Search results for "Green building"
showing 5 items of 5 documents
Decoupling Office Energy Efficiency From Employees' Well-Being and Performance: A Systematic Review
2019
Energy efficiency (i.e., the ratio of output of performance to input of energy) in office buildings can reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions, but there are barriers to widespread adoption of energy efficient solutions in offices because they are often perceived as a potential threat to perceived comfort, well-being, and performance of office users. However, the links between offices' energy efficiency and users' performance and well-being through their moderators are neither necessary nor empirically confirmed. The purpose of this study is to carry out a systematic review to identify the existing empirical evidence regarding the relationships between energy-efficient solutions in sustainab…
Geomaterials in green building practices: comparative characterization of commercially available clay-based plasters
2013
Three pre-mixed powdered clay-based (earthen) plasters produced in Europe and specifically designed for wall undercoating were analyzed in this paper. These materials are commercially available and successfully employed in green building practices all over the world. Their compositional and textural characteristics, as well as plastic behaviour were investigated through a multi-analytical approach: X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), polarized light microscopy (PLM), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRFS), scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), grain-size distribution (GSD) and semi-empirical tests (Atterberg…
Effects of compositional and textural characteristics of clay based plasters on the control of indoor relative humidity
2015
Air humidity in contained spaces has a significant impact on health of inhabitants. The control capability of indoor relative humidity (RH) of clay-based plasters was tested on a series of commercially available products specifically designed for wall undercoating and on a natural earth collected in the surrounding area of Palermo. The innovative practice of ‘‘green building’’, since several years, led the interest of research to recyclable and reusable traditional materials that, in several cases, are a sustainable alternative to concrete and lime mortars. Earthen plasters, in general, have the ability to balance indoor humidity like no other classic building materials. The studied samples…
Moisture absorption, thermal conductivity and noise mitigation of clay based plasters: The influence of mineralogical and textural characteristics
2016
Abstract Three pre-mixed clay based plasters successfully employed in green building practices in several European countries (Spain, France, Germany, and United Kingdom), mainly used for interior wall coating and finishing, were tested in this paper. Their compositional and textural characteristics as well as plastic behaviour were investigated through a multi-analytical approach in a previous paper. A natural earth (Terra Rossa red soil sampled in north-western Sicily), theoretically appropriate for the production of earthen plaster, was also subjected to the same analytical routine and compared with the three commercially available products. Humidity control capacity by the determination …
Verso un linguaggio di sostenibilità condiviso: analisi critica dei protocolli di certificazione ambientale degli edifici
2018
The importance of building performance in the worldwide energy scenario has increased in the last years. European countries have developed standards and energy certification schemes for optimizing energy consumption and reducing environmental impacts which have been applied at National and local levels. In addition, green protocols have been developed for assessing the sustainability levels of buildings. Differently from the energy performance schemes, they are not mandatory and big differences do exist among the Green Building Rating System developed in each country. In this analysis 11 certification procedures have been analysed in order to highlight qualitative and quantitative differenc…