IoT in Building Process: A Literature Review

The pervasive diffusion of digital technologies opened up to new concepts in managing and monitoring the processes occurring in our society. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) become enabling tools to rethink our way of living, consuming and producing goods and services. Among these, the Internet of Things (IoT) represents the disruptive technology that may redefine the stages of the building process to meet renewed environmental challenges. This new technological paradigm imports in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector new and not-tectonic instances. In this context, the paper maps the experiences related to the use of IoT for managing the building process. Through a systematic literature review, the article highlights the potential benefits generable by a widespread integration of IoT in the AEC sector. In particular, the article has three purposes: defining the IoT infrastructure for its proper application in the AEC sector; identifying IoT main application domains; investigating the integration modalities

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

Urban Metabolism, modelli interdisciplinari e progetto a scala microurbana

The architecture and the micro-urban scale design are elected to disciplines capable of materializing society’s perennial and rapid evolution demands. The design quality derives from its characteristic of opening up to external contamination, making work on the frontiers of knowledge and the hybridization of knowledge crucial. The contribution reflects on the Urban Metabolism’s (UM) role as a boundary metaphor, within which interaction among the scientific community, stakeholders, policymakers, and designers is possible. This metaphor could then be understood as a potential investigation and design tool for the Urban Ecosystem. UM’s possible relationship with architecture and environmental de-sign is investigated, starting from models and approaches typical of other disciplinary fields

Verso uno Smart Community Welfare per una risposta al disagio abitativo. Towards a Smart Community Welfare as a response to the housing emergency

L’implementazione di una rete abitativa sociale richiede l’adozione di politiche di welfare in un quadro normativo nazionale condiviso, nonché di modelli organizzativi, progettuali e comunitari, abilitati dalla pervasività delle ICT, tali da consentire un cambio di paradigma nella struttura dualistica del mercato immobiliare. In seguito ad un’analisi condotta su più livelli e al coinvolgimento di enti gestori di Housing Sociale, emergono linee guida programmatiche – nell’ambito delle policy per la casa – e progettuali – nell’ambito dello spazio fisico e digitale in grado di favorire relazioni socio-assistenziali peculiari – rispetto alla promozione di un network abitativo sociale alternativo, attraverso un approccio in grado di integrare gli ambiti considerati (Smart, Community, Welfare). The implementation of a social housing network requires the adoption of welfare policies within a shared national regulatory framework, as well as new organisational, design and community models, enabled by the pervasiveness of ICT, in order to allow a paradigm shift in the dualistic structure of the real estate market. Following an analysis conducted on several levels and the involvement of local social housing authorities, we identified guidelines that are both programmatic – in the context of policies for the home – and project-related – regarding the physical and digital space, able to foster peculiar socialcare relationships. In this perspective, the integration of the domains considered (smart, community, welfare) could promote an alternative social housing network

Internet of things for building façade traceability: A theoretical framework to enable circular economy through life-cycle information flows

Traceability is considered a crucial requirement to enable Circular Economy (CE). Product and process life-cycledata can facilitate circular asset management preserving the asset’s value over time and reducing resource consumption. Many scholars point out how the loss of traceability data, lacking information reliability, and unstructured data are still barriers to the widespread application of CE. In the building façade sector, an increased interest on traceability is dictated by a growing demand for environmental product certifications. However, these aspects are often limited to collect data at supply chain stage, thus neglecting a huge amount of information produced during the asset service life. To foster an accessible and life-cycle oriented asset traceability, this research investigates the Internet of Things (IoT) as a potentially disruptive technology for sup- porting information management. The objective of this work is twofold: (i) to identify what façade life-cycle information is needed to promote CE and (ii) to clarify the enabling role of IoT in tracking, storing, and sharing such information. Through a scoping review combined with interviews to professionals, a theoretical framework structured on four key elements (stakeholders, information list, information management tools, and IoT) is proposed to fill the literature gap and support façade industry in the circular transition. Further research will have to be conducted to face the digital-physical integration issues and develop business models able to fully exploit traceability information value

Smart District and Circular Economy: The Role of ICT Solutions in Promoting Circular Cities

Cities will have a decisive role in reducing the consumption of resources and greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Various experiences of urban regeneration have exploited Information and Communication Technology (ICT) potentialities to optimize the management of complex systems and to encourage sustainable development models. This paper investigates the role of ICT technol- ogies in favouring emerging design for Circular Economy (CE) in the urban context. The paper starts by defining the theoretical background and subsequently presents the goal and methodology of investigation. Through a scoping review, the authors identify case studies and analyse them within the Ellen MacArthur Foundation classification framework that splits the urban context into three urban systems: buildings, mobility and products. The research focuses on nine case studies where the ICT solutions were able to promote the principles of CE. The results show, on the one hand, how data management appears to be a central issue in the optimization of urban processes and, on the other hand, how the district scale is the most appropriate to test innovative solutions. This paper identifies physical and virtual infrastructures, stakeholders and tools for user engagement as key elements for the pursuit of CE adoption in the urban context

Infrastrutture digitali nei componenti di involucro per la gestione degli edifici

La rivoluzione digitale portata dall’IoT sta rapidamente mutando il modo in cui progettiamo, viviamo e gestiamo gli ambienti urbani. In questo contesto la componente immateriale legata al progetto architettonico assume una valenza nuova nell’uso consapevole delle risorse, nella tracciabilità dei processi e nella gestione sostenibile degli edifici. L’articolo presenta i primi risultati di una ricerca mirata allo sviluppo di tecnologie low-cost integrabili nei componenti edilizi di involucro. Si riporta l’esperienza condotta sull’utilizzo di sensori per il monitoraggio della qualità dell’aria

Innovazione e Circolarità. Il Contributo del Life Cycle Thinking nel Green Deal per la neutralità climatica

Progettare il sistema di facciata di un edificio è un’operazione complessa e multidisciplinare. Questa complessità deriva dall’eterogeneità delle prestazioni che deve assicurare il sistema di involucro durante l’intera vita utile. Alla luce delle sfide imposte dalla transizione verso la neutralità climatica, l’analisi Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) entra sempre più frequentemente nella prassi progettuale richiedendo strumenti specifici per valutare i principali indicatori di impatto ambientale. Sebbene negli ultimi anni vi sia stato un aumento nel numero di software in grado di eseguire analisi LCA, oggi è ancora difficile trovare una reale interoperabilità con gli strumenti di progettazione architettonica. Partendo da tali premesse il contributo propone un framework di lavoro sviluppato in ambiente Visual Programming Language (VPL) in grado di esprimere le prestazioni ambientali del progetto in real time e assicurare un’elevata flessibilità nel progettare edifici capaci di rispondere alle sfide imposte dal cambiamento climatico