Search results for "Construction"
showing 10 items of 2670 documents
Monitoring results and analysis of thermal comfort conditions in experimental buildings for different heating systems and ventilation regimes during …
2017
This paper focuses on the long-term monitoring of thermal comfort and discomfort parameters in five small test buildings equipped with different heating and cooling systems. Calculations of predicted percentage of dissatisfied people (PPD) index and discomfort factors are provided for the room in winter season running three different heating systems – electric heater, air-air heat pump and air-water heat pump, as well as for the summer cooling with split type air conditioning systems. It is shown that the type of heating/cooling system and its working regime has an important impact on thermal comfort conditions in observed room. Recommendations for the optimal operating regimes and choice o…
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…
A Survey on Daylighting Education in Italian Universities : Knowledge of Standards, Metrics and Simulation Tools
2021
Daylighting is a strategic topic to achieve sustainable buildings, so it is more and more imperative that it is implemented in architecture curricula to prepare a new generation of daylighting-oriented practitioners. In this frame, the DAYKE project (Daylight Knowledge in Europe) was set up to explore the level of knowledge about daylighting among European professionals and students. DAYKE-Europe was replicated as DAYKE-Italy to study the knowledge of daylight standards, metrics and software among Italian architecture students, and to compare it to that observed within DAYKE-Europe. A sample of 542 questionnaires were collected in five universities. Primary outcomes were: (i) a general low …
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.
Dalla costruzione alla verità dello spazio
2020
Nel progetto di architettura si compie la riconciliazione tra realtà fisica e luogo, ovvero tra un contesto stratificato e molteplice ed un sistema ordinato e dotato di senso che ne esplicita una particolare declinazione estetica. Il progetto è lo strumento capace di governare il dualismo visibile/invisibile da cui scaturisce il movimento che procede dalla materialità della costruzione all’immaterialità dello spazio: la composizione dell’architettura, lungi dal pretendere di cristallizzare tale dinamica in forma, ne deve ricercare la rappresentazione più autentica. Ivi la tragedia della finitezza della forma e la speranza senza fine della vita si contrappongono e contemporaneamente si autor…
NANO, SMART AND COMPOSITE MATERIALS IN CONSTRUCTION
2018
Si può generalmente affermare che l’industria delle costruzioni costituisca un settore capace di attivare grandi attività economiche e di spe- rimentazione, anche se spesso esso utilizzi componenti e sistemi abbastanza obsoleti, se paragonati ad altri settori industriali quali, ad esempio, quello bellico o farmaceutico. La ricerca e lo sviluppo di materiali innovativi costituiscono una priorità delle agende scientifiche di parecchie Nazioni, con investimenti - sia nel pubblico che nel privato - di diversi milioni di dollari l’anno. La scelta tra i nuovi materiali avanzati è sempre più vasta ed articolata, con una capillare attenzione rivolta sia alle prime fasi della progetta- zione che all…
NANOTECHNOLOGY IN CONSTRUCTION: JUST FASHION OR REAL POTENTIALITIES?
2017
Developments of technology and advances in materials science and engineering are leading to a new generation of products that may represent a competitive route to achieve a real sustainable growth in construction. Currently many nano-based products are available on the global market: smart-materials, nano- composite materials, nano-devices, etc.. Further nanotechnologies enable new developments: materials and products are fast emerging or exist in bulky and expensive forms in other industrial sectors. Anyway, a great deal of research, directly focused in construction’s applications, should be done. This paper is aimed to discuss such an increasing trend and analyses the global market. A gen…
Cap Rate as the Interpretative Variable of the Urban Real Estate Capital Asset: A Comparison of Different Sub‐Market Definitions in Palermo, Italy
2017
Real estate capital is in constant competition with other capital assets due to its different and complementary economic functions such as direct use, productive investment, and speculative investment. These features and the resulting opportunities cannot be easily deduced from direct observation of the real estate markets, so some further insights need to be carried out in order to highlight the relationship between prices, rents and performances. This study aims at providing a multifaceted perspective of a specific urban real estate market to overcome the difficulties arising from opacities and informative asymmetries that hinder the decision of investors, by facilitating the comparison o…