METHODOLOGY FOR DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE AND SAFE BUILDINGS: APPLICATION OF NET ZERO WATER AND ENERGY CERTIFICATION IN COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS IN THE CITY OF SÃO PAULO
Buildings are one of the largest energy consumers around the world, consuming approximately 30-40% of all energy generated in developed countries. Therefore, it is essential to develop a methodology for sustainable (with lower energy consumption) and safe buildings. With the increase of green certifications, ways to reduce energy and water consumption began to be studied. The green certification Living Building Challenge (LBC), created in the United States of America, is the largest reference to net zero buildings or zero external consumption of energy and water. Zero energy consumption is based on the local generation by sustainable sources. And zero water consumption is based on the capture of rainwater, water management strategies, treatment and use of gray water, in order to meet the needs of the building during the whole lifespan. Several techniques are applied such as roofs and green walls, bioclimatic architecture, photovoltaic modules, constructed wetlands, dry toilets, among others. To apply the methodology in the city of São Paulo, it must comply with the Law 16,402 (March 2016), that governs the land parceling, as well as the Decree 63,911 for fire prevention and fire fighting in the State of São Paulo. In this work, different techniques for net zero buildings are studied to develop a methodology for commercial buildings located in the city of São Paulo, in compliance with the LBC standars, Decree 63,911 and Law 16,402. The methodology was tested in three models of commercial buildings, a medium-sized building of a storage company, a large commercial office building, and a shopping mall located within the city of São Paulo. The proposed methodology proved to be efficient, however, to achieve a totally independent building of water and energy from external networks, it was necessary to modify the current construction standards, using the bioclimatic architecture, projecting lower buildings, and using the maximum rate of land occupation.