Optimization of the Traditional Method for Creating a Weather Simulation File: The Pelotas.epw Case

The basic assumption of an energy-efficient project is the proper relation with the local climatic context. To analyse a building’s performance before its construction, it is necessary that the object to be designed is recreated in a virtual environment, to evaluate its thermal balance. In order to recreate this virtual environment, it is necessary to use computer programs, and that requires a file composed of a weather database organized hourlyin a specific year and defined, in the case of this article, from a TRY (test reference year). The objective of this study is to prepare a weatherfile for the city of Pelotas, RS, Brazil. This research was structured in five stages. In the first stage, the TRY was determined. In the second stage, the necessary variables for the preparation of the weatherfile to be used in the programs EnergyPlus© and Design Builder© were created and treated. In the third stage, weather files were prepared in .epw and .try formats. In the fourth stage, the weather file generated was simulated and compared with two other weatherfiles belonging to the same bioclimatic zone. In the fifth and last stage, a typical day was elaborated for the city of Pelotas. As a result, the importance of optimization of the EPW generation process based on algorithms was highlighted. It was also verified that although we have three nearby cities with similar characteristics, it is possible to have differences of simulation results when the appropriate weather file is not used.