Daylighting is an important resource to promote well being and environmental quality, and has also a significant impact on energy use. The Technical Regulations for Energy Efficiency Labeling of Residential Buildings (RTQ-R) was published in Brazil in August 2010, as a part of INMETRO's Brazilian Labeling Program. Concerning aspects of bioclimatic architecture such as daylight, some prerequisites and bonus were developed to be considered in the evaluation of residential buildings. This article presents the method and the results that produced the indications related to the daylight bonus that are established in that Regulation. The method included 336 computer simulations using the software DaySim, in order to investigate the variables that influence daylight performance, specifically regarding room depth and solar protection. The simulations were performed for 11 Brazilian cities, covering 11 different geographical latitudes and four bioclimatic zones (ZB 1, ZB 3, ZB 4 and ZB 11). The results generated guidelines on room depth limits, which were adopted as parameters for granting daylight bonus in the RTQ-R regulations.
Daylighting; Room depth; RTQ-R; Bonus
