Search results for "Buildings"

Multi-objective optimization of building life cycle performance. A housing renovation case study in Northern Europe

2020

While the operational energy use of buildings is often regulated in current energy saving policies, their embodied greenhouse gas emissions still have a considerable mitigation potential. The study aims at developing a multi-objective optimization method for design and renovation of buildings incorporating the operational and embodied energy demands, global warming potential, and costs as objective functions. The optimization method was tested on the renovation of an apartment building in Denmark, mainly focusing envelope improvements as roof and exterior wall insulation and windows. Cellulose insulation has been the predominant result, together with fiber cement or aluminum-based cladding …

Computing methods for resilience: evaluating new building components in the frame of SECAPs

2019

Resilience represents a new important feature that the anthropic systems, and cities among them, are called to cope with. In fact, the increasing negative stresses to which urban contexts are exposed, and mainly the climatic pressures, call for the capability of adapting to these modifications and, possibly, to restore the ex-ante situations. The role of the buildings and their envelope components is of crucial importance to this aim. This paper analyses the features of resilience of the roofs of buildings by means of proper quantitative indexes. On purpose, the performances of green and cool roofs are compared. The possibility of adopting nonstructural solutions, like the windows shading d…

Acciones para mejorar la eficiencia energética en los edificios en Europa: estado del arte sobre los standards técnicos

2022

The paper is aimed at reviewing the state of the art of the European technical normative implementation during the last decades concerning the building energy efficiency. Indeed, it is well acknowledged that the present building stock is largely obsolete and inefficient: in the European context alone, around 75% of the buildings is not energy efficient and most are expected to be in use until 2050. Consequently, buildings require not only a general rehabilitation, to extend, or even avoid, its end-of-life time, but also a complete afterthought of their energy performance. That is extremely urgent to improve the overall sustainability of the construction sector that, alone, is one of the mai…

An innovative approach to manage uncertainties and stock diversity in the EPBD cost-optimal methodology

2018

The EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) 2010/31/EU is a step in the right direction to promote near zero energy buildings (NZEB) in a step-wise manner, starting with minimum energy performance and cost optimal thresholds for “reference buildings” (RBs) for each category. Nevertheless, a standard method for defining RBs does not exist, which led to a great divergence between MS in the level of detail used to define RBs for the EPBD cost-optimal analysis. Such lack of harmonisation between MS is further evident given the resulting large discrepancies in energy performance indicators even between countries having similar climate. Furthermore, discrepancies of 30% or higher betw…

UNO SGUARDO ALLE FONTI SULL’ARCHITETTURA CIVILE TRA QUATTROCENTO E CINQUECENTO IN SICILIA: I CONTRATTI PER ANALOGIA

2021

This study examines the copious contractual documentation related to the construction of civil architecture in Sicily between the 15th and 16th centuries. Taking also into account the legal value of the acts, a series of observations emerge providing a more precise portrait of the masters involved, the architectural design and social behavior of the contractors. A framework of conventions and procedures comes out that combines local characters and long-lasting Mediterranean traditions.

How effective are the vegetated surfaces for the CO2 sequestration? Analyzing parameters and methods

2021

Human activities are severe sources of greenhouse gases and, particularly, of CO 2 . This trend, according with the highly demanding criteria released by the international institutions, must be suitably cut, in order of turning the pollutant emissions within limits that will guarantee a sustainable and environmentally safe development of the human species. Apart the measures that are since long time usually implemented in the technological systems, other interventions should be properly adopted in supporting the sustainability of the anthropic activities. These actions mainly apply to the so-called bioclimatic and passive measures and, particularly, could usefully refer to the plantation of…

From the Paper to the Tablet: On the Design of an AR-Based Tool for the Inspection of Pre-Fab Buildings. Preliminary Results of the SIRAE Project

2018

Energy-efficient Buildings (EeB) are demanded in today’s constructions, fulfilling the requirements for green cities. Pre-fab buildings, which are modularly fully-built in factories, are a good example of this. Although this kind of building is quite new, the in situ inspection is documented using traditional tools, mainly based on paper annotations. Thus, the inspection process is not taking advantage of new technologies. In this paper, we present the preliminary results of the SIRAE project that aims to provide an Augmented Reality (AR) tool that can seamlessly aid in the regular processes of pre-fab building inspections to detect and eliminate the possible existing quality and ener…

MULTI-OBJECTIVE OPTIMISATION OF BUILDINGS AND BUILDING CLUSTERS PERFORMANCE: A LIFE CYCLE THINKING APPROACH

2021

Foster Carbon-Neutrality in the Built Environment: A Blockchain-Based Approach for the Energy Interaction Among Buildings

2022

Decarbonizing urban environments and reducing their energy consumption is one of modern society biggest commitments. In this regard, both the scientific community and international governments have been giving special consideration on improving the energy-environmental performance of mostly single buildings; recently the focus has been shifting towards a broader Positive Energy District (PED)/ Energy Community (EC) vision, from small clustered group of buildings to neighborhoods up until urban settlements. In this respect, integrating the use of renewable energy resources (RES) and actively involving building users can have a significant environmental impact on local areas. Within this fram…

Investigating energy saving potential in a big shopping center through ventilation control

2019

Abstract This paper investigates energy saving measures for the ventilation system of large shopping centers. This kind of buildings is characterized by high yearly energy consumptions, because of the high level of operating hours and the frequent use of obsolete technologies. In the analyzed case studies, three big Do It Yourself (DIY) shops, located in Italy, are considered. Two different approaches are considered, they are aimed at reducing the annual energy consumption for the indoor air exchange of the sales area. The first considered retrofit solution consists in the installation of heat recovery exchangers, reducing the energy demand for the air thermal treatment without changing the…