Search

The original feature of this paper is the development of a toolkit for the decarbonisation of Mediterranean islands. The defined methodology was aimed to develop framework, skills and capabilities, coordinating and tailoring predictive assessment tools, analysing three alternative scenarios for the penetration of renewable sources into the energy system by 2030, consistently with a rationale of integration between technologies, production sectors and available funds. The findings of the research cofinanced by the European Programme Interreg Med (2014-2020) support Local Authorities by developing more effective methods and databases to plan and manage interventions in favour of the energy and cultural transition also through energy communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological transition requires a significant change in the construction industry, which is responsible for 40% of final energy consumption. In Italy, residential buildings account for more than 27% of energy consumption, 12 out of 14 million. Their renovation is, therefore, an important objective to achieve a sustainable built environment. However, a drastic reduction in energy demand is also needed in residential buildings, as widespread ownership does not allow comprehensive control of domestic consumption. Hence the importance that dwellers understand the direct link between their actions and climate change so that efficiency efforts are not in vain. The paper identifies in artificial intelligence an educational tool on energy citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an overview of the key elements of a research project focused on the development of a multilayer platform aimed at supporting regeneration process at district scale particularly for what concerns the improvement of comfort conditions. The paper describes the adopted methodologies and the main stages in which the research is organized. The backbone of the multi-layer platform is described according to the purpose and to the expected impacts. The role of the tool and of ICT in increasing the end-users' awareness about the potential benefit deriving by the adoption of efficient solution and energy saving measures is discussed. A reflection concerning the barriers to further developments and the most promising implementation opportunities completes the text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports the results of an experimental and multidisciplinary design research for the upcycling of a public residential building in the city of Sora to guarantee its architectural and environmental redevelopment, seismic improvement and energy efficiency. The project, drawn up on the basis of indications provided by a working group coordinated by Architect Renzo Piano, who promoted the initiative as senator for life, is supported by the Casa Italia Department of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. The institution plans on considering this project a model based on which guidelines can be defined to outline effective design and process strategies in terms of costs and social and environmental repercussions for similar interventions throughout the national territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to investigate the emergency of estate management the scholastic buildings. It examines the economic and legal resources problems, necessary to start an effective redevelopment of the public school buildings in Italy. In detail, the paper analyse the European researches field, which funded renovation and the new construction actions of energy efficient school buildings, and presents same results of research Teenergy School. The Teenergy research, has involved the University of Florence and a Tuscany Public Administration in a benchmarking activities and in a pilot projects development. The paper aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of instruments and financial resources in promoting technological innovation, in this specific construction industry, as a vehicle to transform obsolete schools buildings in Nzeb, as indicated from the latest European legislation on energy performance of the buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper refers to the final phase of the Smart Case research project "Innovative solutions for the optimization of multi-functional primary energy consumption and indoor living conditions in the Building System". The aim of the research was to develop tools and methodologies to support and orient the design of new buildings in the Mediterranean area, with regard to the selection of envelope technologies for the best overall energetic and environmental performance of the building system. Further research developments on the topic may concern actions aimed at moving from the Nearly Zero Energy to the Plus Energy model. The interaction between the building and the smart grid will be one of the main aspects to be investigated with a systemic perspective towards smart cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of our contribution is to provide insight into an innovative, shared and transferable model to assist the evolution and sustainable planning of an urban-industrial metropolitan area through a bottom-up involvement of the industrial community and local stakeholders. The presence of industrial urban districts has become a typical feature in Italy as a result of urban spreading. The presence of SMEs in urban ecosystems is a new fundamental opportunity for the design and planning of spaces as well as for the planning of smart energy systems and life quality in the cities. We tested this approach in Roveri, a historical industrial district in transition located within the urban boundary of Bologna. This paper describes the first results obtained with a number of tools and actions aimed at making the community and stakeholders conscious of the district's potential and to enable them to lead its development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper shows the results of an applied research aimed at developing an operative methodology and its corresponding computational workflow for the design of resilient architectures able to responsively react to the variation of the environmental conditions. The proposed methodology consists in a form-searching process built-up by a series of consequential and interrelated phases aimed at reducing the energy needs of the building and improving indoor and outdoor comfort conditions. The analysis of the processes, above defining the limits and potentials of the chosen design approach, opens the debate on parametric tools that allow to systematically explore the space o design possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of my experience between 2013 and 2015 as a member of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (MiBACT) working table formed to develop "Guidelines for improving energy efficiency in the cultural heritage of architecture and of urban and historical centres and cores." These guidelines currently make directives and solutions available in order to attempt to solve the problem of how to reconcile requirements of comfort and energy efficiency with the need to preserve structures whose original intended use was quite different; in other words, this is the problem of how to safeguard and capitalize on the historical and cultural characteristics typical of ancient settlements, while at the same time transforming them to be suited to the needs of an increasingly evolved society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active libraries in Italy are around 13.000 and, taken as a whole, the property and management relate mainly to public institutions such as the state, regions, local authorities, cultural institutions, universities, and partly to religious institutions and individuals. In this paper is presented the work of studies and research, commissioned to the authors by the General Direction for Libraries of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture (Mibac), which ended recently, addressing the architectural, energy and environmental refurbishment of national historic libraries distributed on the Italian territory, with special focus on 4 among 46 owned by the Ministry of Culture (the Nazionale Centrale di Roma, the Nazionale Centrale in Florence, the national University of Turin and the Angelica in Rome) believed by the authors and client as examples of recurring issues and ideals to lend itself to the construction of a model of intervention replicable on other historical Italian libraries.The main objective of the project is the identification of physical and perceptual factors of wear2, which threaten the conservation of the historical and artistic heritage of the historic center of Venice, with a particular focus on the effects of anthropogenic pressure linked to tourism, and the evaluation of their level of danger. A further objective is the recognition of measurable parameters (indicators) for monitoring and, subsequently, mitigation strategies for the most significant phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EU standards and rules concerning energy efficiency in the building sector are pushing to achieve ever-higher performances. This also represents a strong driver for innovative construction techniques, inducing manufacturers to invest professional and financial resources in the development of building components that can meet the highest quality and performance standards. During the last decades, many components have been developed to improve the energy efficiency of the building envelope. This paper summarizes three research activities entrusted by private companies to the Department of Architecture of the University of Bologna from 2009 to 2012, aiming at increasing the energy performances of building components and systems. Several themes had to be addressed: two different dry construction systems and a range of installation configurations for airtightness for high quality windows. Although focused on different and specific issues, some criteria common criteria were applied on all three researches: it allowed to outline an approach suitable to be applied in further contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper outlines some of the results of SPeeD project, funded by EU, Campania Region and National Department of Civil Protection. The research is aimed at the definition of impact scenarios resulting from the eruption of Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei and the development of strategies to reduce the damage on the built environment. The issues related to the identification of technical solutions for mitigating the impact on buildings and infrastructure, to the socio-economic benefits arising from widespread interventions on the territory, as well as to the drafting of preparatory guidelines for the implementation of regional regulations and local building codes for volcanic risk-prone areas, have been developed at PLINIVS Study Centre of University of Naples Federico II. The methodological approach for the definition of appropriate technologies aimed at reducing the impact in relation to eruptive phenomena and construction types in the area is based on PLINIVS Volcanic Impact Simulation Model, a unique tool to define impact scenarios consequent to a volcanic eruption in the region, able to evaluate the cumulative effects given by the action of volcanic phenomena, such as earthquake, ash fall, pyroclastic flows and landslides. The study aims to demonstrate how the application of appropriate technologies for retrofit interventions or new constructions, aimed at reducing the vulnerability of building components, represents at the same time an opportunity to encourage a diffuse redevelopment of the territory driven by energy and environmental efficiency issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In accordance with the most recent management mandate, ISTeA (Italian Society of Science, Technology and engineering of Architecture) has devoted its efforts to outlining those topics which are of fundamental importance for the activity of its stakeholders, in line with the road maps of national and Community funding programmes and with the strategic objectives of (Industrial) Research which range from the energy-environmental performance of buildings and districts to automation in construction within the context of Smart Cities and Social Innovation. These research programmes need to be planned and negotiated with industrial stakeholders and carried out in partnership with them. This explains why the 2011 ISTeA Conference produced a number of position papers, the 2012 Conference traced the state of the art in the topics identified and the 2013 Conferencedeals with the non-instrumental relationship between Building Production and ICT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent surveys on the condition of the Italian school building stock provide information on its relevant seismic behavior and fire safety levels, however no information is made available on its thermo-hygrometric conditions and energy behaviour, despite the fact that the former has a considerable impact on the use and physical conditions of indoor environments and the latter plays a fundamental role in limiting the buildings operating costs, as literature abundantly shows. This paper reports the results of a study carried out on a sample of Italian school buildings, substantiating their high levels of energy consumption, and describes the application of a specific method of analysis used for identifying the main causes of these, therefore allowing to propose some possible strategies for retrofitting, aimed to improving the building energy efficiency and environmental quality, by way of simulations and validation of their relevant effects and benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two main theoretical points are underlying the experimentations carried out in the attempt to improve and foster the technological evolution of Social housing; on one hand the search for energy and bioclimatic efficiency, on the other hand the respect of economical feasibility matters in relation to the low construction cost required by such works. The chance to experiment such an approach, in the attempt to reach further than the mere respect of norm requirements, is represented by the experimentations in the Roman area discussed in the present paper: one has already been carried out and is currently undergoing supervision; the other one is currently being developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]