Enhancing the accountability and comparability of different campuses’ energy profiles through an energy cluster approach

Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s). Open access funding provided by Politecnico di Torino within the CRUI-CARE Agreement.International sustainability ranking systems generally set criteria in order to monitor global achievement of universities in terms of sustainability. However, current sustainability ranking systems do not provide specific consumption thresholds according to the different buildings’ function or characteristic and the comparison among universities lacks of precise criteria. Thus, this paper proposes different energy clusters enabling a meaningful comparison among campuses within the international rankings. Energy profiles of two university campuses—Politecnico di Torino (Italy) and Hokkaido University (Japan)—similar for climate, surface, and population have been collected for 4 years as a relevant case study. Five different clusters of homogeneous consumption have been identified: cluster 1 (around 1 GJ/m2/year) includes the Art departments, cluster 2 (2 GJ/m2/year) includes the Science faculties, cluster 3 (3 GJ/m2/year) includes the hospital and the medicine departments, cluster 4 includes the Data Centre (9 GJ/m2/year), and cluster 5 includes special research facilities with consumption over 10 GJ/m2/year. Findings show how comparisons between different buildings should also take into account the electrification rate (dependence on electricity) and the leveling rate (variation of consumption during a year), which variations are directly related to the main building function (e.g., hospitals/data centers have high values, while arts or humanities departments have low values for both rates). The proposed energy cluster approach and the introduction of proper weights for energy performances based on the proposed clusters can significantly enhance the accountability and comparability of different campuses’ energy profiles, contributing to a better evaluation of universities’ energy performances.publishersversionpublishe

Integrated management strategies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains the fourth leading cause of death, is associated with significant morbidity and places a substantial time and cost burden on the health care system. Unfortunately, treatment for COPD remains underutilized and continues to focus on the acute care of complications. The chronic care model (CCM) shifts this focus from the acute management of symptoms and complications to the prevention and optimal management of the chronic disease. This model utilizes resources from the community and the health care system and emphasizes self-management, provides comprehensive clinic support, and implements evidence-based guidelines and technology into clinical practice to ensure delivery of the highest quality of care. The goal of this review is to use a case-based approach to provide practical information about how integrated care using the CCM can be applied to the clinical care of a complex patient with COPD, shifting the management goals for COPD from reactive to proactive and ultimately improving outcomes

Investigation of school building microclimate using advanced energy equipment: Case study

n/

Survey on retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Italy

This study aims to investigate the incidence and the relative risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and posterior-ROP (P-ROP): ROP in Zone I and posterior Zone II, as well as to analyze the occurrence of surgical treatment of ROP and to evaluate the short term outcome of the disease in Italy

Sustainable Development Goals and Current Sustainability Actions at Politecnico di Torino

Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015, the agenda of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represents a new coherent way of thinking about how issues as diverse as poverty, education and climate change fit together; it embeds economic, social and environmental targets in an holistic way. Implicit in such SDG logic is that each goal relies on another, although there are no clear ways to measure this intersection. International negotiations are obviously one trial table of these trade-offs. Universities, with their broad responsibility in the creation and dissemination of knowledge and their exceptional position within society, have a crucial role to play in the achievement of the SDGs and in understanding the complexity underling them, since they can help to demonstrate the university impact on society, shape an SDG-related education, build new partnerships, access new funding streams, and redefine the strategic plan of a university. This paper explores the way Politecnico di Torino maps its actions through the lens of a mission-based university, where SDGs can restructure and update the whole knowledge transfer approach to students and among staff. However, this transition is still difficult since departments and administrative unites operate in silos and the leader’s agenda does not allow a real flexible and adaptable model to feed in. Researchers and administrators also lack tools to identify which interactions are the most important to tackle, and evidence to show how particular interventions and policies help or hinder progress towards the goals. Given the size of the task of achieving the SDGs, this mapping exercise provides interesting stimula for the academic sector to accelerate insights on the SDGs complementarity and prioritization

Trauma increases endogenous morphine levels in nervous and immune tissues of the feshwater snail Planorbarius corneus.

Sono descritti gli effetti di un trattamento traumatico sui livelli di morfina endogena in cellule sia del sistema immunitario che di quello nervoso nel gasteropode Planorbariu

Conceptualization of sustainability among students, administrative and teaching staff of a university community: An exploratory study in Italy

Universities have been widely recognised as unparalleled potential catalysers for sustainability, being both formal learning institutions and places where informal, mutual influences and lay/expert knowledge meet. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are often invoked to orient the future of Universities, however, the complexity related to their implementation often depends on the different viewpoints and the diverse representations that circulate in these communities. Therefore, one starting step towards a real sustainable university community is to underpin the various meanings and relevance that students, administrative and teaching staff give to sustainability and SDGs. This study presents the result of a survey answered by 1408 members of a polytechnic Italian university (specialised in engineering, architecture and industrial design) during December 2018–January 2019. The data include free associations to sustainability, self-reported measures of knowledge and relevance of SDGs. Despite being a rather homogeneous community, results show diversities in the social representations of sustainability and SDGs. The results of factorial and cluster analysis show an eco-centric representation of sustainability and a rather low consciousness linked to societal challenges. Relevant differences between academics, technical staff and students emerge. Interestingly, results show a discrepancy between the SDGs that are considered relevant for the self and the university. Results suggest that the University is not yet perceived as a community where sustainability can be enacted and not just taught. The diversity in social representations, if not openly debated, could affect the way the new generation of engineers will face the challenges posed by sustainability