Search results for "Building"

Electrical hybrid heat pumps assisted by natural gas boilers: a review

2022

In this paper, a comprehensive review is performed on hybrid systems using electrical Heat Pumps for Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning systems and Domestic Hot Water production using case studies from 2016 to 2022. This work particularly focuses on studies that investigated systems with electrical Heat Pumps assisted by a gas boiler. Some studies that considered the exploitation of renewable energy sources, but not as a whole sub-stitute for fossil sources, have also been included. In particular, the analysis investigated the layouts of the systems by considering the type and the size of the components, the control methods applied (by distinguishing rule-based control methods and …

Energy and Economic Analysis of Different Buildings Constructed with Environmentally Sustainable and Traditional Materials

2013

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…

Extending the current database for the LCA of Building materials: an EU-USA comparison.

2008

An overview of sustainability issues in manufacturing and building sector: a life cycle assessment approach

2014

In the latest decades, the industrial consumption of materials and energy has undergone a growth which may exceed the limits of earth resources. Therefore, a strong awareness of the need to use materials and energy in a more efficient way has arisen. A wide research interest on sustainability is present in the modern technical literature: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology and Design for Environment (DFE) procedures are nowadays widely investigated in many research labs all over the world. In this context, this paper focuses on LCA approaches in two main fields: manufacturing and building sector. As the former is regarded, sustainability issues are crucial topics and the reduction of e…

Life-Cycle Assessment of Buildings

2019

The chapter presents a complete overview of LCA applied to buildings. After a brief introduction on the origin and developments of the LCA, it describes four steps of the LCA methodology, according to the framework of the International standards of ISO 14040 series. Then, the authors focus on the LCA applied to the building sector and on the standard EN 15978. They identify the main issues related to the application of the methodology to buildings, such as the selection of the functional unit, the systems boundaries,the environmental indicators, etc. In the context of the sustainability, a brief overview on the economic and social aspects of buildings and on the available building life-cycl…

Thermal Parameters Measurements of High-Rise Building Envelope

2016

In buildings, to ensure the thermal comfort of the occupants and to keep the energy consumption as low as possible, a correct design of the thermal system is necessary. To do so, an appropriate determination of the thermo-physical properties of the wall materials is needed, particularly; new light-weight building technologies are widely used in the construction of the building envelope. One of these parameters, particularly important in Mediterranean climatic dynamic conditions is the heat capacity, due to the presence of the sun’s energy contribution in hot and cold seasons. The value of the heat capacity in such like materials is typically quite different from the declared parameter, obta…

The recent change in the Italian policies for photovoltaics: Effects on the payback period and levelized cost of electricity of grid-connected photov…

2015

Abstract This paper provides an economic analysis of the investment in grid-connected PV (photovoltaic) systems installed on the rooftops of buildings located in densely urbanised contexts. The analysis was applied to some case studies that were selected as representative of the latitudes of the southern, central and northern Italy. The returns of the investment in PV systems were investigated with the aim of comparing the impact of the current PV policy, based on the tax credit scheme, with the FIT (feed-in tariff) scheme, in force until July 2013. The cash flows related to the disbursements and benefits during the lifetime of the investment were computed for each combination of orientatio…

BUILDING INTEGRATED PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS ENERGY STORAGE: EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES, MODELLING AND PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS

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…