## 1 Introduction  
Electrical Energy is also used in buildings to control the internal temperature, ventilation, lighting, equipment, and appliances as well as to operate parts of the building itself, such as the elevators, water supply, and heating system. Given these combined uses, buildings account for a large portion of the world's energy consumption. In Brazil, approximately 54% of electric energy consumption comes from the residential, commercial, public, and service sectors [1]. In addition, although buildings are built to be used for many decades, after their initial construction, improvements are more difficult to deploy. Therefore, in light of climate change scenarios, it is very important to rethink the planning of buildings, including architectural attributes, life cycles, and construction processes. At the international level, initiatives have been developed to promote energy efficiency, including environmental labeling and certification programs. In Brazil, the lack of investments in electric power generation and transmission, aggravated by the low water level in the reservoirs of the country's hydroelectric plants, were the main causes that induced the 2001 energy crisis in the country, reducing the reliability and quality of electricity services, with actions to ration consumption and increase tariffs [2]. Therefore, the main Brazilian initiatives, such as the National Energy Conservation Policy [3] and the National Program for Energy Efficiency in Buildings--Procel Edifica, instituted by Eletrobras/Procel in 2003--were boosted by the 2001 energy crisis. Thus, under the leadership of the Brazilian Labeling Program for Buildings (Programa Brasileiro de Etiquetagem de edificacoes--PBE Edifica), which is a project of Procel and the National Institute of Metrology, Quality, and Technology (Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Qualidade e Tecnologia--Inmetro), technical regulations regarding the energy efficiency of commercial, service, and public buildings (RTQ-C approved in 2009) and of residential buildings (RTQ-R approved in 2010) were developed to classify buildings based on their energy efficiency. Under this program, some buildings can earn the National Energy Conservation Label (Etiqueta Nacional de Conservacao de Energia--ENCE). According to [PERSON] [4], the labeling of buildings and equipment has been responsible for much of the energy conservation achieved in several countries around the world. However, in Brazil, despite good results with the labeling of equipment, the labeling of buildings remains rather ineffective at modifying the processes and construction practices that are already consolidated in the market [4]. This ineffectiveness is likely due to both the brief existence of labeling and its usually voluntary nature. For [PERSON] et al. [5], the methodology of technical regulations stimulates the application of bioclimatic strategies in building projects; in these projects, the environmental conditions of the region are considered, and the use of artificial air conditioning may even be reduced. Additionally, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [6] reported that having a property with a high energy-efficiency ranking is valued enough that the sale or rent value may increase. Considering the increase in residential development and its role in Brazil's energy consumption, initiatives and research aimed at energy efficiency in the building sector should be boosted. Regarding researches that analyze thermal and energy performance on a large scale, the use of representative buildings was verified, indicating guidelines that guide the construction of new buildings, as well as the revitalization of existing ones, aiming at energy efficiency. [PERSON] et al. [7] suggest that a typology of the projects currently being built and an analysis of the thermal and energy performance of those projects could provide the basis for an efficient policy for the housing industry.