Thermal characterisation of Bio Based Building Materials

The characterisation of indigenous renewable biomass sources applicable for making bio-based building (BBB) materials is crucial as it can significantly affect the cost of production and the quality of material. Nowadays in any specific area, wide ranges of biomass sources are usually available but only a few sources may be suitable for making BBB material. Therefore the suited sources should be determined. In this paper, the use of BBB materials is focused on Insulation Materials which are widely used in the buildings. Compared with currently used materials, these materials are bio-degradable. Insulation material with a good energy-adsorbing property and binder material have been developed as a mixture of renewable biomass and concrete under certain of reaction conditions. In detail, the BBB material can contribute to energy saving in terms of consumption of low energy during its production process, as well as of degradability. The experimental assessment of non steady-state thermal characteristics of a BBB material is presented here. The results will be useful to develop a database of the physical properties available for the building industry

A correlation linking the predicted mean vote and the mean thermal vote based on an investigation on the human thermal comfort in short-haul domestic flights

The results of an experimental investigation on the human thermal comfort inside the cabin of some Airbus A319 aircrafts during 14 short-haul domestic flights, linking various Italian cities, are presented and used to define a correlation among the predicted mean vote (PMV), a procedure which is commonly used to assess the thermal comfort in inhabited environments, and the equivalent temperature and mean thermal vote (MTV), which are the parameters suggested by the European Standard EN ISO 14505- 2 for the evaluation of the thermal environment in vehicles. The measurements of the radiant temperature, air temperature and relative humidity during flights were performed. The air temperature varied between 22.2 °C and 26.0 ° C; the relative humidity ranged from 8.7% to 59.2%. The calculated values of the PMV varied from 0.16 to 0.90 and were confirmed by the answers of the passengers. The equivalent temperature was evaluated using the equations of Fanger or on the basis of the values of the skin temperature measured on some volunteers. The correlation linking the thermal sensation scales and zones used by the PMV and the MTV resulted quite accurate because the minimum value of the absolute difference between such environmental indexes equalled 0.0073 and the maximum difference did not exceed the value of 0.0589. Even though the equivalent temperature and the MTV were specifically proposed to evaluate the thermal sensation in vehicles, their use may be effectively extended to the assessment of the thermal comfort in airplanes or other occupied places

Air quality and relative humidity in commercial aircrafts: an experimental investigation on short-haul domestic flights

Nowadays the achievement of a comfortable environment in aircraft cabins is a factor of paramount importance in air travel business competition; on the other hand, the need of reducing the propulsion fuel cost has driven the airline companies to adopt air handling systems that may reduce the levels of thermal comfort and air quality inside the cabins of commercial airliners. With the aim of contributing to a better knowledge of this matter, this paper reports the results of an experimental study upon the indoor air quality aboard commercial aircrafts for 14 domestic flights less than 1 h and half long. The parameters monitored were temperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide concentration; the measurements were performed during the whole flight from the take-off to the landing. The relative humidity inside the cabin was also calculated using the rates of outside air and the carbon dioxide as a ventilation tracer; the theoretical results were compared with the measured data. The relationship between relative humidity and carbon dioxide concentration during fights was highlighted in order to define the environmental conditions that may provide acceptable levels of both the air quality and hygrometric comfort to the crew and passengers. The results of calculations confirmed the possibility of improving the hygrometric conditions in aircraft cabins without the need of using humidification systems

An experimental investigation on air quality inside WindJet aircraft

ABSTRACT In order to improve the passengers and crew comfort during the flight, the aim of the present paper is a study of the cabin air quality through experimental measures on randomly selected flight segments of an Italian airline company, WindJet. Carbon dioxide, ultrafine particles, temperature and relative humidity have been measured by using low cost high efficiency instrumental equipments. Exploring ways to improve aircraft cabin air quality, WindJet and University of Palermo are investigating equipment, filters and components of the ventilation system. In this paper, after description of both ventilation systems for aircrafts of WindJet and the instrumental equipments used to measure environmental characteristics on board, obtained results are shown

Design and experimental test of a low costweather buoy

The importance of prevention plans based on realistic inundation scenarios was dramatically highlighted by the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 26 December 2004. But also in the Mediterranean, sea storms basin are a quite common event especially during winter months. These scenarios are generally based on numerical models of tsunami wave propagation that can become more realistic and effective when calibrated with the distribution of true data acquired by special weather buoy. In this paper we present the result of an experimental weather buoy built by DEIM of University of Palermo, that is characterized by small cost and big versatility

The preservation of the artistic heritage within the seat of the Chancellorship of the University of Palermo. A proposal on a methodology regarding an environmental investigation according to the Italian Standards

The correct maintenance of artworks of historical and artistic value requires a wide and detailed analysis of all the information relevant for preserving them, such as identification of the main deterioration factors, knowledge of the climatic history of the object, set-up of measuring methods and statistics of the guide parameters, and definition of a set of recommended environmental aspects to be controlled within a stable climate condition linked to the particular kind of object or its surface. In Italy, the basic laws UNI 10829 and UNI 10969 impose a reference methodology for the in-field measurement and data analysis. This paper reports the first results of a measuring campaign, carried out according to the indications of the aforesaid standards, aimed at the investigation of the environmental conditions of the wooden ceilings in two rooms of ‘‘Palazzo Steri’’, an ancient building in the city of Palermo. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

IAQ monitoring in heritage buildings

Heritage buildings often operate in free conditions, as they are not equipped with HVAC systems. This calls for the interventions of proper measurements with the aim of monitoring and controlling indoor physical parameters. As matter of fact, the control of indoor conditions in museums is of paramount importance for the proper preservation of artefacts. Moreover, in such buildings another requirement should be achieved, that is the maintenance of the comfort and safety conditions for visitors. In this work the results of a survey carried out on a hall of a historical palace to estimate the people occupancy by making use concentration of CO(2) are reported

Ventilation rates and unsatisfied percentage from indoor CO2 concentration.

This work reports the results of a survey carried out on a hall in a historic building in Palermo (Italy) with the aim of assessing the air quality by means of objective measurement of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and its subjective evaluation through a questionnaire. The measured values of CO2 concentration were compared with those evaluated using the Meckler equation under steady-state conditions, having verified necessary parameters such as the constancy of the indoor and outdoor CO2 levels and the uniformity of the CO2 generation rate for all the occupants. The positive correspondence between measured and calculated results allowed us to utilise, under differing circum- stances, the values of the natural ventilation rates achieved in steady-state conditions. By using measured and calculated data, an experimental assessment of the relationships between the CO2 concentration levels and the number of occupants and their level of satisfaction was performed. The indoor air quality level in the hall, evaluated by means of the experimental data, was compared with the subjective responses expressed through a specific multiple choice questionnaire handed out to the occupants. A comparison between the calculated ventilation rates and those required by the main American and European standards shows that natural ventilation in the hall is often insufficient according to these standards which have regard for the minimum requirements for air acceptability. In addition, some general observations on the thermal condition of the hall have been drawn from a compar- ison between microclimate parameters and the sub- jective opinions provided by the occupants