L'analisi del fabbisogno di energia elettrica e termica del parco edilizio esistente attraverso un sistema informativo geografico open source

Questo lavoro parte da un'analisi delle banche dati esistenti sulle caratteristiche del parco edilizio della Città di Torino con una correzione informatizzata dei dati, principalmente geometrici. Alcuni dati sono relativi al singolo edificio, altri, invece, si riferiscono alle sezioni di censimento, altri ancora vengono ricavati indirettamente dai dati esistenti. Vengono descritti i modelli di riferimento per il calcolo del fabbisogno termico ed elettrico che poi si applicano per poter effettuare delle valutazioni sul risparmio energetico sugli edifici. L'obiettivo di questo lavoro è quello di realizzare una procedura che possa poi essere estesa su tutto il territorio provinciale con un livello di approssimazione che dipende dalla disponibilità e qualità dei dati di partenza. Il software di georeferenziazione open source non verrà utilizzato solo per rappresentare dei dati ma anche per elaborare nuove informazioni, su cui poter condurre anche analisi statistiche. Ciò consentirà di poter valutare l'impatto delle politiche di risparmio energetico sul territorio

La potenzialità dei sistemi solari fotovoltaici integrati nelle coperture degli edifici con le tecniche GIS open source

Questo lavoro è stato sviluppato nell'ambito del progetto di ricerca europeo Cities on Power (CoP) con l'obiettivo di promuovere l'uso delle fonti energetiche rinnovabili nelle aree urbane. Attraverso la creazione di uno strumento interattivo si cerca di favorire la partecipazione dei cittadini al processo decisionale riguardante i nuovi modi di approvvigionamento energetico e quindi è stato scelto un software GIS open-source che, da un lato, è meno user-friendly ma consente un utilizzo gratuito per qualsiasi utente. I modelli di irradiazione solare presenti in letteratura vengono applicati al modello tridimensionale del territorio (che considera la pendenza e l'orientamento del terreno e le ostruzioni dovute alla presenza dei rilievi) a cui si aggiunge l'edificato con la diversa tipologia di copertura piana o a falde inclinate. Dall'irradiazione solare incidente si calcola l'energia elettrica producibile con le tecnologie fotovoltaiche attualmente disponibili sul mercato integrate sulle coperture degli edifici residenziali. La procedura viene quindi applicata su scala metropolitana per tutti gli edifici residenziali

Urban Building Energy Modeling: an hourly energy balance model of residential buildings at a district scale

The energy consumption of buildings is related to several factors, such as the construction and geometric characteristics, occupancy, climate and microclimate conditions, solar exposure, and urban morphology. However, the interaction between buildings and the surrounding urban context should also be taken into consideration in energy consumption models. The aim of this work has been to create a bottom-up model in order to evaluate the energy balance of residential buildings at an urban scale, starting from the hourly energy consumption data. This modeling approach considers the building characteristics together with urban variables to describe the energy balance of the built environment; it can therefore be used to manage heterogeneous types of data at different scales and it can offer accurate spatial-temporal information on the energy performance of buildings. Detailed heat balance methods can be used at a building scale to estimate heating loads, but this urban-scale simplified model can also be used as a decision tool to support urban design explorations and for policy purposes. This urban energy consumption model was verified for a case study of a district in Turin, Italy, with the support of a GIS tool, considering hourly energy consumption data of about 50 residential users for two or three consecutive heating seasons. The results show that a simplified model, based on low quality and quantity data, which are typical of an urban scale, can be a powerful tool for the evaluation and spatial representation of the energy needs of buildings at an urban scale

Preliminary investigation on thermal behavior of vehicles in different climate conditions

The objective of this paper is to provide an initial estimate, albeit rough, about the possible energy savings that can be achieved by reducing the use of the air condition system in cars. A simplified numerical model of the car has been created to predict the cabin temperature in different climatic conditions. In order to reduce the thermal load and so the temperature inside the cabin several different types of glazing have been considered, characterized by different absorbance coefficients and solar factors. Furthermore, two types of coatings with different absorbance coefficients were examined for the envelope. The paper describe

Statistical GIS-based analysis of energy consumption for residential buildings in Turin (IT)

Greenhouse gas emission is an important issue and the largest source of it is from human activities and from building sectors. Therefore, the building stocks play a key role in the reduction of GHG emissions through the analysis of the energy performance of buildings, in order to understand their behavior and to identify effective models that will allow expanding investigations in vast areas as districts or cities. This work analyses space heating energy performance of buildings with a multi-scale approach using the main energy related variables at building, block of buildings and district scale. The purpose of this study is to identify a simple regression model in order to evaluate the space heating energy consumption of a large part of residential buildings in Turin (IT). A cluster analysis was applied in order to find groups of buildings with similar energy consumptions and to identify the main energy-related characteristics of each group. The analysis was developed with the support of a GIS tool to evaluate the buildings characteristics and a statistical software to identify a stable model at urban scale. The identified models evidenced that the space heating energy consumption not only depends on the characteristics of the building itself, but also on the urban characteristics. At urban scale, the most influential variables were: the heating degree days, positively correlated with the space heating consumption, and the albedo that was negatively correlated. Also, socio-economic variables were utilized: the percentage of working people with a positive correlation and the percentage of young inhabitants with a negative correlation. The statistical GIS-based methodology proposed in this study is simple and then replicable to other urban contexts. This kind of analysis can be useful for policy makers in defining specific energy efficiency measures for each group of buildings to identify new more effective energy performance variables and benchmarks for the different groups of buildings and then to improve the energy performance of a city reducing energy consumptions and the relative GHG emissions

Urban-Scale Energy Models: the relationship between cooling energy demand and urban form

To enhance the quality of life in cities, it is necessary to improve the energy performance of buildings together with a sustainable urban planning especially in high-density contexts. Previous works investigated the building shape, the urban morphology, and the local climate conditions to optimize the energy performance for space heating of buildings. The aim of this study is to validate a GIS-based engineering model to simulate the hourly energy demand for space cooling in residential buildings at neighborhood scale and to assess the relationship between the urban form and the energy performance in terms of cooling energy demand. A place-based methodology was applied to six neighborhoods in the city of Turin (Italy), identified as homogeneous zones with different building characteristics and urban contexts. The hourly cooling demand of residential buildings was studied starting from the energy balance at building scale, and then was applied at block of buildings scale with the support of GIS. This model was validated with a comparison of the results using CitySim tool and ISO 52016 assessment. In order to investigate the relationship between cooling energy demand and urban form, the GIS-based engineering model was applied to five typical blocks of buildings with different construction periods. The results show how cooling energy demand varies according to building characteristics and urban morphology in a continental-temperate climate. By this analysis, it is possible to identify the optimal block of building shape in Turin ensuring lower energy consumptions during the cooling season with different types of buildings

Energy-use modelling for residential buildings in the metropolitan area of Gran Mendoza (AR)

Most of the world's population is concentrated in cities and there is necessary to intervene in the management of energy consumptions to ensure a high quality of people life with good air quality and thermal comfort and an overall livability of the urban environment. Anthropic activities are the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions and this suggests the need of a different management of energy consumptions especially of buildings, one of the principal contributor of GHG emissions. The goal of this work is the evaluation of a simplified energy model that allows quantifying the spatial distribution of energy consumption at urban scale with a GIS tool. The case study is the metropolitan area of Gran Mendoza, an urban conglomerate comprising six departamentos in the central-western region of Argentina. The model estimates the energy consumption for space heating of residential buildings, after having classified the buildings according to their characteristics. This simplified model has been validated by the comparison with the real consumption data provided by the local company distributing natural gas. With this model, it is possible to elaborate energy strategies based on the real buildings heritage, identifying critical areas requiring a priority of intervention

The urban heat island of the Metropolitan City of Turin. Strategies for a sustainable urban planning

Globally, the world population living in cities is increasing and then the sustainability and liveability of urban spaces are rising the attention of the scientific community mainly in term of warming increase and health risk. In this work, the microclimate of outdoor spaces is investigated considering the different outdoor air temperatures registered by various weather stations in the city of Turin (Italy) and its surroundings with 12 municipalities. The air temperature variations are correlated with the built urban morphology, the solar exposure of urban spaces, the albedo coefficients of outdoor surfaces and other variables as the percentage of vegetation and water, the distance from the town centre and the Land Surface Temperature. With a multiple linear regression analysis the air temperatures have been correlated with the urban variables to obtain a simple model for the prediction of the average monthly air temperature in the Metropolitan City of Turin. This model can be used to understand the different microclimates within Turin and between the urban and the rural areas, and to evaluate the most influential variables on the air temperature variations. The resulted models could help urban planners to predict the microclimate in new districts, but also in the existent ones, as a function of the urban form and of the outdoor materials chosen to mitigate the UHI phenomenon

The evaluation of buildings energy consumption and the optimization of district heating networks: a GIS-based model

The European buildings occupy a key place among the major energy consumer sectors, with high savings potential. The development of urban planning tools helpful to understand the right policy strategies turning the settled sustainable targets into real energy consumption savings is now a real challenge. Into this paper is described a methodology, for the mid-long term scenarios analysis, able to asses the buildings energy consumption of a municipality by means of a simulation approach and of a geo-referenced characterization of the stock. A thermal model, based on real consumption data, has been used to evaluate space heating energy demand; different savings opportunities have been simulated. Moreover, from the geo-referenced representation of the district heating network, through the integrated procedure, it is possible to perform the optimization of the network layout. A case study application in Turin is presented. Main results are the evaluation of energy consumptions, total costs of the interventions and the release of policy suggestions. Thanks to geo-referenced maps is allowed to put in evidence criticalities and policy effects through thematic maps. The methodology highlights the advantages of coupling a geographical information system application and energy demand forecasting model to build up a tool aimed at supporting decision-making

L’analisi del fabbisogno di energia elettrica e termica del parco edilizio esistente attraverso un sistema informativo geografico open source

Questo lavoro parte da un'analisi delle banche dati esistenti sulle caratteristiche del parco edilizio della Città di Torino con una correzione informatizzata dei dati, principalmente geometrici. Alcuni dati sono relativi al singolo edificio, altri, invece, si riferiscono alle sezioni di censimento, altri ancora vengono ricavati indirettamente dai dati esistenti. Vengono descritti i modelli di riferimento per il calcolo del fabbisogno termico ed elettrico che poi si applicano per poter effettuare delle valutazioni sul risparmio energetico sugli edifici. L’obiettivo di questo lavoro è quello di realizzare una procedura che possa poi essere estesa su tutto il territorio provinciale con un livello di approssimazione che dipende dalla disponibilità e qualità dei dati di partenza. Il software di georeferenziazione open source non verrà utilizzato solo per rappresentare dei dati ma anche per elaborare nuove informazioni, su cui poter condurre anche analisi statistiche. Ciò consentirà di poter valutare l’impatto delle politiche di risparmio energetico sul territorio