## 2 Materials and Methods
### Characterization of the Representative Buildings  
For the characterization of the four representative buildings (Tables 1 and 2), data were collected based on the prescriptive method of the RTQ-R [22], notes taken during the survey, architectural designs approved in the PMV, construction photos, technical visits, and interviews with residents and responsible engineers when necessary and timely. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c} \hline \hline
**Collected Data** & **Building A** & **Building B** & **Building C** & **Building D** \\ \hline Year of project approval by & 1981 & 1981 & 1996 & 2012 \\ the PMV & & & & \\ \hline Individual energy & Yes & Yes & Yes & Yes \\ measurement & & & & \\ \hline Individual water & No & No & No & Yes \\ measurement & & & & \\ \hline Area of the HU & 58.80 m\({}^{2}\) & 75.23 m\({}^{2}\) & \begin{tabular}{c} Standard 1 = 54.66 \\ m\({}^{2}\) and Standard 2 = 55.15 m\({}^{2}\) \\ \end{tabular}  & 93.00 m\({}^{2}\) \\ \hline HU living area (without & & & & \\ walls and balconies) & 52.86 m\({}^{2}\) & 63.67 m\({}^{2}\) & \begin{tabular}{c} Standard 1 (COL \\ 1,2,4,5) = 46.66 m\({}^{2}\) \\ and Standard 2 (COL \\ 3, 6) = 45.16 m\({}^{2}\) \\ \end{tabular}  & 72.46 m\({}^{2}\) \\ \hline Floors & \begin{tabular}{c} 4 (1 stills + 3 \\ standard) \\ \end{tabular}  & \begin{tabular}{c} 4 (1 stills + 3 \\ standard) \\ \end{tabular}  & \begin{tabular}{c} 10 (1 stills + 9 \\ standard). \\ \end{tabular}  & \begin{tabular}{c} 10 (found floor + 9 \\ standard). It has a half \\ basement. \\ \end{tabular}  \\ \hline HUs per Floor & 08 & 08 & 06 & 02 \\ \hline Ceiling height (floor to & 2.71 m & 2.71 m & 2.80 m & 2.70 m \\ ceiling) & & & & \\ \hline Rooms per HU & 02 & 03 & 02 & 03 \\ \hline Bathrooms per HU & 02 & 02 & 01 & 03 \\ \hline Bathrooms with natural & 01 & 01 & 01 & 02 \\ ventilation per HU & & & & \\ \hline Cross ventilation in HU & Yes & Yes & \begin{tabular}{c} Standard 1 = yes and \\ Standard 2 = no \\ \end{tabular}  & Yes \\ \hline Water Heating & Electric. & Electric. & Electric. & Electric. \\ \hline \hline \multirow{4}{*}{ \begin{tabular}{l} Drinking water conservation \\ elements \\ \end{tabular}  } & \multirow{4}{*}{ \begin{tabular}{l} Sanitary bowl with \\ with box attached \\ with box attached \\ with box attached \\ \end{tabular}  } & Sanitary bowl with \\  & & & & \begin{tabular}{c} Sanitary bowl with \\ box attached \\ \end{tabular}  & \begin{tabular}{c} Sanitary bowl with \\ box attached \\ \end{tabular}  & \begin{tabular}{c} Sanitary bowl with \\ attached \\ \end{tabular}  & \begin{tabular}{c} buttached and dual \\ \end{tabular}  \\  & & & & \\ \hline Thermal transmittance (U) & 2.39 W/(m\({}^{2}\)K). 9 \\ of the external walls & 2.39 W/(m\({}^{2}\)K). 9 \\ and mortar. & 2.39 W/(m\({}^{2}\)K). 10 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{\ \begin{tabular}{l} Absorbance (\(\alpha\)) of external \\ walls \\ \end{tabular}  } & \multirow{4}{*}{ \begin{tabular}{l} Values depending on \\ space: 0.7; 0.37; 0.55; or 0.27. \\ \end{tabular}  } & 2.24 W/(m\({}^{2}\)K). 12 cm \\  & & & & \\ \cline{1-1} Thermal transmittance (U) & 2.06 W/(m\({}^{2}\)K). 10 \\ of roofing & & & & \\ \cline{1-1} fiber cement roof. & 2.06 W/(m\({}^{2}\)K). 10 \\ \cline{1-1} \cline{2-5} \cline  
The data collected for the characterization were mainly the building's bioclimatic zone, geographic north, areas of the spaces and of the internal and external walls, ceiling heights, number of rooms and floors, compositions and colors of external walls and roofs, openings (quantity, areas, and form