Design strategies to avoid overheating in timber frame dwellings for a Mediterranean climate. The case of Santiago de Chile

The country shows a general absence of wood as a building material in architectural works and in the realm of housing (around 12% in comparison with other ones, mainly bricks). In Chile, wood production will grow significantly within the next five years. A research project that is being held in the Wood Innovation and Development Centre of our university tries to solve different pathologies, traditionally related to the wood construction in Chile through the development of a new skin. Improvements included in this envelope have been observed in some foreigner experiences, especially in northern Europe. Simulations by means of TAS software have been made to study the thermal behaviour of three housing prototypes in different Chilean climates, which have shown a good performance in terms of heating loads. However, overheating appears as an important drawback in summer, particularly in the case of Santiago, city with a Mediterranean climate. This study explores different solutions to avoid overheating in the prototype of Santiago tested through TAS. For this city, aspects such as thermal mass, ventilated roof and ventilation strategies have shown to be effective for improving the thermal behaviour of this dwelling for cooling periods.