First proposal of a methodology for a preventive assessment of the acoustic impact of advanced landfills

In this paper, the results of a preliminary study on the environmental noise pollution of a technologically advanced landfill to be realized in Sicily (Italy) are presented. The investigation has been carried out analysing, at the beginning, a simulating model suggested by the European Community. The method makes reference to the ISO 9613-2:1996 standard, which suggests a general method of calculation to assess the attenuation of sound during propagation outdoors. The simulation has pointed out the troubles in carrying out the noise pollution assessment of an advanced landfill, where several and different kinds of sound sources are present at the same time; it isn’t always possible, for exa…

Environmental profile of building materials. Field analysis of a brickwork in Sicily

Brickmaking process is a highly energy-intensive operation, where a considerable amount of energy is spent in the drying and firing processes of bricks. Moreover, most of the Sicilian brick industries utilise electricity, fuel oil and gas oil. On the other hand, the conservation of energy becomes important in the aim of limiting greenhouse gas emission into the atmosphere and reducing costs of materials. In this work, an experimental analysis of the energy utilised in a Sicilian brickwork for the realization of some typical bricks has been carried out. From this study, the embodied energy of the unity of product has been deduced. Finally, by means of an indirect method, the pollutants relea…

Green vs Traditional Roofs: Assessing their Actual Benefits through an Integrated Indicator Developed for Cool Roofs

Green roofs have caught on in cities, mainly because contribute positively to thermal behaviour of buildings equipped with them. This paper investigates the applicability to these roofs of an integrated indicator, developed by Levinson and Akbari, to assess the contribution of cool roofs to buildings’ energy consumption. A building, assumed as the reference for the Italian medium size offices, was considered and its energy performance with and without the green roof was assessed. Different sites with different climatic conditions were considered for the simulations. First results indicate that such indicator does not seem to be completely transferable to green roofs.

Primi dati sull’uso dell’habitat in una popolazione siciliana di Natrix natrix.

First data about the habitat use in a population of Natrix natrix from Sicily. In the present paper the preliminary results of an investigation carried out on a Sicilian population of the grass snake (Natrix natrix) are reported. The leading aim of this study is to compare habitat use among three different classes of individuals (males, females, immatures), using as input the density of observations in four habitat types. Field studies were conducted beside a reservoir (“Lago di Scanzano”), located about 40 km from Palermo (western Sicily). Our results indicate spatial and temporal differences among groups. Young individuals were observed more frequently between April and May along wet mead…

Influence of ANN parameters on the performance of a refined procedure to solve the load-flow problem

In recent years, interest in the application of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to electrical power systems has grown rapidly. In particular the use of ANN in the solution of the load-flow problem in wide electrical networks is an interesting research topic, because it constitutes a good alternative to the classical numerical algorithms. In this paper a refined solution strategy based on statistical methods, on a particular Grouping Genetic Algorithm (GGA) and on Progressive Learning Network (PLN) is presented. Tests on the solution of load-flow equations of the standard IEEE 118 bus network confirm the good potential of this approach; in particular the search for optimal values of the PLN…

A CCHP system fed by low enthalpy sources in Mediterranean area

Climate change and energy consumption increasingly call for a better use of energy sources. Renewable sources are still growing in the power production of many countries, so leading to the reduction of CO2 emissions. Further restrictions will be applied to the use of fossil fuels with a lot of consequences; for example, major German cities such as Stuttgart, Dusseldorf and Hamburg are all contemplating bans related to diesel pollution, and on the other hand some of the biggest car producers - FCA, Toyota, etc. - are planning to stop the diesel engines production in a few years. At the same time, some restrictions are applied also to many refrigerating fluids, in order of firstly limiting th…

Sensitization to dust mite defines different phenotypes of asthma: A multicenter study

Background Indoor allergens are risk factors for asthma: Thus, the characterization of indoor air quality is important for studying environment–health relationships in children. In particular, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus is the dominant allergen for asthma. We cross-sectionally investigated the relationships among respiratory symptoms and function, airway inflammation, allergen sensitization, and indoor allergen concentration. Methods One hundred and thirty-two children aging 10-14 years and living in a Southern Mediterranean area were evaluated by parental questionnaires. Spirometry, exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), skin prick tests, total, and specific serum IgE analyses were performed alo…

Forecasting noise levels by means of neural networks for assessing urban traffic policies

Within the assessment of the sustainability of plans and actions concerning the built environment, the transportation sector plays an increasing role, due to its importance in the economic and social life of countries. As that, the analysis of the sustainability concerning the transportation sector is now often embodied into the so called Strategic Environmental Analyses (SEA), that should provide local administrators with easy criteria for ranking the environmental suitability of designing policies, and that would seem to encounter the needed features for a correct evaluation of the urban masterplan. The urban noise forecast is very useful for local administrations, which have presently to…

Energy rehabilitation of a nursery school in Sicily: winter and summer behaviours

Following a previous work, concerning the energy audit of a nursery school belonging to the public building park of the town of Palermo, some further analyses have been conducted. These mainly refer to the environmental performances of the school that are assessed with regards to different interventions involving the envelope (the glazed part, particularly) and the surrounding spaces. The interventions are hierarchised by means of suitable indicators concerning energy, environment and economy issues. Finally a simple graph is proposed that visually summarises these indicators for each proposed action.

Greening the school park: energy and environmental rehabilitation of a nursery school in Palermo