Life-cycle assessment of light steel frame buildings : A systematic literature review.

Light Steel Frame structures (LSF) have become one of the main competitors of traditional construction systems. The optimized material use, its lightness, and the timesaving in the construction phase, show the potential of this technology to reduce environmental impacts. The purpose of this study is to review and analyse the current literature on the application of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to LSF buildings and identify related gaps. A systematic literature review has been performed to query Web of Science and Scopus databases, highlighting methods, limitations, trends, and tools used to address LCA applied to LSF buildings. Although many efforts have been made to evaluate LSF buildings in comparison with other construction solutions, a gap persists in performing whole LCA. Considering the potential disassembly and reuse offered by LSF and the recyclability of steel, there is a need for future research focusing beyond the end-of-life stage

Air Shelter House Technology and its Application to Shelter Units: the Case of Scaffold House and Cardboard Shelter Installations

AbstractLightweight insulations, as a Thermal Reflective Multi-layer System (TRMS), are a fast and useful answer for temporary shelter. Developed from a space suit and with a conductivity of 0,038 W/mK, this system can ensure high thermal performance in combination with an easy transport, assembly and modular design. The present paper highlight the potential of the use of this material in different experimental shelter, as building component: the case of the Scaffold House and Cardboard Shelters. The combination of TRMS building elements is a technological skin, which is constitute from modular panels made by TRM, polyester and vulcanized rubber, called Air Shelter House (ASH). The Scaffold House is made by scaffold, traditional TRMS and sandwich panels. It is a modular system easy to assembly thanks to the simple technology used, which can help the self-construction and maintenance by the users. To improve the processes of housing installation, ensuring thermal performance, the envelope is changing with a new composition of ASH system and sandwich panels. In this way, it is possible to increase the construction processes and deconstruction, in agreement with internal comfort, modularity of units, transport and possible reuse of the shelter in different contest. The plurality of plants functions (as a private house or as a public use), already studied for the internal disposition of the different modules, are still guaranteed from the small thickness of 65 mm of the ASH technology. The system, moreover, it is study in combination with cardboard shelter. This unit is designed with this economical materials used in an innovative way, assembling different layers of paper, compressed by steel bars and coated with gypsum plaster. This new envelope is closed on the top by ASH panel roof, which is lightweight, waterproof and thermal resistance in the same time. Modularity of wall and ASH panels guarantee the construction of flexible plants to adapt in different contest. The results are both a thermal, waterproof and resistance housing system which is optimized to have a faster assembly, disassembly, transport, and a large number of modularity combination, according with response phase after disaster, and shelter features

Inter-ActiveHouse: users-driven building performances for Nearly Zero Energy Buildings in Mediterranean climates

Building simulations rely on fixed assumptions and mathematical models to describe a specific building scenario, overlooking the building occupants’ component. Almost 40% of in-home energy use is due occupants interacts with the building systems. The goal of this paper is to understand the magnitude of the performance gap when applied to two case studies in a Mediterranean climate. A set of scenarios are simulated assuming both a typical building usage and possible variations given by the users’ interactions with shading, ventilation and cooling systems. Results show that the magnitude of the effects with a negative impact is bigger if compared to actions that might have a positive influence, this means that simulated results with standard usage assumptions are not an average of the possible effects but they reflect an optimistic outcome given by the optimal equipment usage

Improving Energy Efficiency Through Artificial Inertia: Use of Phase Change Materials in Light, Internal Components

Phase Change Materials (PCM’s) are characterised by a large thermal capacity and by melting temperatures close to those associated with human comfort. Thanks to the “artificial inertia” they can give a building, they can be used in components such as wallboards, floors, etc. in order to: - store free heat gains during winter days and release energy during the night; - reduce overheating risks in summer, especially in well-insulated Structure / Envelope constructions (Str/En) with poor thermal capacity (lightweight construction), thanks to the peak-shaving effect; - store off-peak energy – both in winter and summer – in order to have, during the day, a warm / cool surface that contributes to irradiative comfort in winter / summer. An extensive experimental campaign was set up in Ancona (I) and Gävle (S) during the EU-FP5-funded research called C-TIDE (Changeable Thermal Inertia Dry Enclosures), involving Politecnico di Milano, Università Politecnica delle Marche, BMG and three SME. Different configurations were studied and tested on site, allowing to understand the potential for integration of hydrated salt PCM’s in lightweight floors and internal partitions. The experimental campaign included: - prototyping a specific packaging system based on aluminium pouches (the “PCM blanket”); - testing the blanket – both in wall and floors – in experimental boxes with controlled temperature conditions; - testing the implication of sandwiching the blanket in a traditional plasterboard wall from the point of view of assembly procedures, time, everyday use, etc. The results, which were supported by mathematical modelling using the FDM method, show a good potential for integration of PCM’s in light plasterboard components. PCM’s work as a thermal flywheel, reducing the peak loads (for heating and / or cooling) and energy consumption

High energy-efficiency buildings

In cold, central European climates, hyper-insulated, heat-conserving buildings have proven a very effective way to reduce current energy consumption to 1/10 th of a traditional house. Using dry, stratified building techniques (Str/En) allows to obtain quite easily the required thermal and acoustical performances, also enhancing the construction process and allowing for the final recycling of the components. In a warmer climate – such as the Italian one – a heat-conserving strategy has to be balanced against the potential overheating problems. Among the possible solutions, the use of building-integrated Phase Change Materials, which could create a " light thermal inertia " (that is, without heavy mass), was also investigated

Lightweight extensive green roof for building renovation: Summer performance analysis and application in a living laboratory

Extensive green roofs are considered an effective energy conservation measure for increasing buildings’ energy efficiency and reducing the heat wave effect in dense build environments. In this context the present work has a two-fold objective: the first is to test and analyse a commercial extensive lightweight green roof sample through an experimental monitoring campaign carried out in a hot climate during the summer time; the second is to provide a practical case study application showing the architectural integration of the extensive green roof technology for existing buildings. The experimental monitoring campaign has been set for analyzing the temperature levels of an extensive green roof compared with a traditional horizontal roof finished with cement tile. The temperature levels have been analysed through a set of sensors positioned at different levels to characterise the green roof response to the climatic forces during summer. The results show that the air temperature in proximity to the green surface (15 cm above the greenery) is warmer than the undisturbed ambient air temperature during the day and lower during the night by 2–2.5 °C. The soil substrate and the vegetative layer contribute to increase ambient air humidity levels. As expected, the evapotranspiration of the green layer increases during a typical sunny day resulting in more water content in the air above the vegetative level of about 4–8 %. The surface temperature of the ground below the vegetation layer and the temperature of the ground layer (8 cm deep) shows beneficial attenuation and time shift properties with respectively 12–15 °C and 3–4 h. Compared to the traditional cement tiles the green roof shows lower intralayer temperature with differences ranging from 6 to 8 °C. Moreover, the renovation case study represents a practical example of green roof technology integration in a real environment. The study has high replicability, and it is meant to be an interesting example for researchers and professionals to boost the green roof technology application for higher-quality built environments. Keywords: Extensive green roof; Hygrothermal performance; Monitoring; Multi-layer dry construction; Mitigation Strategies; Building renovatio

Shape morphing solar shadings: a review

This paper provides an overview of available innovative shape morphing building skins and their design principles. In particular, the proposed review deals with comfort-related issues associated with dynamic solar shading devices, building integration of smart materials, and morphological analyses related to the most recent shape morphing solar skins. In the first part of the paper, an introduction to the typologies of movement in architecture, its concept and application are presented. An explanation of biomimetic principles together with an overview of user's response to dynamic shading devices is also provided. This is followed by the description of the design principles for shape morphing solar shadings with particular focus on energy and comfort aspects, smart materials and biomimetic principles for efficient movements. A review of most recent developments on the topics of comfort, users' response and control of dynamic shading devices, is presented and summarized in a comparison table. The main technical and mechanical properties of the most diffused smart materials (Shape Memory Alloys, Shape Memory Polymers and Shape Memory Hybrids) that can be used for innovative shape morphing solar skins are illustrated in detail and compared. Biomimetic principles for efficient movements complete this part of the work. The principles illustrated in the previous part of this paper are then used to critically analyse the most recent examples of building integrated shape morphing shadings

High energy efficient buildings: sustainable strategies based on Structure / Envelope techniques with artificial thermal inertia.

The big amount of energy requested by buildings has shown the necessity of proposing new technologies in building construction and services. Saving energy has become a primary issue nowadays. An integration during the design phase among Architecture, Building Technology and Services, is very recommended in order to obtain a more sophisticated “living-environment” using relatively simple strategies avoiding extra-costs. Industrialized systems of construction, based on assembled stratified layers over a bearing frame structure, seem to offer a lot of advantages in a sustainable approach. Through the exploitation of renewable sources and the optimization of the building thermal behavior it is possible to reduce considerably the energy consumption. Thermal inertia appears to be one of the fundamental characteristics of buildings (combined to high levels of thermal insulation). New materials can be investigated to enhance the performances of lightweight building systems. Among these, PCM (Phase Change Materials) can be integrated into lightweight building components, providing an artificial inertial effect. They can be used for storing heat during winter days and releasing energy during the night, reducing overheating risks in summer, especially in Structure / Envelope constructions (S/E) and storing off-peak energy in order to have a warm/cool surface that contributes to irradiative comfort by day. An extensive experimental campaign was set up to understand the potential for integration of hydrated salt PCM’s in lightweight floors and internal partitions. Some recent examples are shown to underline the possible strategies and their effective results. The residential projects illustrated demonstrate how to design high energy efficient buildings using ordinary technology and performing a pleasant contemporary architecture: sustainable buildings don’t mean to be aesthetically unsustainable