Search results for "energy savings"
showing 10 items of 19 documents
Enabling Energy Savings in Offshore Mechatronic Systems by using Self-Contained Cylinders
2019
This paper proposes a novel actuation system for an offshore drilling application. It consists of three self-contained electro-hydraulic cylinders that can share and store regenerated energy. The energy saving potential of the proposed solution is analyzed through a multibody system simulation. The self-contained system demonstrates superior energy efficiency compared to the benchmark system representing the state-of-the-art approach used today (i.e., valve-controlled cylinders by means of pressure-compensated directional control valves and counter-balance valves, supplied by a centralized hydraulic power unit). Due to the power on demand capability, the cancellation of the throttling losse…
Building green covering for a sustainable use of energy
2013
Nowadays the growth of the cities increased built and paved areas, energy use and heat generation. The phenomenon of urban warming, called urban heat island, influences negatively outdoor comfort conditions, pollutants concentration, energy demand for air conditioning, as well as increases environmental impact due to the demand of energy generation. A sustainable technology for improving the energy efficiency of buildings is the use of green roofs and walls in order to reduce the energy consumption for conditioning in summer and improve the thermal insulation in winter. The use of green roofs and walls can contribute to mitigate the phenomenon of heat island, the emissions of greenhouse gas…
“Hypotheses of Integration of DSC into the Glassblock for teh Construction of Translucent Building Envelope”
2012
New configurations of the glassblock have been designed at the Department of Architecture of the University of Palermo in order to reduce its U value responding to the latest national and international regulation limits for the thermal insulation of the buildings with glass façades. One of these new configurations consists in the insertion of a special plastic "belt" between the two glass shells composing the glassblock, which have to be glued to it (cold assembly); the plastic belt effectively interrupts the thermal bridge between the two glass shells. Thanks to the particular design of its shape, the "thermal belt" can be also used for the insertion of one or more additional sheets of dif…
Smart energy users: ICT instruments for the consumer awareness
2015
The European Commission is supporting many projects in the field of energy saving, with the aim to improve user behavior and to help Europe to meet emission targets. In October 2012, the European Union adopted the Energy Efficiency Directive with the aim to reduce the primary energy consumption by 20% by 2020. One key point in the reduction of energy consumption energy is the awareness of final users about their usage of energy. At the same time, policies aimed at improving the efficiency of energy use, are a keystone in the strategies of leading Distribution System Operators (DSOs) and energy retail companies that started to offer, in addition to the energy supply, services and suggestions…
Lighting control systems: Factors affecting energy savings' evaluation
2015
Abstract The use of automated lighting control systems allows to reduce lighting costs and to achieve significant energy savings. The energy performances of controls are affected by many factors, the impact of which is very difficult to account for during the design process. The goal of this paper is to describe the factors that influence the control systems’ energy performances, to analyze how the currently available calculation tools take them into account and finally to propose a simple method to adjust results obtained from the simulation software.
Comparison Between Conventional and Vegetated Roof by Means of a Dynamic Simulation
2015
In this paper, a dynamic simulation of a building located in the Campus University of Palermo, Italy, has been carried out. We considered two different scenarios; in the first one, the building as it is, with a conventional covering, while in the second one the roof was equipped with a green roof. The results of the two simulations have been compared, suggesting that such building component could contribute to the energy savings of the building. However, it has to be considered as part of other possible actions devoted to improve the energy efficiency of the whole building. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://…
A comprehensive assessment of energy efficiency of wastewater treatment plants: An efficiency analysis tree approach
2023
Producción Científica
Smart-City Citizen Engagement: The Answer to Energy Savings in an Economic Crisis?
2022
As the populations of cities grow, it is obvious that they need more and more resources. Energy is currently one of the most desirable resources due to the economic and energy crisis, but it needs to be used in a sustainable manner. There are cities that achieve smart city (SC) status that provide smart policies towards sustainable development. The aim of the present paper is to determine whether citizen engagement in SC can contribute to reduced energy consumption in the current economic crisis. The paper presents an original survey intended to collect primary data and a study conducted based exclusively on qualitative methods. The results concern a broad and multifaceted review of literat…
Tax benefits for the energy requalification of Italian real estate assets
2020
The need for energy-efficient buildings has emerged since the onset of the first energy crises in the 1970s. It's in this decade that the concepts of sustainable development and energy saving have been introduced in the construction sector. Currently, the greatest energy saving potential for buildings does not lie in new buildings, but in the energy redevelopment of existing buildings. In order to promote interventions for building restoration, which are often costly and not economically convenient, Italian legislation has made a series of economic incentives available to the sector. This work reviews the main incentive systems for the energy requalification of buildings.
Leading agritourism facilities along Nearly Zero Energy paths: Proposal of an easy-to-use evaluation method
2020
The tourist sector, despite the present severe constraints imposed by the sanitary emergence, can be considered as an important component of almost all countries' economies. In Italy agriturism, in particular, has been experiences a continuously rising trend in recent years. Clearly, such great interest towards these businesses also calls for a deep attention by an energy point of view, in sight of an energy efficiency improvement, hence a lowering of the pressure that such facilities exert to the natural environment. On the other hand, the European Union has been engaged, for a long time, in awarding the tourist accommodations environmental excellence brands, like the EU Ecolabel. Unfortun…