Progetto locale ecocompatibile di filiera di prodotto:pannelli isolanti innovativi in lana di pecora. A sustainable building product: advanced insulation panels obtained by recycling regional sheep's wool

The article deal with an ongoing research aimed at developing an advanced self-bearing panel, fitted for thermal and acoustic insulation of buildings, derived from the reuse and recycling of local sheep wool. The development of a supply chain of environmentally friendly products (a self bearing panel made of 100% wool) encourages, on the one hand, the use of a material so far classified in Italy as special waste and, on the one other, provides new opportunities for a sheep farming that it is now going through an economic recession, with positive effects on the mountain and the hill landscap

CONCERTO AL PIANO: A SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

Urban pilot project is transforming micro-communities in the heart of Italy’s Piedmont region. Concerto AL Piano is a European project aimed to demon- strate the economic and social benefits in investing in energy saving and re- newable energy in the process of urban regeneration. Thanks to the co-operation of the many players in this effort, as well as the support from the region, a previous project of a Photovoltaic Village was a success, and Alessandria became the largest PV village in Italy. Alessandria further promoted energy saving concepts, including encouraging sustainable construction under the banner of Concerto AL Piano. The project includes a mix of interventions: the recovery of existing social hous- ing, the construction of new eco-buildings and the provision of a district heat- ing system in cogeneration. The project has been governed by a partnership be- tween the local authority, public housing agencies, private building companies, universities and research centres. An urban regeneration process has been set-up to become a key action in the Strategic Energy Action Plan (SEAP). Concerto AL Piano in Alessandria has motivated many of the local residents to play a part in eco-construction and energy retrofit projects. Getting citizens involved in energy projects is proving to be the key to success for a region’s effort to promote sustainable construction and energy saving systems

Accessible University: Architectural Design for Special Needs Users Integration. Design Proposals for Politecnico di Torino

: In Italian and international universities, more and more attention is paid to special needs users who are part of the student and academic community. The socalled special needs are students and employers with specific needs deriving from physical disabilities or cognitive difficulties of different nature and severity, for whom it is necessary to provide specific services for the ordinary carrying out of their activities forward their full inclusion in the university community. The problem of special needs full inclusion must be addressed by overcoming the idea that they constitute a separate group from the rest of the community. Indeed, there should not be a project for special needs, but all spaces should be inclusive and designed "for all". The paper describes the TAL, Turin Accessibility Lab research group, activities concern the accessibility of study spaces, within the perspectives of Politecnico di Torino Masterplan and with the involvement of the users themselves and in collaboration with the institutional actors who deal with users with special needs

From the management of the project, to the evidence of the results: the Olympic Village of Turin 2006

From 10 to 26 February 2006 Turin hosted the XX Olympic Winter Games. The building process of all the necessary infrastructure has been characterized, since the design phase, by exceptional measures for quality control and for environmental protection. The settlement of the "Olympic District" in Turin, in the Lingotto area has represented, since the beginning, an opportunity for the re-develop of an historical urban area. Ten years after the event, the Olympic Village area is in a state of strong urban decay, at the building and the social level. The re-conversion had a negative result. The contribution identifies the critical points that brought the project so far away from the original aims, despite the innovative methods of control and management of the process

Actions and tools for the conservation and valorisation of rural architecture and landscape

The valorisation of the traditional architecture is a key strategy to improve the economic development of rural areas. The activities of some G.A.L. (Local Action Group) of Piedmont Region included the creation of guides focused on the refurbishment of the rural architecture, improving also the energy efficiency of buildings. The paper describes the targets, the methodology and the main results concerning the adoption of the guides and outline a monitoring project, aimed to assess strengths, weakness and opportunities, in order to improve the overall effectiveness of the measures and investments

NATURAL FIBRE INSULATION MATERIALS: USE OF TEXTILE AND AGRI-FOOD WASTE IN A CIRCULAR ECONOMY PERSPECTIVE

Fibrous materials are among those most used for the thermal and acoustic insulation of building envelopes and are also suitable for a wide range of applications. In building construction, the demand for products with low environmental impact - in line with the Green Deal challenge of the European Community - is growing, but the building market is still mostly oriented towards traditional products, missing the many opportunities for using waste materials from existing industrial production. The paper presents the experimental results of new thermal and acoustic insulation products for building construction and interior design, based on previous experiences of the research group. They are produced entirely using waste sheep's wool as a "matrix" and other waste fibres, as “fillers”. The materials proposed originate from textile and agri-industrial chains in the Piedmont region and have no uses other than waste-to-heat biomass. The panels have characteristics of rigidity, workability, and thermal conductivity that make them suitable for building envelope insulation

Natural fibers insulation panels: an adaptive production

The research team recently developed an innovative system with low environmental impact for the production of semi-rigid panels for thermal and acoustic insulation, obtained from recycled sheep's wool from Piemonte region. Starting from the previous work, a new semi-rigid panel has been produced, combining sheep wool with hemp technical fibers. Both sheep wool and hemp comes from agri-food systems and are considered as a wastes from existing production chains. Panels show low environmental impact and stiffness as main innovative features, if compared with other similar products on the market. A further experimentation phase allowed to improve the production process adaptability degree to the availability of natural by-products from local agri-food systems, with the aim to develop an “open recipe” able to answer to the building market different requests. The contribution presents the methodology adopted for the research in progress, the "open" technology assessment adopted for panels production and results of preliminary thermal tests