Sustainable urban regeneration through densification strategies: the Kallithea district in Athens as a pilot case study

The current main issue in the construction sector in Europe concerns the energy refurbishment and the reactivation of investments in existing buildings. Guidance for enhancing energy efficiency and encouraging Member States to create a market for deep renovation is provided by a number of European policies. Innovative methods and strategies are required to attract and involve citizens and main stakeholders to undertake buildings’ renovation processes, which actually account for just 1% of the total building stock. This contribution proposes technical and financial solutions for the promotion of energy efficient, safe and attractive retrofit interventions based on the creation of volumetric additions combined with renewable energy sources. This paper focuses on the urban reality of Athens as being an important example of degraded urban center with a heavy heat island, a quite important heating demand, and a strong seismic vulnerability. The design solutions here presented demonstrate that the strategy of additions, because of the consequent increased value of the buildings, could represent an effective densification policy for the renovation of existing urban settings. Hence, the aim is to trigger regulatory and market reforms with the aim to boost the revolution towards nearly Zero Energy Buildings for the existing building stocks

Vertical versus horizontal: theory and practice of urban densification in evolving metropolises

The urban growth, its continuous use of land and the associated problem of soil sealing force urban expansions to search for a sustainable densification. The paper attempts to explore and compare the urban conditions' growth on the fringes of two cities in Asia and Europe - Shenzhen and Vienna - as two opposite realities defining different strategies to control the urban expansion: while Shenzhen use the verticality to create new space, Vienna works on the horizontality and the regeneration, generating a neighbor’s contiguity in the urban areas. The paper discusses and illustrates the two possibilities for dense built environments -horizontality and verticality in the metropolitan form-, as opposite yet possible strategies to achieve dense built environments qualifying urban spaces, infrastructures, buildings. To this aim Hong Kong, and Vienna are compared, to understand differences and attempt at responding to the central research question: Is it possible to identify an optimal urban form? Buildings’ and neighborhood’s typologies have been observed to aim at this understanding. Even though general conclusions cannot be drawn from specific case studies, is the authors' considered opinion that urban textures in the built environments are very much connected with and their successful evolution depends on the strict relation with humans and their activities (working, living, entertaining and dwelling). In this context, appropriate strategies for urban densification, in their different forms, might represent an effective path to meet the new conflicting challenges of sustainability and rapid urban growth

retrofitting and adaptability in urban areas

Abstract It is becoming more and more fundamental to develop a new approach to the dwelling in the contemporary world of architecture. If the Candilis revolution was based on humanism and regionalism, the current reaction should focus its attention on technology and a multicultural perspective. Technology has already occupied a main role in the design process, however it is not in the case of a multicultural approach. What the modernists started to call 'Habitat' was intrinsic to the society they were working for. The project was designed in regards to one singular habitat, with one use for society. We developed that approach and have continued to use this mono perspective. It is now necessary not to carry the analysis and the research from one singular point of view but to expand on this analysis and research to incorporate the voices of many [1]

Self-help retrofitting technologies for low-cost housing construction. The case study of Vila Novo Ouro Preto, Brasil.

The paper presents low-tech and low-cost solutions such as, in particular, self-help retrofitting technologies, to improve the quality in spontaneous settlements (favelas) which arise close to the major Brazilian towns. In particular, a critical analysis of the favela Vila Novo Ouro Preto in Belo Horizonte has been elaborated, highlighting both social, cultural and technical aspects to design suitable technological components to be adopted in order to improve environmental comfort. The study has been developed in order to meet people needs and expectations so as to guide planning and design perspectives aiming at improving the quality of life in a sustainable socio-cultural way. The contribution suggests a selection of interesting techniques and processes achievable in self-help construction; some of them are quite innovative since they use in a new and different way recycled materials and products, thus boosting economic growth and social development

PROGETTAZIONE PARAMETRICA PER LA VALUTAZIONE DELLE ADDIZIONI DI FACCIATA NEGLI EDIFICI ESISTENTI (Parametric design evaluation of user orientated pre-fab modules for the fa\ue7ade addition in existing buildings)

Questo contributo descrive alcune potenzialit\ue0 delle modellazioni parametriche applicate alla trasformazione degli involucri edilizi; in particolare, tale trasformazione si riferisce alle addizioni volumetriche ottenute attraverso l\u2019impiego di nuove strutture poste sulle facciate degli edifici costruiti in struttura intelaiata in conglomerato cementizio armato. La modifica di tali fabbricati attraverso strutture esterne consente un incremento degli spazi abitativi secondo soluzioni modulari selezionabili in base alle diverse esigenze. Per aumentare l\u2019impatto e la scala della strategia promossa dal progetto, le diverse configurazioni geometriche e spaziali sono state studiate e modellate parametricamente in modo da verificarne la possibile reiterazione in diversi casi. Le soluzioni modulari (denominate GET) sono configurabili come una stanza in pi\uf9, un balcone o una serra e le diverse opzioni variano al variare delle possibili risultanze in termini di capacit\ue0 strutturale, adattabilit\ue0 rispetto alle condizioni geometriche dell\u2019esistente, comportamento energetico, risultato formale. Tale sistema \ue8 oggetto di studio all\u2019interno del progetto di ricerca ProGET-onE, finanziato nell\u2019ambito delle \u201cInnovation Action\u201d del programma Europeo H2020This paper describes some potentialities of the parametric modeling applied to the transformation of building envelopes; in particular, this transformation refers to the volumetric additions brought about by new structures placed on the facades of the existing buildings framed in reinforced concrete structure. These facade additions are meant to improve the energy, structural and functional performance renovation strategy based. The research is included in the EU H2020 project Pro-GET-onE, which proposes the transformation of the building envelope with external structures to increase the living space and the attractiveness of the building with modular fa\ue7ade solutions that can be selected according to the needs and expectations of users. These modules can in fact be configurable as an extra room, a balcony and a solar greenhouse. To increase the possible reiteration of the strategy, the research has implemented hypotheses of possible geometric and spatial configuration through a parametric approach to evaluate their applicability to structures with different structural, geometric and architectural characteristics; the same verification tool is also used to extend the range of more convincing and attractive figurative solution

Demolishing or Renovating? Life Cycle Analysis in the Design Process for Building Renovation: The ProGETonE Case

It is well known that a large part of the existing European building stock needs to be renovated to increase structural and energy performance. Unfortunately, deep renovations come with high ini-tial costs, and therefore, owners and real estate developers often prefer complete demolition and reconstruction. Both options depend on specific factors, and to select which option could be the closest to the optimal scenario, it is necessary to evaluate all environmental, social, and economic indicators. Life Cycle Analysis is of great significance to evaluate building sustainability, in partic-ular through the comparison between different design alternatives. However, the life cycle impacts of the construction stage depend on selected materials and technologies that can be subject to change during the subsequent stages of the design process, i.e., moving from preliminary design to detailed design and execution plans. With the aim of understanding the role of LCA during the design process, the case study of “ProGETonE—Proactive Synergy of Integrated Efficient Tech-nologies on Buildings’ Envelopes” has been addressed, leading to the observation that the impacts, in particular the global warming potential (GWP), raised significantly. Building Information Mod-elling (BIM) helped the information sharing and management of this project, which consists of the deep renovation and architectural reshaping of an existing student residence through the con-struction of integrated façade systems

Neural networks for the rapid seismic assessment of existing moment-frame RC buildings

The study presented in this paper analyses and investigates the possibility of introducing a general and rapid methodology based on an artificial neural network (ANN) to assess the seismic response of existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. Starting from investigations carried out on buildings located in the outskirts of Bologna, 928 finite element models have been developed on the basis of the most recurrent data. The input parameters representing the characteristics of the structures were systematically varied and, through modal dynamic and non-linear static analyses, the outputs representing the seismic response were recorded. The resulting dataset was used to create a function, based on ANN, that can reliably predict the seismic behaviour of a RC structure. Finally, by means of k-fold cross-validation, the instruction of the function was optimised and simultaneously verified, obtaining a coefficient of determination for the totality of the samples and the previously unseen cases of 0,94 and 0,88, respectively. The result obtained not only aims at enriching the existing framework on the subject, increasing the awareness of the seismic issues affecting this building typology, but also constitutes a prioritization system that could highlight the need for structural renovation

One year study of efficacy and safety of infliximab in the treatment of patients with ocular and neurological Behçet's disease refractory to standard immunosuppressive drugs

Abstract The aim of the study was to assess the long-term efficacy and safety of Infliximab therapy in the treatment of patients with Behçet’s disease refractory to standard immunosuppressive agents. Twenty-one patients that did not respond to corticosteroids and to at least one immunosuppressant (cyclosporin, methotrexate, azathioprine, cyclophosphamide) for the presence of ocular and/or CNS involvement were enrolled. Eighteen patients completed the study up to 54 weeks. Stable doses of prednisone (<10 mg/day) were permitted, immunosuppressants were discontinued at least 4 weeks prior baseline visit. The patients received three infusions of 5 mg/kg Infliximab (at weeks 0, 2 and 6) and then infusions of 5 mg/kg Infliximab every 8 weeks. At each visit data on clinical symptoms, response to therapy and adverse events were collected. The primary outcome of interest was to assess the clinical efficacy (total or partial recovery) of infliximab. Secondary end points were to evaluate quality of life and to monitor the safety of the drug. Eighteen patients achieved a total remission. Two patients achieved a partial remission and relapsed after 3 months from discontinuation of therapy. Infliximab was well tolerated throughout the study. A case of non-Hodgkin lymphoma was observed within 6 months. Minor side effects were headache, dizziness, tachycardia that regressed spontaneously and did not entail interruption. Anti-nuclear antibodies were not detected during the period of observation

Seismic Strengthening of Existing RC Structure Through External 3D Exoskeleton

The seismic hazard in the southern regions of Europe is known as one of the most critical issues when considering the improvement of the existing buildings in terms of energy and structural behavior. The use of integrated plug-and-play systems can be a solution to the most common obstacles occurring during the different phases in the building practices: from the design to the realization. Within the framework of the European project Pro-GET-onE, a case of structural strengthening obtained by applying a steel exoskeleton connected to the reinforced concrete (RC) structures of an existing building has been presented. The modelling, the linear and non-linear analyses were conducted with finite element software. They have been implemented for the pilot case of Athens, and the results have been achieved in relation to different parameters such as PGA, shear exploitation and displacement in the plastic phase. This approach determines an increase in the global stiffness of the structural system with a consequent reduction in displacements. Depending on the actual plasticization of the RC frames, the resulting excursion in the plastic phase of the exoskeleton is proven to provide a dissipation of extra energy and a stiffness increase in the existing building