Search results for " low"
showing 10 items of 972 documents
Indagini nell'area ad ovest del Tempio della Vittoria ad Himera
2021
Himera: New investigations in the area West of the Tempio della Vittoria · The University of Palermo has started a new cycle of field investigations in the “lower town” of Himera, with the aim of answering some questions about the relationships between the Tempio della Vittoria, the residential districts, and the agora, that remained to be clarified after the important results produced by the studies on the urban development of the Greek city over the past forty years. This paper presents some initial results and research perspectives from the first excavation soundings and geophysical survey of 2021. The first findings strongly suggest that the agora extended much further south than previo…
Friction-based beam-to-column connection for low-damage RC frames with hybrid trussed beams
2022
Hybrid Steel-Trussed Concrete Beam (HSTCB) is structural typology suitable for light industrialization. HSTCBs usually cover long span with small depths, which lead to significant amount of longitudinal rebars. The latter make beam-column joints more prone to damage due to earthquake-induced cyclic actions. This phenomenon can be avoided using friction-based BCCs. Friction devices at Beam-to-Column Connections (BCCs) have become promising solutions to reduce the damage experienced by structural members during severe earthquakes. Few solutions have been developed for cast-in-place Reinforced Concrete (RC) and steel-concrete composite Moment Resisting Frames (MRFs), because of the difficulty …
Performance of Earth Bricks Supplemented by Nanoparticles and their Application in Architecture
2017
The potential for architecture offered by natural materials in terms of comfort, reduction of embodied energy and energy-saving in the operational phase, dictates in-depth research that might highlight advantages and contribute to improving their characteristics. This research focuses on earth bricks and, in particular, a type of brick made from unfired clay, known as adobe. The aim of the research is to verify improvements in performance of adobe with the aid of nanotechnology. The adobe mixture was prepared with water, soil (from Sicily) and LAPONITE® as a stabilizer. The adobe bricks were subjected to tests of resistance to compression and flexion, resistance to abrasion, capillary absor…
Regenerating Landscape from Resilient Citizens: Parco Uditore, Three Years of "Low Cost Landscape"
2016
In the always surprising capital of Palermo, a hidden garden of opuntia indica relics has been discovered again after decades of oblivion, due to the work and the unceased promotion made by a huge group of citizens, students, teachers and volunteers. In this 9 hectares area owned by the regional government of Sicily since a long time ago (1963), the remains of a dense opuntia plantation characterizes a green forgotten area, casually survived to the building growth of Palermo. Along three decades (1963‐1993) after being a military underground stowage plant for fuel in WWII, the Fondo Uditore is still a full opuntia place, where the sweet fruits and the green and prickly “leaves” where sold r…
Progettare un paesaggio low cost
2012
Nelle maggiori città europee e in diversi casi nel resto del mondo la tutela, la valorizzazione e la cura partecipata del verde pubblico sono pratiche ormai consolidate da decenni; esiste da tempo una consapevolezza matura del ruolo determinante che le aree verdi svolgono nell’ambito di uno sviluppo sostenibile della civiltà. Attraverso l’esperienza del recupero per la fruizione immediata di Fondo Uditore a Palermo, oggi si presenta anche per Palermo l’occasione di allinearsi a quella che, più che una tendenza, è una necessità riconosciuta e imprescindibile per garantire una migliore qualità della vita in ambito urbano. Qui, dove la recente storia urbanistica racconta decenni di colpevole n…
Ultra low cost landscape: Parco Uditore in Palermo
2014
Palermo, Siciliy, 15 October 2012. A piece of rural landscape has been given back to the city: hundreds of people flood between Indian figs (opuntia indica),hackberries (celtis australis) and pepper trees (schinus molle), discovering an hidden place, closed to public since a very long time, what is survived from a hard and strong urban development, just because it is a public property. At the beginning of 19th century the place is a huge cultivation of Indian figs, the city is far away. The land comes in public hands as a military zone in the 30’s, just before the II WW: a fuel underneath tank is built, connected to the harbour with a pipeline. After the war the land remains a public place,…
Una memoria agricola in un paesaggio low cost
2016
L'esperienza della trasformazione del paesaggio agrario tradizionale in un parco urbano partecipato a basso costo. Nella sorprendente Palermo, una città complessa, dove un paesaggio drammatico combatte giorno dopo giorno contro una città contemporanea di pietra e di cemento, un giardino nascosto di Opuntia viene scoperto ancora una volta dopo decenni di oblio, grazie ak lavoro e alla incessante promozione fatta da un gruppo di cittadini, studenti, professori e volontari.
Fostering the energy efficiency through the energy savings: The case of the University of Palermo
2019
This paper reports the strategy implemented by the Palermo University (Italy) aimed at fostering the energy performance of its campus, particularly towards financing energy saving measures. The basic idea is that the money saved through the energy efficiency actions, constitute the main flywheel to fund further savings and energy efficiency interventions. Results of this paper might bring a useful contribution to the energy planning of cities, since campuses may be regarded as emblematic case study of what can be done in cities because they reproduce, at a little scale, the functioning of wider urban contexts.
Life cycle assessment of a solar PV/T concentrator system
2011
The paper shows the energy and environmental analysis of a solar low Concentrating Photovoltaic-Thermal (CPVT) system, installed on the roof of the Energy Department building at University of Palermo (Italy). LCA methodology was applied to assess the whole life-cycle of the selected Functional Unit. Data survey from the producing company regarding the consumption of energy sources and of materials were developed. The assessment allowed to identify the steps and the system components addressing the highest energy and environmental impacts. Energy and environmental benefits and drawbacks related to the CPVT system. The research was developed within the National Relevant Research Programme (PR…
Organic Rankine Cycle fed by flat-plate solar collectors: a case study
2015
L'attuale tendenza dell’utilizzo di sistemi di risorse energetiche distribuite (sistemi DER), insieme con il crescente sviluppo tecnologico, incoraggia l'uso di tecnologie capaci di recuperare efficacemente energia da fonti di calore a temperatura bassa o moderata, che rappresentano un'opzione essenziale per affrontare le problematiche energetiche ed ambientali. In questo contesto, i cicli Rankine a fluido organico (ORC) si stanno affermando come una tecnologia molto promettente tra quelle attualmente disponibili, in particolare per bassi valori di temperatura. I principi di funzionamento dei sistemi ORC sono essenzialmente gli stessi di quelli del ciclo Rankine. Nei sistemi ORC, l’acqua è …