Regulation for energy efficiency labelling of commercial buildings in Brazil

Despite of Brazil not being among the major world energy consumers, the consumption of electricity has significantly increased in the last years. The National Energy Balance of 2005, published by the Brazilian Ministry of Energy, showed that buildings consume 45% of the electric energy generated in the country. Standards and codes on energy efficiency can represent 12% of energy consumption savings in twenty years for developing countries according to a global survey developed by Duffie (1996). In this paper, initially, a brief review of the initiatives taken by Brazilian Government aiming to limit and control the energy consumption in buildings is presented. Then, the regulation proposal containing the technical requirements to classify the energy efficiency level of buildings is shown. The purpose of this voluntary regulation is to provide conditions to certify the energy efficiency level of Brazilian buildings (commercial and public). It specifies the methods for energy efficiency rating of buildings and includes requirements to attend energy conservation measures in three main issues: lighting system; air conditioning system and envelope. The regulation applies to large buildings (minimum total area of 500m2 or when the energy demand is greater than or equal to 2,3kV, including: Conditioned buildings; Partially conditioned buildings and Naturally ventilated buildings. Some of the benefits that the regulation can provide are: owners and developers can use the certification as a market strategy to promote sales, and the users can reduce the cost of the energy consumed by choosing more energy efficient buildings.