating that its feasibility should be assessed through monthly thermoenergetic analyses rather than only annual indicators. This work provides validated and verified references and parameters for future projects and contributes to the state of the art in this field, as there are still few studies evaluating EAHE systems integrated into buildings using this software, despite its widespread use in building performance analysis.

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