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A sustainable and environmentally alternative to commonly used air conditioning systems can be the solar cooling system due to the use of renewable and clean energy. Solar absorption systems can be used for greenhouse cooling in areas with high outdoor temperatures and solar radiation levels. These systems take advantage of the simultaneity between the solar energy availability and the greenhouse cooling demand allowing the reduction of conventional electricity and water consumption. This paper presents the results of the application of a solar cooling plant for the climate control of a greenhouse at the University of Bari, Italy. The experimental plant consists of a Mediterranean greenhouse, having a surface of 300 m2, and of a single effect LiBr-H2O absorption chiller fed by evacuated-tube solar collectors. Two different localized systems were chosen for the distribution of cold inside the greenhouse: the first system presents pipes placed centrally on the cultivation vessels; the second consists of pipes in contact with aluminium plates and of a transparent EVA film, used to border an area close to plants. The distribution system of cold with pipes, plate and EVA film provided a slightly higher cooling capacity due to the presence of the plates which increases the ability to dissipate energy.

Green facades applied on a building’s envelope allow achieving the building’s passive thermal control and energy consumption reduction. These are complex systems and many site- and plant-specific parameters influence their energy behavior. The leaf area index (LAI) is a relevant plant characteristic to consider. Solar shading and latent heat loss of plant evapotranspiration are the two main cooling mechanisms. The aim of this study was to assess the cooling effect provided by an evergreen south oriented green facade in summer in a Mediterranean area and to investigate what happens when LAI changes. Experimental data were used to calculate the cooling effect provided by the facade. Simulations with different LAI values were performed to determine the related cooling effect. The canopy solar transmissivity decreased by 54% for every LAI unit increase. LAI significantly influenced the green facade cooling performance. As LAI increased, solar shading and latent heat increased; this was relevant until an upper limit value of 6. An exponential equation to calculate the mean extinction coefficient (km), and a polynomial relationship, with very good agreement, were proposed to calculate shading and latent heat as function of LAI. The findings of this research can effectively contribute to fill still existing gaps on green facades’ energy performance and to the energy simulation of buildings equipped with them.

Green infrastructures inside cities represent an effective strategy to face with the increasingly urgent environmental problems. Green systems applied to building envelope are among the most applicable and useful solutions. These provide many significant advantages at different scales. Green façades (GF) are a typology of vertical green systems, applied to the vertical components of the building envelope. GF allow to save energy for air conditioning, by improving the envelope thermal performances. Energy behaviour of GF has been more deeply studied in warm periods, than in cold ones. This paper aims to analyse wintertime energy performances of GF. Evaluations were carried out based on the experimental data collected on two GF, in Bari (Italy), under mediterranean climatic conditions. The experimental set-up included also a bare wall (BW), used as control. The heating effect provided by the greenery was pointed out through statistical and energy analyses. At night-time, the covered walls (CW) were warmer than the bare one up to 3.5°c. The dependence of night-time heating effect on microclimate parameters, as external air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed, was studied. External air temperature was found to be the most influencing factor: as it dropped, the heating effect increased. Overall energy transfer through the CW was lower than through the BW at night-time. The long-wave infrared energy radiative losses were reduced thanks to the green layer, which acted as a thermal barrier. These findings proved that GF improve winter night-time thermal performance by reducing energy losses.

Urban agriculture (UA) initiatives have been increasing in recent years as a nature-based solution for achieving many of the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, climate change is expected to have effects on rainfall patterns, which are likely to impact urban food production. The main aim of this paper is to evaluate how issues related to water sources for UA have been addressed in the scientific literature from two different socioeconomic and environmental realities, Brazil and Italy. The method involved a systematic literature review, considering the PRISMA guidelines. The Web of Science database and papers' reference lists were used for retrieving original articles, published in 2000–2020 interval, indexed on scientific databases, and containing data on the typology and quality of water sources used in UA studies. After applying the eligibility criteria, 191 papers were selected – Brazil (108) and Italy (83). The last five years have seen an intensification of studies into issues involving water. Tap water has been identified as an important source of irrigation water for UA, if not the main one. No studies were found that addressed the impact of UA on public water supply systems. The findings point towards more sustainable practices involving the reuse of water and adaptive practices towards water security. We identified that innovative production systems like container farming, aquaponics and indoor agriculture, as well as cultivation of fruit trees, wild edible plants and varieties with low water requirements can represent water-saving options.

Energy consumption in greenhouse heating could reach up to 90% of the total energy requirement depending on the type of greenhouse, environmental control equipment and location of the greenhouse. The use of climate conditioning technologies that exploit renewable energy and the application of passive systems to improve the energy efficiency and the sustainability of the greenhouse sector are recommended. During winter 2020-2021, an experimental test was carried out at the University of Bari in a Mediterranean greenhouse heated by a polygeneration system, composed of a solar system and an air-water heat pump. Three localized heating systems were tested to transfer thermal energy close to plants of Roman lettuce. Heating pipes were placed inside the cultivation substrate in the underground pipe system and on the cultivation substrate in the laid pipe system. The third system consists of metal plates heated by steel tubes and placed in the aerial area of plants. A weather climatic station and a sensor system interfaced with a data logger for continuous data acquisition and storage were used. The plate system was the best for air temperature rising, as it allowed an increase of 3.6% compared to the set-up without any localised heating system. The underground pipe system was the best for the soil heating, as it achieved a temperature increase of 92%. Localized soil heating systems contributed significantly to an earlier harvest by almost 2 weeks.

Urban agriculture (UA) is steadily gaining supporters worldwide, and this is partly because constantly growing urban populations recognize the need to increase food production and promote a healthy diet. UA can also generate extra income, promote socialization leading to valorisation of urban areas. Nevertheless, UA faces several challenges, including limited available space, stressed natural resources, pollution in a context characterized by climate change and new consumption patterns. At the same time, if UA is practiced in the same way as other forms of agriculture, it may have some undesirable environmental impacts on urban areas. The use of indicators can provide decision makers with a tool to evaluate the sustainable insertion of agriculture in cities. This work aims to propose a minimum set of indicators as the basis for an index to assess progress of urban vegetable production towards sustainability. Nineteen urban sustainability indexes, composed of several indicators founded in the literature and already used by several institutions, were analysed. These indexes were broken down into a set of 1579 indicators. Analysis of the relevancy to issues such as food, energy, water, land and pollution, and the selection based on the criteria of being measurable, sensitive to stress, predictable, anticipatory, controllable, integrative, responsive and stable, led to a 26 basic indicators selection. These are proposed as the basis for an innovative UA sustainability index. This will be built based on the Delphi method and is intended to support communities in establishing sustainable and resilient cities.

The need of greater environmental sustainability in today’s living contexts can be significantly coped through the introduction of green infrastructures. Their benefits concern improvement of climate and comfort conditions. Among green infrastructures, vertical greenery systems, applied to buildings, contribute to the energy efficiency of buildings and to the improvement of outdoor and indoor microclimatic conditions. Green facades, a typology of vertical greenings, allow a considerable energy saving for air conditioning, by reducing the surfaces temperature of buildings and increasing the envelope thermal insulation. A realistic description of the functioning of green facades is essential to comprehend the real extent of their advantages. This paper aims to provide a first answer to the need of energy simulation models for green facades’ thermal behavior. The paper proposes a theoretical and an experimental approach. The main heat fluxes involved into the green facade system are investigated and described, by resorting to a schematic representation. The defined mathematical relations are applied to data collected during an experiment on a green facade conducted at the University of Bari. This work represents a contribution to the development of a model to forecast the thermal behavior of green facades and of the microclimate of buildings equipped with them.

Greenhouse microclimate control is important to reach high production yield and low environmental impacts. Ventilation, shading and evaporative cooling are methods for controlling air temperature and relative humidity inside the greenhouse. Ventilation and shading can be not sufficient to remove the excess heat, while evaporative cooling is based on the exploitation of huge amounts of water. In order to enhance the sustainability of the greenhouse industry, renewable energy sources can be exploited. Solar absorption systems can be used for greenhouse cooling in areas with high outdoor temperatures and solar radiation levels. These systems take advantage of the simultaneity between the solar energy availability and the greenhouse cooling demand allowing the reduction of conventional electricity and water consumption. They can be used in remote areas where conventional cooling is difficult and where there is abundant solar energy. This paper presents the results of the application of a solar cooling plant for climate control of a greenhouse. The system is sited at the University of Bari, Italy. The experimental plant consists of a Mediterranean greenhouse, having a surface of 300 m2 and by a single effect LiBr-H2O absorption chiller fed by evacuated-tube solar collectors. The application of two different localized distribution of cold inside the greenhouse was studied in order to evaluate the reduction of air temperature close to the cultivation area. A reduction of the greenhouse air temperature up 5.0°C was obtained.

Urban Green Infrastructures (UGIs) improve the supply of urban ecosystem services. UGIs can provide benefits such as better urban climate conditions and lower temperature of urban air. They can also limit the development of extreme temperatures on buildings surface, in particular in Mediterranean climate areas. Green facades permit the physical shading of the building envelope, produce a cooling effect by means of evapotranspiration in summer, and improve the thermal insulation in winter. A reduction of the thermal flows between exterior and interior and more sustainable buildings can be obtained. A three years experimental test was carried out at the University of Bari (Italy) for assessing the thermal performance of two green facades characterized by two different climbing plants (Pandorea jasminoides variegated and Rhyncospermum jasminoides). The selected plants well adapt to the local climate, growing quickly and vigorously. The environmental conditions and several climatic parameters on the walls were monitored during the field test. The temperature on the external surface during July 2015 was used for fitting a regression model. The model was validated on July 2016. It can be applied for predicting the two green facades performance in a Mediterranean climate only by using an input dataset on climate conditions.

A sustainable technology for improving the energy efficiency of buildings is the use of urban greening in order to reduce the energy consumption for air conditioning in summer and to increase the thermal insulation in winter. A worldwide growing interest in urban green is encouraging the application of the greening technology for more sustainable buildings. Building indoor air temperature depends on several different parameters related to the climate of the region, the building itself and its use. The main parameters influencing the microclimate are: external air temperature and relative humidity, incident solar radiation, long wave radiation exchange between the building surfaces and its surroundings, wind velocity and direction, air exchanges, physical and thermal properties of the building's envelope materials, design variables such as building dimensions and orientation, presence of artificial light, electrical equipment. Green façades can allow the physical shading of the building and promote evapotranspiration in summer and increase the thermal insulation in winter. External wall surface temperature is a parameter useful to assess the effectiveness of green façades. An experimental test was carried out at the University of Bari (Italy) for three years. Three vertical walls, made with perforated bricks, were tested: two were covered with evergreen plants (Pandorea jasminoides variegated and Rhyncospermum jasminoides) while the third wall was kept uncovered and used as control. Several climatic parameters concerning the walls and the ambient conditions were collected during the experimental test. The experimental data were used for developing a multiple regression equation regarding the dependence of the difference of external surface temperature between the green façades and the control wall and the weather conditions. The model shows a good predicting ability.

Polymeric protein-based biocomposites were used in this work as water dispersions to generate, in situ, biobased mulching coatings by spray technique, as alternative to low density polyethylene films for soil mulching. At the end of their lifetime, these biodegradable coatings degrade in soil thank to the microbial community that mineralizes them. Protein hydrolysates (PH) were derived from waste products of the leather industry, while poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEG) and epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) were used to make the biodegradable spray coatings. A study under greenhouse condition was carried out using seedling test plots in order to investigate the performance of the spray coatings and their possible influence on some aspects of leaf growth, functionality and nutritional quality of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L., Mortarella selection Romanella variety Duende) and on soil properties. The biodegradable coatings showed the same good agronomic performances comparable with the ones of a commercial low density polyethylene mulching film, maintaining the mulching effect for the requested cultivation period and ensuring at the same time a similar rate of plant growth and dry matter accumulation. The research showed that 2 months after the tillage carried out at the end of the cultivation the amount of coating residues present in the soil was5% of the initial weight of the biodegradable coatings. At the end of the field test, the soil mulched with the polyethylene film recorded an electrical conductivity value lower with respect to the soil mulched with the sprayed coatings, which release nutrients in the soil during their decomposition.

Microclimate control in the greenhouse is important to improve yield and obtain low environmental impacts. Ventilation, shading, evaporative cooling and refrigeration are methods of controlling air temperature inside the greenhouse; nevertheless, ventilation and shading are often not sufficient to remove the excess heat, refrigeration is generally expensive and evaporative cooling is based on the use of large quantities of water. In order to enhance the sustainability of the greenhouse sector, renewable energy sources can be exploited with the application of solar absorption systems for greenhouse cooling in areas with high outdoor temperatures and solar insolation. This paper describes the application of a solar cooling plant with absorption chiller for thermal control of a greenhouse. The experimental system consisted of a Mediterranean greenhouse, with a surface of 300 m2, and a single-effect LiBr-H2O absorption chiller fed by evacuated-tube solar collectors, located at the University of Bari, Italy. The distribution system provides the cooling power only for the volume surrounding the crop. The research demonstrated that solar cooling systems provide an opportunity for reducing the air temperature around the crop, allowing the reduction of primary energy consumption by exploiting the contemporaneity between the cooling requirements and solar energy availability. © 2018 International Society for Horticultural Science. All Rights Reserved.

Plastic materials used in agriculture mostly derive from synthetic petro-chemical polymers. They require at the end of their lifetime a suitable waste management system for the collection and treatment. A research was carried out in order to define a GIS methodology for mapping the agricultural plastic waste on the land. The use in agriculture of plastics in Barletta-Andria-Trani Province – Apulia Region – was investigated by applying orthophotos analysis and remote sensing survey. Besides purposed Plastic Waste Indexes were created to release land use to waste generation. The data were organized in a specific geo-database. The analysis showed that the agricultural plastic waste yearly produced from covering films was 627 kg ha−1, from the anti-hail nets was 159 kg ha−1, from nets for crop protection was 192 kg ha−1, from shading nets was 131 kg ha−1, from irrigation pipes was 104 kg ha−1. Through GIS, the areas with high density of plastic wastes were pointed out and the suitable location of collection centres was defined. The produced maps and the GIS database can be always updatable tools, useful for monitoring and optimizing the collection of agricultural plastic waste from the farms and their transport to the recycling companies.

The aim of the paper is the definition of territorial indexes to evaluate the quantity of agricultural plastic waste in a geographical region due to the main crop cultivations of that area. The local Authority of the Barletta, Andria, Trani Province, Italy, has shown interest to introduce modernization actions for the agricultural plastic waste management. The analysed territory is typically suited for vineyards, olive groves, and orchards. Several farms were examined by means of direct questions or compilation of questionnaires. Data gathered were elaborated in order to estimate territorial indexes as average values per year of the agricultural plastic waste quantities coming from different crops. The obtained results allowed to quantify the yearly generation of agricultural plastic waste as function of the typology.

Green facades can represent a sustainable solution for construction of new buildings and for retrofitting of existing buildings, in order to reduce the energy demands of the cooling systems, to mitigate the urban heat island and to improve the thermal energy performance of buildings. Green facades can allow the physical shading of the building and promote evapotranspiration in summer, and increase the thermal insulation in winter. An experimental test was carried out at the University of Bari (Italy) for two years. Three vertical walls, made with perforated bricks, were tested: two were covered with evergreen plants (Pandorea jasminoides variegated and Rhyncospermum jasminoides) while the third wall was kept uncovered and used as control. Several climatic parameters concerning the walls and the ambient conditions were collected during the experimental test. The daylight temperatures observed on the shielded walls during warm days were lower than the respective temperatures of the uncovered wall up to 9.0 °C. The nighttime temperatures during the cold days for the vegetated walls were higher than the respective temperatures of the control wall up to 3.5 °C. The thermal effects of the facades at daytime was driven by solar radiation, wind velocity and air relative humidity. The highest cooling effect of such parameters occurred with a wind speed of 3–4 ms−1, an air relative humidity within the range 30–60% and a solar radiation higher than 800 Wm−2. The long-term experimental test demonstrated that both Pandorea jasminoides variegated and Rhyncospermum jasminoides are suitable for green facades in the Mediterranean climatic area. The results shown in the present research allow to fill the gap in literature concerning the lack of data for all the seasons of the year, in order to obtain a complete picture of the building thermal performance in the Mediterranean climate region.

A strategy to make cities greener involves the use of green infrastructures. In this context, green facades applied to vertical envelope of buildings are one of the most promising technologies. Their contribution is particularly significant as passive cooling systems for buildings. Green facades allow to decrease air and surfaces temperatures mainly by canopy evapotranspiration and shading. Such processes are strongly influenced by environmental conditions and canopy characteristics. Aim of this research was to model and evaluate evapotranspirative and shading effects. Data recorded on an experimental prototype of building equipped with green facade were used for model development and assessment. Canopy characteristics, as leaf area index in vertical greening, were defined. Evapotranspiration was both measured with a load cell and evaluated through the green layer energy balance. The goodness-of-fit of the models was assessed by statistical indices. The models using Penman-Monteith and Deardorff formula, in summer, recorded average values of root mean square error equal to 12.48 W m−2 and to 14.61 W m−2, respectively. Plant coefficients useful for the application in vertical greening of the standardized evapotranspiration reference equation were defined. These were equal to 1.3 and 2.0 for Rhyncospermum Jasminoides in summer and spring, respectively. The daily overall cooling effect in summer, due to evapotranspiration and shading, was equal, on average, to 16.2 MJ m−2 of wall surface. Shading contributed about twice as much as the evapotranspiration. The findings of this research can be a useful contribution to writing routines of building energy models expressly developed for green facades.

Green vertical systems have advantages in terms of building energy performance, but their environmental impact should be assessed in comparison to un-vegetated constructive systems. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the environmental loads of a green façade, which was compared to other building exterior wall systems. A Life Cycle Analysis approach was used to compare the green façade with constructive solutions commonly applied for enhancing the thermal insulation properties of the building exterior walls. The green façade and the other constructive solutions were characterised by an equivalent thermal behaviour. A green façade system prototype, realised with vegetation climbing on a steel frame, was used for the study. The comparison was carried out with exterior walls using insulation materials as expanded polystyrene, expanded cork and wood fibre. A double wall with an un-ventilated air gap was used as well. On average, the best environmental performance was recorded for the wall using cork as insulating material and for the double wall. The results highlighted the environmental criticalities of the green façade as the system having an environmental load among the most burdensome. Different scenarios of green façade with the use of alternative constructive solutions were hypothesized and compared by the life cycle analysis and life cycle impact assessment. The study showed that the adoption of a wooden frame in place of the steel one, as plant supporting structure, reduces the carbon footprint of the green façade by 58%. The environmental comparison was carried out also considering non-vegetated constructive solutions having an equivalent sun shading effect on the wall. The analysis showed that the green façade has the best environmental performance when compared with sun shading systems in aluminium or PVC.

Energy performance of a double-skin green facade in Mediterranean climate was investigated. Experimental data were collected at a green facade prototype realized at the University of Bari. The green facade thermal behaviour was assessed under different summertime weather scenarios. To point out the plants influence, a comparison was carried out between microclimatic conditions and energy transfer at the covered wall, behind the vegetation, and at an un-vegetated wall. Experimental data concerning the walls surface, the air gap in the green facade and the external air were used to perform statistical analyses and to evaluate the heat fluxes. At daytime, the green facade provided a reduction of the wall surface temperature up to 9.9 °C, while air relative humidity behind the vegetation rose up to 18.7%. Surface and air warming were found at night-time. A time-shift was detected between the maximum surface temperature of the covered and of the bare wall. The analysis of the energy flux through the two walls highlighted a sensible reduction in the covered wall, equal to 62% during daytime. Solar and LWIR radiative and convective fluxes were generally lower in the covered wall. Latent heat due to evapotranspiration was evaluated, as well. Net radiation was found to be the most influencing parameter for latent heat transfer. A simplified relationship was proposed to quantify latent heat due to evapotranspiration. The formula based on the net radiation, as input parameter, was found to be the most suitable. The findings of this research contribute to the knowledge of the effects provided by green facades in terms of cooling and heating, influence on the proximity microclimatic conditions and overall energy transfer.

The use of plastic materials in agriculture involves several benefits but it results in huge quantities of agricultural plastic waste to be disposed of. Input and output data on the use of plastics in agriculture are often difficult to obtain and poor waste management schemes have been developed. The present research aims to estimate and map agricultural plastic waste by using satellite images. Waste was evaluated by means of the indexes relating waste production to crop type and plastic application as defined by the land use map realized by classifying the Landsat 8 image. The image classification was carried out using Support Vector Machines (SVMs), and the accuracy assessment showed that the overall accuracy was 94.54% and the kappa coefficient equal to 0.934. Data on the plastic waste obtained by the satellite land use map were compared with the data obtained by using the institutional land use map; a difference of 1.74% was identified on the overall quantity of waste.

Novel biodegradable polymeric materials based on protein hydrolysate (Pr.Hyd), derived from waste products of the leather industry, and poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEG) or epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) are obtained and their physico-chemical properties and mechanical behaviour are evaluated. Different processing conditions and the introduction of fillers of natural origin, as saw dust and wood flour, are used to tailor the mechanical properties and the environmental durability of the product. The biodegradable products, which are almost completely manufactured from renewable-based raw materials, look promising for several applications, particularly in agriculture for the additional fertilizing action of Pr.Hyd. To this purpose, tests are carried out to prove the feasibility of novel biodegradable pots and containers by investigating their functionality, their physico-chemical and mechanical behaviour in standard and controlled experimental field conditions, and to follow the assessment of their biodegradation process during plants cultivation in the soil. POLYM. COMPOS., 2016. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers

Passive systems, such as high solar reflective roofing materials, protective facades, vegetative green walls and roofs, can be used in order to control solar heat gain in buildings. These sustainable technologies can reduce the temperature of the external surface of the building envelope, so reducing the energy consumption for cooling in summer. The radiometric properties of metallic roofing materials and their effects on the surface temperature were evaluated. Nine smooth metallic materials used for livestock buildings were tested; 4 were made of aluminium and the other 5 of steel and they were characterised by different colours. Solar reflectivity and long wave infrared emissivity were evaluated by means of laboratory tests; the influence of the radiometric properties on the surface temperature was evaluated in the field by using an experimental structure in Summer. The solar reflectivity coefficient ranged from 7.1% for the brown aluminium to 40.1% for the red steel; significant differences of the temperatures were recorded when the solar radiation hitting the metallic surface was higher than 600 W m −2 . A difference of 13.4% of the solar reflectivity coefficient resulted in a difference of the surface temperature of up to 8 °C. Variation of the slope from 15° to 40° resulted in an increase of the surface temperature of more than 8 °C. The value of the convection coefficient was calculated by means of the data measured in the field, and the mean value was equal to 12.2 W m −2 K −1 .

The Italian greenhouse vegetable industry is an important sector that requires thermal energy as much as 0.74 Mtoe, derived mostly from fossil fuels, which corresponds to 2 MtCO2 emissions. The Energy Strategy 2020 of the European Commission calls for increased use of renewable resources in the energy system, thus pushing the technology of wood biomass system for space heating of the greenhouses, since this resource is considered as ‘greenhouse gas’ (GHG) neutral when converted to heat, excluding the GHG generation during harvesting, transportation, and pre-processing of raw materials. Taking into account the different climatic areas in the Italian peninsula, power energy load was estimated to be between 30 Wm-2 (in southern regions) and more than 175 Wm-2 (in northern regions), while the energy consumption was estimated in the range from 21 to 546 kWhthm-2year-1 according to different internal air temperatures. Moreover, the CO2 enrichment in greenhouses from the exhaust gas of a biomass heating system can bring benefits for greenhouse plant production, along with optimal management strategies to reduce fuel consumption. Unfortunately, CO2 enrichment from the exhaust gas of biomass boilers is still challenging and expensive, considering that wood biomass boilers generate a higher volume of particulate matters (PM) and ash emissions than other fossil fuels. However, wet scrubbers and other recent flue gas conditioning devices could help to reduce costs and make this process more feasible. Thus, a techno-economic assessment is highly recommended to ascertain the economic feasibility of wood biomass boilers for the greenhouse industry. Finally, some economic considerations are provided to make cost-effective use of the solid biomass in relation to the economic incentives by the National Decree of 28 December 2012, so-called “White Certifies”.

The greenhouses cultivation causes in summer season inner conditions characterized by high thermal levels such as to generate problems that can damage crops. Always more frequently for this reason it is common to provide greenhouse with air conditioning plants. In this work it will be presented an application of a solar cooling plant with absorption cooling machine for thermal control of a greenhouse and an advanced simulation model able to evaluate optimal plant configurations and controls. Solar cooling systems can be applied for greenhouse climate control in regions with high values of solar irradiation as alternative to traditional evaporative systems, allowing the reduction of primary energy consumption by exploiting the contemporaneity between the cooling requirements and the solar energy availability. The plant consists of a single effect LiBr-H2O absorption chiller fed by evacuated-tube solar collectors; the model was developed in Matlab-Simulink and is able to simulate dynamically, with time steps up to 15 minutes, the greenhouse cooling demand and the production of the solar field. Present study proposes a plant configuration with a distribution system in which the cooling power is not provided for the entire volume of the greenhouse, but only for the air volume surrounding the crop with a considerable saving of reduction of energy demand and an extremely efficient use of solar energy. The simulation study is based on the experimental data collected at the experimental center of the University of Bari, Southern Italy. The aim of the work is to demonstrate that solar cooling system could provide significant energy-saving opportunities for cooling greenhouses allowing the reduction of primary energy consumption by exploiting the contemporaneity between the cooling requirements and the solar energy availability.

The current intensification of the use of plastic materials in agriculture, although has increased significantly the productivity, is also generating growing adverse effects on the environment of the agro-ecosystem. The agriculture is responsible for a massive use of plastic materials, in addition to energy and water inputs, chemical fertilizer and pesticides. Besides the pollution generated during the manufacture, at the end of their lifetime plastic materials used for crop covering, soil mulching, packaging, containers, pots, irrigation and drainage pipes, may became a pollution source when improperly disposed, leaved on the ground or burned. Instead the agricultural plastic waste (APW), if correctly collected, can be used as a new secondary raw material or as an energy source. An adequate APW management can prevent economical losses and environmental damages. The territory of the Barletta, Andria, Trani Province (BAT), in the Apulia Region, South Italy, is an agricultural area characterized by vineyards, olive groves, orchards and vegetables; it represents an area of intense production of plastic wastes and with a widespread problem linked to the application of unacceptable disposal practices. The goal of this study is to define and quantify the different types of plastic waste produced by the agricultural practice in a restricted area of the municipal area of Trani and Barletta, to localize the points where the most remarkable quantities of them are generated, and to provide the local Authorities and the decision makers of a useful tool for implementing an efficient and effective waste management. A dedicated geo-referenced database was designed using land use maps in a GIS environment and applying a methodology that can be functional for any kind of agricultural plastic waste. The resulting database gives updated and complete information on the plastic waste generation, over the land, related to the cultivation kind.

Urban green infrastructures contribute to increase sustainability in cities. Among green infrastructures, vertical green systems applied on buildings envelope are promising solutions. Green facades, applied to building walls, allow a sustainable passive climate control in buildings. Energy modelling of green facade systems allows their effective design, simulation and application. Upstream of the modelling there is the mathematical description of the energy transfer that takes place in the system. Radiative heat exchanges in the long-wave infrared range is one of the mechanisms to be considered. This implies the knowledge of geometric configuration factors, surfaces radiometric properties and sky radiation models. This paper focuses on the infrared exchanges occurring on the external surfaces of a green facade, compared with those of a bare wall. A mathematical procedure was followed to define the configuration factor between ground and vertical surface. Nine different sky radiation models were applied to find out, through statistical indices, the best fitting one. The analytical study was supported by empirical data, gathered on an experimental green facade built at the University of Bari. Calculations of the infrared fluxes were made for a summer, an autumn and a winter period, both daytime and night-time. It resulted that the sky model of Walton provided the best agreement with the measured data. In winter, the covered wall showed a reduction of long-wave infrared radiative energy losses equal to 79% compared to the bare wall, so the green facade acted as a thermal barrier.

Increasing urban green infrastructure (UGI) in a city contributes to improve urban air quality and urban climate in summer, reducing buildings surface temperature, especially in southern Europe. UGI includes green walls and their correct application requires the knowledge of the energy performance of the applied green system. The effects of the green walls application on the building depend on the local climate, water availability, building shape. The presence of green walls affects the building microclimate all day, by reducing heat waves during the warm periods and heat losses from the building in cold periods. The heat and mass transfer between the external environment, the green wall and the building surface determine the building microclimate. Solar radiation, long wave infrared radiation, convective heat transfer and evapotranspiration are the main mechanism of heat transfer in a green wall. The paper describes the main parameters concerning heat flow in green walls that can be used in simulation models for predicting temperatures in buildings using the external weather conditions as model inputs. The green wall system was described by a schematic representation, the following layers were defined: the green wall, the gap air, the external surface of the building wall, the internal surface of the building wall, the air inside the building. The energy balance was defined for each layer and all the terms involved in the energy exchange between the layers were defined.

Green technology can represent a sustainable solution for construction of new buildings and for retrofitting of existing buildings, in order to reduce the energy demands of the buildings’ cooling systems, to mitigate the urban heat island and to improve the thermal energy performance of buildings. Green walls can allow the physical shading of the building, promote evapotranspiration in summer and increase thermal insulation in winter. An experimental test was carried out at the University of Bari (Italy) for 2 years. Three vertical walls, made with perforated bricks, were tested: two were covered with evergreen plants (Pandorea jasminoides and Rhyncospermum jasminoides), while the third wall was kept uncovered and used as a control. Several climatic parameters concerning the walls and the ambient conditions were collected during the experimental test. Daylight temperatures observed on the shielded walls during warm days were lower than the respective temperatures of the uncovered wall by up to 9.0°C. Night-time temperatures during cold days for the vegetated walls were higher than the respective temperatures of the control wall by up to 6.0°C. The absence in the literature of data concerning different seasons of the year is overcome in order to obtain a complete picture of building thermal performance in the Mediterranean climate region. © 2018 International Society for Horticultural Science. All Rights Reserved.

Building greenery systems can represent a sustainable solution for new buildings design and for existing buildings retrofitting, in order to improve the thermal energy performance of buildings, to decrease building energy loads and to contrast the Urban Heat Island. Green façades can influence thermal properties of a building by means of different important mechanisms: the shading, the cooling, the insulating and the wind barrier effect. Moreover, green façades accomplish heating effect in the cold season and at nighttime. An experimental test was developed at small scale at the University of Bari (Italy) from 2014 to 2016 for testing two different green façades. The plant species chosen were Pandorea jasminoides variegated and Rhyncospermum jasminoides, two evergreen climbing plants. A third uncovered wall was used as control. The thermal behaviour of the plants was analysed during the 2016 summer season, by keeping in consideration the external surface temperature of the building and the temperature of the airgap behind the green vertical systems. The daylight temperatures observed on the plant-covered walls during representative days were lower than the respective temperatures of the uncovered wall up to 7.0°C. During nighttime, the temperatures behind the plants were higher than the respective temperatures of the control wall up to 2.2°C. The results shown in the present research allow delineating the behaviour of the two plant species during summer in the Mediterranean climate region.

Green technology can represent a sustainable solution for construction of new buildings and for retrofitting of existing buildings, in order to reduce the energy demands of the cooling systems of buildings, to mitigate the urban heat island and to improve the thermal energy performance of buildings. Green walls can allow the physical shading of the building and promote evapotranspiration in summer and increase the thermal insulation in winter. Three vertical walls, made with perforated bricks, were tested at the University of Bari (Italy): two were covered with evergreen plants (Pandorea jasminoides variegated and Rhyncospermum jasminoides) while the third wall was kept uncovered and used as control. Several climatic parameters concerning the walls and the ambient conditions were collected during the experimental test. The daylight temperatures observed on the shielded walls during warm days were lower than the respective temperatures of the uncovered wall up to 8.4°C. The night-time temperatures during the cold days for the vegetated walls were higher than the respective temperatures of the control wall up to 3.6°C. © ISHS.