Search results for "building"
showing 10 items of 1985 documents
People comfort and artwork saving in museums: comparing indoor requisites
2009
In museums, environmental indoor conditions should, contemporaneously, preserve the exhibited works of art and ensure the comfort conditions for people. Unfortunately, human and artworks requirements are characterised by different values of the physical indoor parameters that, occasionally, could become conflicting. In the paper, these problems are addressed by means of a literature analysis, with a specific attention to thermal comfort conditions of people. The possibility of finding common ranges of values for both requisites is finally discussed. Some recent technical recommendations on the matter have also been considered for indicating some HVAC equipment and appliances to be adopted i…
A laboratory setup for the evaluation of the effects of BACS and TBM systems on lighting
2015
The paper focuses on the evaluation of the impact of Building Automation Control Systems (BACS) and Technical Building Management (TBM) systems on the performance of the lighting system in a residential building. In particular, this work shows a laboratory setup, installed at the DEIM of the University of Palermo, for simulating a typical apartment. The paper describes the laboratory, the lighting system and the BAC system installed and the test facility for evaluating the electricity consumption in presence and in absence of automation. The laboratory has been built within a research project funded by the Italian Minister of University and Research in the framework of the PON Smart Cities …
Energy and Economic Comparison of Different Conditioning System among Traditional and Eco-Sustainable Building
2013
The use of bioclimatic principles can reduce energy demands and CO2 emissions in the building sector [1-. Costs are one of the most important barriers to a widespread adoption of the green architecture technologies [4-. The aim of this study is to compare the energy and economic performances of two buildings: a real residential bioclimatic building located in Cinisi (a small town near Palermo, Sicily) and an imaginary residential building supposed having the same geographical location, cubature, shape and orientation as the bioclimatic building but built by conventional building materials. The tools used for this study were TRNSYS and HOMER
Scenarios of Climatic Resilience, Economic Feasibility and Environmental Sustainability for the Refurbishment of the Early 20th Century Buildings
2019
This paper aims to examine the theme of energy retrofit within the circumscribed field of refurbishment interventions on load-bearing masonry buildings built in the early 20th century. These include a remarkable share of the fabric of many European cities and, in particular, they can be found in geographical areas characterized by a Mediterranean (mild) climate. The main objective is to increase the climate resilience of the buildings by verifying the economic feasibility and the environmental sustainability of the interventions at the same time observing the specific architectural features of the buildings. We put forward alternative retrofit solutions carrying out synoptic comparisons of …
Improvement of Energy Efficiency for Indoor Lighting in a Big Shopping Center
2018
As the progressive diffusion of shopping centers in Italy, the paper analysis the potential energy savings in the indoor lighting plant, thanks to new technologies as LED lamps and Building Automation System. The case study, applied to a big shopping mall in the middle of Italy, shows great results, thanks to the high efficiency of LED technology, high number of operating hours and the implementation of a control system. An economic and environmental evaluation is reported.
On the impact of safety requirements, energy prices and investment costs in street lighting refurbishment design
2018
Abstract Street lighting is an indispensable feature for the night landscape of cities. It is important for road safety, users visual comfort, crime prevention and to augment the perceived personal safety. Realize and maintain an adequate street lighting service is very expensive for municipalities with significant impact on their budgets. For this reason, special attention should be paid to the design of new street lighting systems and to the refurbishment of existing ones, since many of them are inadequate. In light of this it is very important to implement street lighting designs that fulfil lighting requirements avoiding energy waste and light pollution and, at the same time, result eco…
The effects of vegetation on indoor thermal comfort: the application of a multi-scale simulation methodology on a residential neighborhood renovation…
2017
Abstract Despite the acknowledged positive effects of vegetation at urban, neighborhood and building scales, there are still only limited comprehensive design tools for multi-scale evaluation of the microclimate and thermal benefits of plants and building-integrated vegetation (BIV) systems. The paper describes a case study in the city of Palermo (Italy) that applied simulation methodology to quantitatively assess the microclimate effects of different neighborhood and building retrofit scenarios where vegetation plays a main role. The simulation workflow moves from a micro-urban to a building scale assessment by linking the ENVI-met software to the building energy simulation program EnergyP…
Potential of Natural Ventilation and Vegetation for Achieving Low-Energy Tall Buildings in Tropical Climate: An Overview
2019
Climate change and rise in urban temperatures have further increased the cooling load demands for tall buildings located in hot climatic regions. Cooling loads in tall buildings can be reduced by integrating them with natural ventilation (NV) and building integrated vegetation (BIV) techniques. This study explores the potential of NV and BIV for obtaining low-energy buildings by analyzing ten tall buildings as case studies. Buildings are analyzed for NV, BIV, architecture design parameters, and energy savings. The results show that mixed-mode ventilation is the most commonly employed, and circular building plans have the highest potential for energy savings. Furthermore, the combination of …
Life cycle energy performances and environmental impacts of a prefabricated building module
2018
Abstract The paper explores the energy performances and environmental impacts of a prefabricated building module located in Messina (Sicily, Italy) through an approach that combines both the non-steady state building simulation and the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The building uses renewable energy technologies and is usable in emergency situations or as simply temporary housing. Results show that the building module causes the emission of 1.5 t of CO2eq/m2 and consumes 29.2 GJ/m2 of primary energy during its life cycle. The building achieves the Net Zero Energy Building target even if it has relevant environmental impacts in the materials production stage (72% on average of the total…
Impact of Different Building Materials on Summer Comfort in Low-Energy Buildings
2015
Abstract The aim of the current paper is to analyse thermal comfort and overheating risks in the low-energy buildings in a summer season under Latvian climate conditions both experimentally and numerically. An interior temperature and relative humidity are analysed under free-floating conditions. Two cases are analysed: in one case, the solar influence through the window is taken into account; in the other this influence is omitted. Three different building solutions are observed: two building structures which mainly consist of the mineral wool and wooden materials and one structure from aerated clay bricks and mineral wool. The experiments have been implemented in test stands in Riga, Latv…