Search results for "energy efficiency."

Considerations about an indicator aimed at describing the energy efficiency of buildings with innovative envelope components at different climatic co…

2020

Green roofs are building components that have become increasingly common in urban contexts because other than the general improvement of the aesthetics of the buildings equipped with them, they have demonstrated to positively improve the building energy performance. Consequently, it would be useful for technicians to have easy and reliable indicators to achieve a synthetic quantitative judgement about the effectiveness of green roofs by an energy perspective compared to others building envelope technologies, for different climates. In sight of the definition of such an indicator, or at least of its properties, some considerations aimed at this purpose, especially concerning the use of new c…

Green vs Traditional Roofs: Assessing their Actual Benefits through an Integrated Indicator Developed for Cool Roofs

2020

Green roofs have caught on in cities, mainly because contribute positively to thermal behaviour of buildings equipped with them. This paper investigates the applicability to these roofs of an integrated indicator, developed by Levinson and Akbari, to assess the contribution of cool roofs to buildings’ energy consumption. A building, assumed as the reference for the Italian medium size offices, was considered and its energy performance with and without the green roof was assessed. Different sites with different climatic conditions were considered for the simulations. First results indicate that such indicator does not seem to be completely transferable to green roofs.

Enhancing values of roofs albedo for lowering cities’ air temperature and electric demand of buildings: a simple economic evaluation

2019

Abstract In cities vegetated roofs are becoming more popular because they can mitigate Urban Heat Island phenomena by decreasing the outdoor air temperature in summer. This decrease reduces the electric energy demand for climatization of buildings, which, in front of a milder climate, will recur less to mechanical tools for guaranteeing thermal comfort conditions to occupants. Cities can registered another indirect positive effect: the reduced cooling energy demand, limits the heat released by the climatization systems’ external unities toward the urban open spaces, thus lowering the outdoor air temperature. Therefore, the outdoor surface temperature of green, as well as cool roofs, can be …

Degradation of Antibiotic Vancomycin by UV Photolysis and Pulsed Corona Discharge Combined with Extrinsic Oxidants

2023

Antibiotics are the most frequently detected pharmaceuticals in the environment creating conditions for the development of resistant genes in bacteria. Degradation and mineralization of glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin (VMN) were examined by UV photolysis, pulsed corona discharge (PCD), and their combinations with extrinsic oxidants, hydrogen peroxide (HP), peroxydisulfate (PDS), and peroxymonosulfate (PMS). Both combinations were effective in VMN degradation and faster at pH 11 than in acidic or neutral media. Combined with the UV photolysis, HP showed a higher oxidation rate than other oxidants, whereas PMS and PDS proved to be more efficient in combinations with PCD. In contrast to low…

Interdisciplinary building categorization - A method to support sustainable energy efficiency strategies in historic districts

2016

The balance of energy conservation and building conservation must be carefully considered when developing management policies for historic districts. One possible approach is using building stock modelling. However, as state of the art models do not normally encompass aspects or values related to cultural heritage significance, new interdisciplinary categorization methods are required to facilitate a sustainable management of the built heritage. This paper presents a categorization method that has been developed as part of the European research project EFFESUS. It shows the procedural categorization of two very different historic centers in Palermo (Italy) and Visby (Sweden) respectively, a…

MIGLIORAMENTO TECNOLOGICO-PRESTAZIONALE DI UN COMPONENTE INNOVATIVO PER L’INVOLUCRO EDILIZIO - PERFOMANCE IMPROVEMENT OF AN INNOVATIVE BUILDING COMPO…

2016

L’articolo illustra l’attività di ricerca che gli autori, cofounder della SBskin. Smart Building Skin s.r.l., start up innovativa e spin off accademico dell’Università degli Studi di Palermo, stanno conducendo al fine di ottimizzare le performance energetiche di un componente innovativo per facciate e coperture di edifici (dagli stessi brevettato) in grado di ridurre i consumi energetici e di produrre energia pulita dal sole. L’attività che qui si illustra è stata finalizzata all’ottimizzazione del design dei sub-componenti che contribuiscono alla realizzazione dei pannelli traslucidi multifunzionali (realizzati con vetromattoni innovativi, preassemblati a secco e precompressi) ed alla scel…

Energy efficiency and photovoltaic solar for greenhouse agriculture

2011

Straw as a contemporary biomaterial: energetic efficiency and enviromental sustanaibility

2016

Questo studio ha lo scopo di segnalare ricerche e applicazioni in ambito costruttivo europeo e non solo della paglia, con particolare attenzione all'efficienza energetica e al comfort abitativo. Il riciclo e riutilizzo dei materiali naturali sono gli obiettivi principali nella scelta di paglia come materiale da costruzione, consentendo di adottare un approccio metodologico complessivo, che potrebbe prendere in considerazione l'intero edificio del ciclo di vita. Partendo dalla storia dell'utilizzo di paglia nella costruzione edilizia, saranno riportati molti esempi di edifici che utilizzano tale materiale all'interno del loro involucro e struttura. Le caratteristiche principali della paglia …

The thermal performances of historic masonry: In-situ measurements of thermal conductance on calcarenite stone walls in Palermo

2018

Abstract Rich literature explores materials and construction techniques of historic buildings, but limited information is available about the thermal and hygrometric features of their envelope. Nevertheless, accurate hygrothermal data are essential for identifying effective energy upgrade measures, which must be compatible with the conservation of the architectural heritage. In order to fill this gap, it is necessary to refer to local contexts, where the variety of historic buildings is limited and their material and construction features are comparable. This paper focuses on historic masonry walls and discusses the results of twenty in-situ measurements of thermal conductance, performed al…

The Recurrent Characteristics of Historic Buildings as a Support to Improve their Energy Performances: The Case Study of Palermo

2017

Abstract The analysis of the recurrent characteristics of the local historic architecture is useful to develop large-scale energy analyses, regulations and financial strategies, but also to support technical guidelines for an energy improvement balanced with conservation. For this purpose, a multi-scale methodology ranging from envelope components to the urban dimension is necessary. In the research here exposed, this approach is investigated by focusing on the historic architecture of Palermo. For this heritage, the collection of thermal and hygrometric data for envelope components is combined with the examination of representative constructions, based on building stock categorization. Int…