Effects of different architectural solutions on the thermal behaviour in an unconditioned rural building. The case of an Italian winery

Referring to the wine sector, in the Mediterranean area, most of the wine farms make use of unconditioned above-ground buildings constructed without a specific attention to temperature control, where indoor temperatures easily show trends in disagreement with correct wine-ageing and conservation. Moreover the suitable temperature ranges can differ from wine to wine, and are considerably different from ideal temperatures for human comfort. This study aimed at testing the effectiveness of different architectural elements in improving the thermal behaviour of unconditioned farm buildings, by means of energy simulations validated on an Italian case-study, comparing the data provided by the simulations with different temperature ranges. Results showed the building thermal performance depends on the chosen intervals, some solution played negative or positive role according to the analysed range and in general roof and wall interventions were more effective than orientation and solar shading, and the combination of more strategies allow to achieve improved results

LCA of virgin and recycled materials to assess the sustainability of paved surfaces in agricultural environment

The construction sector is currently characterized by high raw material consumption but also by the production of high volume of wastes, mostly constituted by construction and demolition wastes that could be valorized promoting the use of recycled aggregates in substitution of raw aggregates. A promising application for recycled aggregates is for the realization of rural roads and pavements. The agricultural context, characterized by particular type of traffic and need to balance performance and integration with the environment, is suited for the use of these materials for paved surfaces since it can promote, in several cases, the adoption of rural circular processes internal to the farm. However, if on one hand the adoption of recycled aggregates could increase the sustainability of the sector, on the other it could increment the environmental loads if the whole process is not properly organized. For instance, the negative effects of transportation operations can cancel the environmental benefits if high distances between the production and the destination sites are present. This work reports the results of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), from cradle-to-gate, of four different construction aggregate classes that can be used for the realization of rural roads, pavements and forecourts, and paved areas in agricultural environment. The first three materials are recycled aggregates produced by the recycling processes of construction and demolition waste and the fourth type refers to gravel aggregates produced from natural resources. The Life Cycle Assessment was realized using site-specific primary data from the local territorial context and paying particular attention to transportation-related impacts, land use, avoided landfill and preservation of non-renewable resources. The results of the work clearly show that the environmental impacts in both scenarios of recycled aggregates are lower than the virgin aggregate scenario. In fact, considering the midpoint categories, the recycled materials proved to be more virtuous in almost all the indicators, with the exception of except for the marine eutrophication. The most significant gap between virgin and recycled materials has been in global warming and marine and freshwater eco-toxicity

Soft Mobility Network for the Enhancement and Discovery of the Rural Landscape: Definition of a Masterplan for Alto Ferrarese (Italy)

The rural landscape can provide a wide range of cultural ecosystem services to humans through direct and in situ interactions. The benefits provided depend on the quality of the landscape, but also on the real possibility for people to access and enjoy it. One of the best ways is to do it in a “slow” way, namely active and non-motorized, through a soft mobility network. The goals of the study are: (i) to develop a methodology to plan a soft mobility network that enhances existing infrastructures and maximizes the cultural ecosystem services provided by rural landscapes; (ii) to validate the methodology in the Alto Ferrarese territory through defining a soft mobility masterplan at the supra-municipal scale. The method is made up of three phases: analysis, with the inventory of the resources to be connected and the paths that could potentially be used; assessment, with the evaluation of the suitability of the paths to realize the soft mobility network; and planning, with the definition of the masterplan for the study area. The application resulted in a proposed network of 525.2 km, hierarchized in a primary and a secondary network, and proved that the methodology is effective to maximize the use of existing paths (81% of the proposed network), and to connect the elements of interest (98.5% of the resources are within a distance of 500 m, and 86.4% within a distance of 100 m)

ICT monitoring and mathematical modelling of dairy cows performances in hot climate conditions: a study case in Po valley (Italy)

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Calibration and comparison of different CFD approaches for airflow analysis in a glass greenhouse

CFD has been increasingly applied to greenhouses to optimise indoor environmental conditions for cultivation and management. Numerical simulations have proved fundamental for the enhancement of energy-efficient design criteria and management procedures. The objective of the study is the comparison between different computational approaches for the study of airflow patterns in a representative study case of a glass greenhouse, also through the calibration of the models and the validation of simulation results against experimental data. A three-span greenhouse of about 300 m2 located in Emilia-Romagna (Italy) has been considered as study case. Several analyses with the same boundary and initial conditions were performed using two codes, broadly used for research and design purposes. With both programs, 2D or 3D models have been used and, for every case, the grid convergence was verified by performing multiple steady state analyses with increasingly finer meshes. The results led to define the most suitable solutions to set up computational models for the simulation of airflow patterns inside a greenhouse. The study provided a preliminary outline of the differences due to the adoption of various computational approaches characterised by different levels of accuracy and complexity. The results indicate the advisability of further developing the research by carrying out deeper experimental insights necessary to quantify more in detail the validity and the reliability of the adopted analytical methodologies

ICT monitoring and mathematical modelling of dairy cows performances in hot climate conditions: a study case in Po valley (Italy)

Automatic Milking Systems (AMS) measure and record specific data about milk production and cow behaviour, providing farmers with useful real-time information for each animal. At the same time, indoor climatic conditions in terms of temperature and humidity within a dairy livestock barn represent a well-known crucial issue in farm building design and management, since these parameters can remarkably influence cows behaviour, milk yield and animal welfare.The goal of the study is to develop and test an innovative procedure for the comprehensive analysis of AMS-generated multi-variable time-series, with a focus on the analysis of the relationship between milk production and indoor climatic conditions. The specific purpose of the study is to develop and test a mathematical computer procedure using AMS-generated data and environmental parameters, designed to provide a forecasting model based on the integration of milking data and temperature and humidity levels surveyed from local sensor grids, designed to model milk production scenarios and, specifically, yield trends depending on the expected environmental conditions.For this purpose, a typical Italian farm with AMS has been adopted as a study case and internal climatic data of the barn have been analysed to understand the influence of high values of the Temperature Humidity Index (THI) on milk production in time. Then the correlation between yield variations and THI has been computed and characterized. Finally, external climatic data have been used to forecast the milk production in summertime. Once the model was validated, tests has led to predict milk yield with a relative error smaller than 2%.This study represents a step of a research aimed to define integrated systems for cow monitoring and to develop guidelines for the optimization of barn layouts

Il ruolo dei pattern agricoli nella creazione di paesaggi rurali identitari

In various historical, geographic and cultural contexts, inhabitants have drawn forms and structures on the landscape fruit of their social, economic and production systems. These signs represent material evidence of a unique geographic and cultural identity. The paper aims at discussing the relationship between uniqueness and universality and related aspects which deal with the mark left by man on the landscape at a large and small scale, thus focusing on base concepts of quality landscape patterns to be adopted in metadesign perspective. The design approach refers to the well-known concept of imageability, which the authors extend to the countryside where it has the potential of being fertile ground for new planning and design of rural settlements

3D numerical modelling of temperature and humidity index distribution in livestock structures: a cattle-barn case study

In dairy cattle farming, heat stress largely impairs production, health, and animal welfare. This study aims to develop a workflow and a numerical analysis procedure to provide a real-time 3D distribution of the temperature and humidity index (THI) in a generic cattle barn based on temperature and humidity monitored in sample points, besides characterising the relationship between indoor THI and outside weather conditions. This research was carried out with reference to the study case of a cattle barn. A model has been developed to define the indoor three-dimensional spatial distribution of the Temperature-Humidity Index of a cattle barn based on environmental measurements at different heights of the building. As a core of the model, the Discrete Sibson Interpolation method was used to render a point cloud representing the THI values in the non-sampled areas. The area between 1-2 meters was emphasised as the region of most significant interest to quantify the heat waves perceived by dairy cows. The model represents an effective tool to distinguish different areas of the animal-occupied zone characterised by different values of THI

Il ruolo dei pattern agricoli nella creazione di paesaggi rurali identitari

In various historical, geographic and cultural contexts, inhabitants have drawn forms and structures on the landscape fruit of their social, economic and production systems. These signs represent material evidence of a unique geographic and cultural identity. The paper aims at discussing the relationship between uniqueness and universality and related aspects which deal with the mark left by man on the landscape at a large and small scale, thus focusing on base concepts of quality landscape patterns to be adopted in metadesign perspective. The design approach refers to the well-known concept of imageability, which the authors extend to the countryside where it has the potential of being fertile ground for new planning and design of rural settlements

Experimental calibration of underground heat transfer models under a winery building in a rural area

Ground temperature and hydrogeological conditions are key parameters for many engineering applications, such as the design of building basements and underground spaces and the assessment of shallow geothermal energy potential. Especially in urban areas, in the very shallow depths, it is diffi cult to fi nd natural undisturbed underground thermal conditions because of anthropic interventions. The assessment of underground behaviour in disturbed conditions will become more and more relevant because of increasing awareness to energy effi ciency and renewable energy topics. The purpose of this paper is to show a three-dimensional representation - based on models calibrated on experimental data - of the underground thermal behaviour aff ected by a building in a rural area in Italy. Temperature varies in space and time and it depends on ground, climate and building characteristics, and all these parameters are taken into account by the seasonal periodic modelling implemented. The results obtained in a context of low urbanization indirectly suggest the importance of these eff ects in dense urban areas; taking greater account of these aspects could lead to improvements in the design of underground spaces and geo-exchanger fi elds for geothermal energy exploitation