Buildings energy performance and real estate market value: An application of the spatial auto regressive (SAR) model

The paper explores the role of the buildings energy performance in the definition of the real estate market value, taking in consideration the presence of spatial auto-correlation. At this regard, it is necessary to put in evidence that a great heterogeneity exists on the Italian territory with reference to buildings ener-gy performance; for this reason, being able to identify a class of most performing estimation models, suitable to separate the spatial effects from the influence of the building components - including the energy rating - on the value, seems to be an interesting goal. In particular, this work illustrates an experiment based on the Spatial Auto Regressive (SAR) model implemented on a sample of residential units located in the city of Turin and represents a first step of a more wide research program

Combining Revealed and Stated Preferences to design a new urban park in a metropolitan area of North-Western Italy

Inclusive and participatory decision-making is a sustainable option for governments and decision-makers to support real transformation and planning of policies and actions. Investigating and gathering the various views and opinions of stakeholders and citizens is particularly effective because it opens up a range of possibilities in co-constructing the city of the future. Among urban areas requiring planning, Urban Green Infrastructures (UGIs) represent spaces designed to improve the character of neighborhoods, as well as to increase the well-being of users. To achieve these goals, planners should adopt a design approach in which UGIs projects are shaped by local community concerns rather than by market conventions in urban design. Focusing on green recreational areas, this study employs an integrated approach combining Revealed (RP) and Stated Preferences (SP) to investigate citizens' preferences regarding urban parks. In particular, the experiment combines Travel Cost Method (TCM) and Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) for supporting a requalification project in an ex-industrial area of Turin (Italy). In this way, it was possible to understand which facilities can contribute to increasing the citizens’ well-being and the overall efficiency of the UGIs provision and maintenance. The proposed methodology represents an operational and replicable procedure to support different renewal projects in which citizens' opinions are crucial for developing long-term sustainable socio-ecological plans and actions

A system dynamics model and analytic network process: An integrated approach to investigate urban resilience

During the last decade, the concept of urban resilience has been increasingly implemented in urban planning, with the main aim to design urban development strategies. Urban resilience is a multi-dimensional and dynamic concept. When applied to urban planning, it consists of studying cities as complex socio-economic systems. Municipalities are currently working to undertake appropriate actions to enrich the resilience of cities. Moreover, several difficulties concern the evaluation of the impacts over time of the strategies designed to enhance urban resilience. The present paper proposes an integrated approach based on the System Dynamics Model (SDM) and the Analytic Network Process (ANP). The objective of this research is to describe the method and to illustrate its application to the area called Basse di Stura, located in the city of Turin, Italy. The method is applied to evaluate the possible impacts of two different urban scenarios in terms of the change of urban resilience performance over time. The final result is represented by an index that describes urban resilience performance

The reintroduction of Castor fiber in Piedmont (Italy): An integrated SWOT-spatial multicriteria based approach for the analysis of suitability scenarios

The Castor fiber or Eurasian beaver can change its habitat by building dams and creating ponds. For this reason, Castor fiber is known as an “ecosystem engineer” for aquatic and riparian environments. Despite its ecological importance, at the beginning of the 20th century the population was reduced to only 1200 beavers in Europe and Asia, due to uncontrolled hunting. Recently, some reintroductions and translocations have partly re-established the population. In Italy, however, the beaver disappeared in the 16th century and no action has been taken despite the recommendation of the Council of Europe to perform a feasibility study. This research evaluates beaver reintroduction and identifies suitable areas in Italy and, in particular, in the Piedmont region. In order to achieve this, a SWOT analysis combined with a Spatial Multicriteria Analysis was performed. Firstly, the zoological and ethological aspects concerning this rodent were studied, as well as the historical reasons that led to its disappearance in Italy and near extinction in Eurasia. Secondly, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) of the territory were identified for beaver reintroduction. The SWOT analysis was implemented, as the starting point for the spatial multicriteria analysis. Thirdly, the Multicriteria Spatial Decision Support System (MC-SDSS) was structured into two criteria, i.e. Potentials and Criticalities, representing the spatialization of strengths and weaknesses. The final result of the MC-SDSS is a map showing suitable areas for beaver reintroduction in Piedmont. This map is the weighted sum of the maps of criticalities and potentialities, performed through a set of GIS operations and weighted through a pairwise comparison of criteria by experts. The analysis was conducted for the Piedmont region, but the integrated approach and the set of criteria can also be applied in other regions. Moreover, this mixed-method approach takes into account the characteristics necessary for the choice of suitable beaver habitats and also includes economic and social aspects. Therefore, it is an improvement on the Habitat Suitability Index (HIS), generally used in reintroductions. The aspects considered in the analysis are fundamental for the future development of a shared action plan, which considers both technical and social motivations and acts for the long-term on a wide area

The Bacterial and Fungal Microbiota of “Robiola di Roccaverano” Protected Designation of Origin Raw Milk Cheese

Robiola di Roccaverano is an artisanal Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) soft cheese made with raw goat’s milk and by the addition of Natural Milk Culture (NMC) to drive the fermentation process. Cheeses collected from five different dairy plants were analyzed for their bacterial and fungal microbiota diversity. Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides were the main bacterial population, while Galactomyces candidum and Kluyveromyces marxianus constituted the core mycobiota but many other minor taxa were observed, suggesting a high level of complexity in fungal composition by these cheeses compared to bacteria population

A methodological framework for the economic assessment of ict-tools for occupants’ engagement

The concept of smartness in building dates to the 1970s, but, in face of the breakthrough technological developments, a new notion of smart building is currently recognized. We talk about ambient intelligence, referring to a building which is responsive to the needs of the occupants and of the energy system. An ambient-intelligent building is human-centric; new services and interfaces are provided to the buildings occupants to learn and set their preferences, with a positive impact on their comfort level and satisfaction with the indoor environmental quality. ICT and IoT are part of the enabling technologies to exploit the potentials of smart buildings, by unlocking the capability of buildings to interact with the system they belong to. To bolster the diffusion of new technologies, methodologies to get quantitative results proving their effectiveness should be provided. In this paper the application of a well-established economic evaluation tool, the so-called Cost-Benefit Analysis, to the case of the deployment of new ICT-tools for occupants’ engagement is presented. The methodology is adopted within the H2020 Mobistyle project, where two levels of the evaluation are identified: the whole project level and the single demo case one. The purpose of the methodology is to assess the effectiveness of the adoption of the ICT-tools in producing economic value in terms of benefits for the occupants and the society. Some preliminary results of its application to the Italian case study are also presented, showing a positive socio-economic balance since the beginning of the deployment

Dental Abnormalities and Early Diagnosis of Hyperphosphatasemia

Dental hard tissue abnormalities have never been described as part of the symptoms associated with hyperphosphatasemia. Fourteen teeth obtained from a young man, who had a mild form of hyperphosphatasemia, were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and infrared (IR) spectroscopy. SEM revealed a thin enamel, presenting a prismatic structure with many pits, and atypical cementum and dentin showing numerous resorption areas. The X-ray diffractograms revealed poorly crystallinehydroxyapatite associated with α-tricalcium phosphate and magnesium hydroxide phases. SIMS data showed high Ca concentrations: 40.5 weight % {wt%; standard deviation (SD) = 0.13) and 42.5 wt% (SD = 1.03) in enamel and dentin respectively, and high Ca/P weight ratios: 2.28 in the enamel, 2.65 in the dentin. The lack of crystallinity may be linked to the high content of proteins and magnesium adsorbed onto apatite. This study demonstrates the need for thorough radiographical and biological investigations for skeletal abnormalities, even in the absence of systemic symptoms, when generalized dental abnormalities of both enamel and dentin are observed