0000000000070475
AUTHOR
Concettina Marino
showing 13 related works from this author
Implementing the sustainable energy (and climate) action plans: quasi-steady state or dynamic building modeling approach?
2020
Actions contemplated in Sustainable Energy (and Climate) Action Plans (SEAPs), which municipalities adhering to the EU initiative called “The Covenant of Mayors” are required to prepare, regard many sectors, among which are buildings. To implement such plans, it is necessary to make use of methods for predicting energy use in buildings. Technicians involved in this tend to adopt easy-touse simulation models because of the common mid-level expertise of the offices involved. However, such simplified methods could result in a less accurate evaluation of the energy demand of buildings. In this paper the suitability of the quasi-steady state and the dynamic approach, in the frame of these new ur…
Retrofitting existing buildings by means of innovative envelope components: low-impacting new assemblies
2020
Current policies addressing the energy efficiency of buildings aimed at the control of their overall primary energy demand, require not only that the edifice envelope has to be properly designed to optimize its thermal performances, but also that the eco-friendly properties of the involved building materials have to be properly taken into account, in order of assessing all the associated environmental costs. In fact, the design of envelope structures that are able to realize proper levels of thermal insulation and, in the same time, to employ materials characterized by low environmental impacts, are believed as the most effective strategies to be adopted in the aim of addressing the above-m…
Integrated Methods for Establishing the Sustainability of Urban Policies: Applying Ecological Footprint to the Municipal Solid Waste Management
2018
The Ecological Footprint (EF) method is applied here to assess alternative policies regarding the Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management. This approach arises from two considerations. First, the MSW management certainly requires a great attention by politicians and technicians, due to its importance for effectively administrating and environmentally controlling urban contexts. On the other hand, the EF method, thanks to its holistic structure of analysis, supposedly provides a synthetic and effective measure of the sustainability of waste management systems, so allowing public administrations to prioritizing policies aimed at implementing environmental actions. Here the EF method is used fo…
Effect of the thermal storage dimensions on the performances of solar photovoltaic-thermal systems
2020
Abstract PV/T panels are innovative systems increasingly used in the building sector. As a matter of fact, in that context they allow a set of common problems to be addressed and often solved: lack of physical space and economic issues, always existing when PV and thermal panels are to be installed separately. Obviously, the main objective of PV/T panels is to enhance the electrical efficiency by cooling the PV cells, but the side positive effect is also the production of thermal energy, which can be suitably exploited with a proper configuration of the whole system and an appropriate design of its components. Their energy production and overall efficiency depend on several factors and ther…
Insulating Building Components Made from a Mixture of Waste and Vegetal Materials: Thermal Characterization of Nine New Products
2021
Nowadays, energy efficiency and sustainability are the fulcra of building policies. These policies promote the use of new technologies and materials that can reduce the primary energy involved and the environmental costs of construction, guarantying at the same time a high level of comfort for the building’s occupants. Synergy between previous construction techniques and the use of new materials should be pursued by employing materials with a low environmental impact and optimal thermal insulation properties. Within this framework, new materials derived from the agriculture sector, and waste or recycling products from the industrial/agricultural sectors have been studied. The aim of this pa…
The role of transportation and its involved sources of energy in the environmental assessment of marble producing sites
2018
Marble is acquiring large popularity as building material. Since building materials are now required to be characterized by high energy and environmental performances, marble is entailed to fulfill top-level requirements. About its environmental performances an important European Decision establishes criteria for the award of the Community eco-label to this material. Unfortunately, this Decision is focused on mining and processing activities, seemingly neglecting marble transport. In contrast, this phase affects the whole working chain because it releases (pollutant) emissions and involves the use of primary and, in case, secondary energy sources. Here, the focus is on the role played by tr…
Outdoor Mean Radiant Temperature Estimation: Is the Black-Globe Thermometer Method a Feasible Course of Action?
2018
Urban planning has become one of the crucial action in order to address and mitigate the effect and the consequences of the global warming and it also entails different sectors of the urban context. The survey and control of the outdoor climatic conditions are among the involved sectors and mean radiant temperature is amid the most analyzed parameters. The aim of the paper is to investigate the effective suitability of one of the most used method in the assessment of the mean radiant temperature, namely the globe-thermometer method, in outdoor urban environment, singling out possible shortcomings and actual efficacy. Specifically, data obtained by measurement campaigns performed by means of…
An MAS-based subjective model for indoor adaptive thermal comfort
2015
The achievement of high level personalized sets of comfort parameters is contemplated within the more general context of the so-called smart buildings, where people, by means of the new communication technologies, become active actors to the process of the singling out and control of the best indoor conditions. This Dynamic Intelligence approach would usefully contribute to a better energy efficient and environmental friendly management of buildings. Multi-Agent schemes are suitable tools in this aim, since they are able to manage the user-building-plant system where the adaptivity of people to the indoor conditions is suitably achieved. In this paper a contribution to a development of the …
Passive components for reducing environmental impacts of buildings:analysis of an experimental green roof
2020
The reduction of the environmental impacts related to the building sector is a matter of outmost importance concerning the sustainable utilization of resources related to human activities. Such sector is in fact responsible for about 40% of both release of pollutants in the atmosphere and energy consumption. When trying to reduce buildings’ environmental impacts, as well as to limit their energy consumption, building envelope passive systems can be used. Amongst these, green roofs have been gaining global attention due to their benefits in terms of resilience and sustainability, in order to mitigate the unfavourable urbanization effects. Research on the green roof has been indeed increasing…
The spatial evaluation of the radiative human body heat exchanges: An effective contribution for limiting energy consumption and achieving better ind…
2018
Abstract Radiative heat exchanges inside buildings remarkably affect the thermal balance of the human body in confined spaces and the related thermal comfort sensations of people. The mean radiant temperature is an important component of this balance. Unfortunately, it is usually computed by means of too simplified relationships, which significantly influence the comfort evaluations. Such simplified approaches are also accountable for a less effective design of HVAC systems which, in turn, could result in high energy consumption in the climatization of buildings. However, an accurate evaluation of the mean radiant temperature, especially when high intensity sources are present in a given in…
Assessment of the mean radiant temperature in urban areas: methods at comparison
2018
Mean radiant temperature may play a pivotal role in the assessment of the outdoor environmental conditions in urban areas. However, its assessment in urban settings is not a simple task owing to the presence of complex and articulated environment and of solar radiation. The article aims to perform a comparison among the results yielded by different methods: the globe-thermometer method, and the six-directional technique. The scope of such a survey is an analysis of the actual appropriateness of the more practical, albeit less accurate, globe-thermometer method to outdoor environments. Furthermore, an analytical model, previously elaborated by the authors and here modified to make it applica…
A generalized model of human body radiative heat exchanges for optimal design of indoor thermal comfort conditions
2018
Abstract Human thermal sensation depends heavily on radiative exchanges between the human body and the surrounding environment. Because these exchanges play a crucial role in the thermal balance of the human body, about 35% of the process, human thermal sensation should draw the attention of planners when designing both indoor environments and equipment. The present study aims to contribute to this field by proposing a procedure for delineating the optimal comfort conditions for occupants in most of the articulate and realistic configurations of actual indoor environments. Specifically, this procedure enables accurate assessment of the radiant field surrounding a subject in a given indoor r…
Modelling Indoor Radiative Heath Exchanges for Effective People Thermal Comfort and HVAC Design.
2017
Radiative heat exchanges inside buildings are responsible of a relevant part of the thermal balance of people occupying such confined spaces and, in turn, of their thermal comfort sensations. Mean radiant temperature of the internal surfaces is supposed to affect considerably this balance but, usually, it is computed by means of too simplified relationships that significantly affect the comfort evaluations. These simplified approaches can be also accountable of a less effective design of HVAC systems. Unfortunately, an accurate evaluation of the mean radiant temperature, especially when high intensity sources are present in a given internal space, depends on the angle factors between human …