Shading dynamically. Observation, feedback and design

The dynamic building envelope able to vary the performances in relation to the climatic stresses and to the user’s needs, represents one of the main technological trends of the last decades, aimed at implementing the energy efficiency of the buildings and the internal environmental comfort. In this scenario, a challenge that is still open is the creation of dynamic systems that are easy to use, manage and maintain with reduced manufacturing and management costs. The article intends to describe the research process that led to the design of an innovative external shielding system that can be orientated and moved automatically, at low cost and easily produced, thus allowing simple and economic management over time

Embodied energy and operational energy evaluation in tall buildings according to different typologies of façade

Abstract Although recent studies demonstrate the importance of including the Embodied Energy (EE) in building analysis, only the Operational Energy (OE) is currently taken into account in building energy demand calculation method. In particular, the EE plays an important role in tall buildings evaluation, because the energy demand increases with building height. Aim of this study was to assess the Embodied Energy in evaluation of different types of tall building facade systems performances along with the Operational Energy, pointing out the importance of taking into account both these aspects. Within the research activity here presented, 8 glazed envelope typologies, in 5 different climate zones, have been evaluated

The Future of Power Storage in South Eastern Europe

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Ministry of Energy and Industry of Albania held a joint workshop on the future role of energy storage in South Eastern Europe on 21 -22 October in Tirana. The workshop was attended by 40 specialists from academia, government, regulatory bodies, power industry and consultancies from both EU accession and candidate countries as well as from EU Member States. The participants actively discussed the technical, financial and regulatory challenges of the energy systems of the Western Balkans, and options of how these could be overcome. The event served as a forum for sharing and critically reflecting experience gained in Western Europe during the last decade. The workshop held in Tirana was part of the Enlargement and Integration Action. The present report summarizes the interventions of the participants, the discussions and conclusions of the workshop.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

Brief and design concept

Il capitolo descrive il processo che può portare dall'analisi delle esigenze e della struttura dei sistemi urbani alla definizione delle destinazioni d'uso e dell'organizzazione delle attività e degli spazi, in un processo creativo e non deterministico ma ben radicato nella conoscenza del sito e delle condizioni di partenza del progetto ai diversi livelli

Data flow in living contexts: a systemic analysis for an unsustainable model.

Contemporary residential contexts are characterized by new ICT products and services, which collect data about user behaviours. These data are rarely used to develop services for user or community well-being. By contrast, designers typically focus on these goals in contemporary design. An analysis using Systemic Design tools was carried out to understand the type of data flow that is generated by users in contemporary living contexts, to identify the main stakeholders of this data flow, and to highlight the main problems of data collection for the users, the community, and the local area. This study aims to contribute to this growing area of research, highlighting its most important problem which designer must solve to realize the right user generated data flow system in contemporary living contexts

A numerical model for the energy assessment of a fifth-generation district heating and cooling (5GDHC) network

Achieving the new energy efficiency targets set by recent European directives is not a foregone conclusion for most new building construction projects. The regulatory limits are increasingly stringent and the energy design of buildings becomes more complex and detailed. The transition process towards nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) now affects almost all European countries, and will be the subject of future challenges in the construction sector. To overcome this problem, not only the role of individual buildings will be crucial, but also the function of future districts, whose cooperation in terms of energy exchange and sharing of resources could be a key aspect to face climate change in a sustainable and efficient way. In this context, a recently studied topic is represented by the fifth generation of low temperature district heating and cooling (5GDHC) networks. The potential of this new generation of thermal networks is to operate at low temperatures, usually below 25 °C, in order to be used as a heat source for the operation of reversible heat pumps, capable of satisfying both heating and cooling needs of the users connected to the network. This feature allows the network users to be prosumers, sharing the heat produced or removed from the network to generate a benefit for other users. Furthermore, this new generation of thermal networks allows an effective integration of renewable sources and low temperature waste heat sources, which can easily be integrated into the network. In this work, a dynamic numerical model has been developed in order to simulate the behaviour of a 5GDHC. A simulation scenario has been defined consisting of 15 different users belonging to the same district and their interaction within the network has been studied. The energy performance of the network was assessed by means of some global performance indexes, with the aim of characterizing the energy potential and response of the network. Thanks to the results presented in this work, it is possible to understand the positive effects of 5GDHC networks, encouraging the spread of this technology and its future application developments