Comparing Energy Improvements and Financial Costs of Retrofitting Interventions in a Historical Building

In Italy, energy improvements of historical buildings are one of the key aspects to reach the EU 2020 goals on energy efficiency. Many papers are available in literature to recover and retrofit historical buildings, considering different types of interventions aimed to increase energy efficiency in existing building. Considering the most common retrofit interventions in historical building, this paper focuses on the estimation of the energy improvements and related financial costs of four considered scenarios on the building envelope of the “pharmaceutical chemistry” historical building located in the Sapienza University Campus of Rome. Additionally, a cogeneration system and the installation of a PV system have been included among the considered scenarios, in order to analyze their energy performance jointly with feasible retrofitting interventions. Research methods included a dynamic simulation of building thermal loads in the current state and in the scenario after each considered intervention carried out using TRNSYS software. Furthermore, yearly savings, investment cost and payback periods have been evaluated for each considered scenario, taking into account both the purchase prices of the saved energy and the amounts needed to realize related retrofitting interventions. In conclusion, among the feasible interventions in historical buildings, the obtained results provide useful data about what strategy offers the best energy performance improvement if compared with its financial costs. Results could provide recommendations for other historical buildings that need retrofitting interventions for improving their energy efficiency

Local Energy Efficiency Interventions by the Prioritization of Thermal Zones in an Historical University Building

Architectural constraints are a crucial aspect in energy retrofitting of historic buildings. Usual global interventions are often not allowed since preserving historical values of the building stock is mandatory. In this paper, the authors provide an alternative procedure by identifying the most profitable local interventions in order to maintain the architectural values during the restoration and energy retrofitting operations. So, thermal zones prioritization is the key element considered in this study. Its aim is to analyse which energy efficiency measures could be applied to a listed building, but at certain technological elements rather than a unique choice for the entire building envelope. Thus it will prove that you can work with individual elements of the building without compromising the protection of architectural good. The attention was placed in promoting single measures and improving the quality of the built environment. The case study is an historical building in Rome, currently used for university purposes. The analysis was carried out through a building simulation model so that to assess the building energy performance before and after the selected interventions. The chosen software is TRNSYS. This approach shows how interventions, usually not applicable at the building scale, would be beneficial if applied at local scale such as a single thermal zone or a single technological unit. The authors built a reference scenario and, for each identified thermal zone, tested the energy efficiency improvement in terms of heating demand reduction coming from the hypothesized local intervention

Reuse and upcycling of municipalwaste for zeb envelope design in European urban areas

Building energy efficiency and urban waste management are two focal issues for improving environmental status and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The main aim of this paper is to compare economic costs of new building envelope structures designed by authors reusing and upcycling municipal waste in order to decrease energy demand from the building sector and, at the same time, improve eco-friendly waste management at the local scale. The reuse of waste for building envelope structures is one of the main principles of the Earthship buildings model, based on the use of passive solar principles in autonomous earth-sheltered homes. This Earthship principle has been analyzed in order to optimize buildings’ energy performance and reuse municipal waste for new building envelope structures in urban areas. Indeed, the elaborated structures have been designed for urban contexts, with the aim of reuse waste coming from surrounding landfills. The methods include an analysis of thermal performance of urban waste for designing new building envelope structures realized by assembling waste and isolating materials not foreseen in Earthship buildings. The reused materials are: cardboard tubes, automobile tires, wood pallets, and plastic and glass bottles. Finally, comparing economic costs of these new building envelope structures, the obtained results highlight their economic feasibility compared to a traditional structure with similar thermal transmittance

an analysis on technological plant retrofitting on the masonry behaviour structures of 19th century traditional historical buildings thb in rome

Abstract The aim of this paper is to investigate the actual conditions of masonry load-bearing structures of historical and traditional buildings as a result of interventions on building plant installations that have occurred over the years. The reference building stock is between 1880 and 1942 during one of the most important urban developments in Rome. In recent years, however, there has been insufficient interdisciplinary communication between stakeholders in the fields of cultural heritage preservation and energy efficiency. In particular, in reference to the widespread demands for plant improvement of historical buildings from the late nineteenth century which are often subject to interventions of functional and technological upgrading with a devastating impact on the nature of the original constructive elements. A preliminary analysis was conducted with FEM to evaluate the state of conservation resulting from invasive interventions on the load-bearing masonry structure

sustainable requalification in restricted area the case study of flaminio stadium in rome

Abstract The requalification of neglected areas in urban contexts are considered as one of the main challenges to get the targets of environmental sustainability, energy efficiency and life quality currently required for smart cities. The management of deteriorated urban green areas increases human well-being and biodiversity conservation, facilitating the individuation of natural and anthropic risks as well as territorial vulnerabilities. In this context, the paper focused on the Flaminio Stadium in Rome that despite its central position in the city, is located inside a neglected area that could potentially be requalified offering services and facilities to citizens and tourists. This demonstration starts from a status quo study of chosen building and its surroundings in terms of energy analysis. This latter is, then, implemented by a techno-economic study to support its improvement in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability. The economic cost analysis evidences the difficulties to support a requalification cost of global district for the Municipality of Rome

Analysis of Energy Performance Improvements in Italian Residential Buildings

AbstractResidential buildings represent the major energy consumers in Italy, it is therefore worthwhile to analyze existing buildings highlighting the best technologies, strategies and interventions for improving their energy efficiency.In this context, this research gives particular attention to energy requirements related to winter heating, assessing the current energy demand of a building prototype having structural and plant standards assumed. Starting from the obtained energy efficiency data of the same building prototype in ten Italian pilot cities with different climate conditions and different wall structures, the aim of the paper is to assess the economic costs and the benefits in terms of optimization of the building energy performance indicator in the heating season (EPH in kWh/m2 year) for the most common renovation interventions, in order to get a cost /benefits analysis for each intervention in each city. Therefore the paper provides data to establish a hierarchy of priorities regarding possible interventions on building envelope or plants. The proposed energy requalification interventions have been defined considering the use of standard packages of the vertical and horizontal structures of the envelope as well as the application of new plant technologies. In particular, the parameters used for the characteristics of the interventions have been selected following the specified UNI-TS 11300 1-2008 and schedules provided by the Italian Thermo-Technical Committee (CTI). The obtained results could be useful to highlight the most convenient solutions for improving energy efficiency for each analyzed Italian city

Adding Concomitant Chemotherapy to Postoperative Radiotherapy in Oral Cavity Carcinoma with Minor Risk Factors: Systematic Review of the Literature and Meta-Analysis

Simple Summary Oral cavity carcinoma (OCC) is the 11th most frequently diagnosed cancer; despite a multimodal treatment, locally advanced OCC, managed by surgery and adjuvant therapies, remains at high risk of recurrence, with a 5-year overall survival (OS) of 51%. The efficacy of postoperative chemotherapy in addition to radiotherapy (POCRT) in low-intermediate risk OCC is a controversial matter in the absence of high-risk features (ENE, R1). To establish the role of POCRT in a population with solely minor risk factors (perineural invasion or lymph vascular invasion; pN1 single; DOI >= 5 mm; close margin; node-positive level IV or V; pT3 or pT4; multiple lymph nodes without ENE), we performed a systematic review and meta-analyses focused on OS, disease-free survival (DFS), and local-recurrence-free survival (LRFS). Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the quantitative meta-analyses. Our preliminary results are in favor of POCRT in terms of OS but not conclusive for DFS and LRFS. Further analyses are suggested. When presenting with major pathological risk factors, adjuvant radio-chemotherapy for oral cavity cancers (OCC) is recommended, but the addition of chemotherapy to radiotherapy (POCRT) when only minor pathological risk factors are present is controversial. A systematic review following the PICO-PRISMA methodology (PROSPERO registration ID: CRD42021267498) was conducted using the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane libraries. Studies assessing outcomes of POCRT in patients with solely minor risk factors (perineural invasion or lymph vascular invasion; pN1 single; DOI >= 5 mm; close margin < 2-5 mm; node-positive level IV or V; pT3 or pT4; multiple lymph nodes without ENE) were evaluated. A meta-analysis technique with a single-arm study was performed. Radiotherapy was combined with chemotherapy in all studies. One study only included patients treated with POCRT. In the other 12 studies, patients were treated with only PORT (12,883 patients) and with POCRT (10,663 patients). Among the patients treated with POCRT, the pooled 3 year OS rate was 72.9% (95%CI: 65.5-79.2%); the pooled 3 year DFS was 70.9% (95%CI: 48.8-86.2%); and the pooled LRFS was 69.8% (95%CI: 46.1-86.1%). Results are in favor of POCRT in terms of OS but not significant for DFS and LRFS, probably due to the heterogeneity of the included studies and a combination of different prognostic factors

Rethinking neuroprotection in severe traumatic brain injury : toward bedside neuroprotection

Neuroprotection after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important goal pursued strenuously in the last 30 years. The acute cerebral injury triggers a cascade of biochemical events that may worsen the integrity, function, and connectivity of the brain cells and decrease the chance of functional recovery. A number of molecules acting against this deleterious cascade have been tested in the experimental setting, often with preliminary encouraging results. Unfortunately, clinical trials using those candidate neuroprotectants molecules have consistently produced disappointing results, highlighting the necessity of improving the research standards. Despite repeated failures in pharmacological neuroprotection, TBI treatment in neurointensive care units has achieved outcome improvement. It is likely that intensive treatment has contributed to this progress offering a different kind of neuroprotection, based on a careful prevention and limitations of intracranial and systemic threats. The natural course of acute brain damage, in fact, is often complicated by additional adverse events, like the development of intracranial hypertension, brain hypoxia, or hypoperfusion. All these events may lead to additional brain damage and worsen outcome. An approach designed for early identification and prompt correction of insults may, therefore, limit brain damage and improve results

Neuroprotection in traumatic brain injury : mesenchymal stromal cells can potentially overcome some limitations of previous clinical trials

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. In the last 30 years several neuroprotective agents, attenuating the downstream molecular and cellular damaging events triggered by TBI, have been extensively studied. Even though many drugs have shown promising results in the pre-clinical stage, all have failed in large clinical trials. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) may offer a promising new therapeutic intervention, with preclinical data showing protection of the injured brain. We selected three of the critical aspects identified as possible causes of clinical failure: the window of opportunity for drug administration, the double-edged contribution of mechanisms to damage and recovery, and the oft-neglected role of reparative mechanisms. For each aspect, we briefly summarized the limitations of previous trials and the potential advantages of a newer approach using MSCs

Changes in renal function after nephroureterectomy for upper urinary tract carcinoma: analysis of a large multicenter cohort (Radical Nephroureterectomy Outcomes (RaNeO) Research Consortium)

Purpose To investigate prevalence and predictors of renal function variation in a multicenter cohort treated with radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). Methods Patients from 17 tertiary centers were included. Renal function variation was evaluated at postoperative day (POD)-1, 6 and 12 months. Timepoints differences were Delta 1 = POD-1 eGFR - baseline eGFR; Delta 2 = 6 months eGFR - POD-1 eGFR; Delta 3 = 12 months eGFR - 6 months eGFR. We defined POD-1 acute kidney injury (AKI) as an increase in serum creatinine by >= 0.3 mg/dl or a 1.5 1.9-fold from baseline. Additionally, a cutoff of 60 ml/min in eGFR was considered to define renal function decline at 6 and 12 months. Logistic regression (LR) and linear mixed (LM) models were used to evaluate the association between clinical factors and eGFR decline and their interaction with follow-up. Results A total of 576 were included, of these 409(71.0%) and 403(70.0%) had an eGFR < 60 ml/min at 6 and 12 months, respectively, and 239(41.5%) developed POD-1 AKI. In multivariable LR analysis, age (Odds Ratio, OR 1.05, p < 0.001), male gender (OR 0.44, p = 0.003), POD-1 AKI (OR 2.88, p < 0.001) and preoperative eGFR < 60 ml/min (OR 7.58, p < 0.001) were predictors of renal function decline at 6 months. Age (OR 1.06, p < 0.001), coronary artery disease (OR 2.68, p = 0.007), POD-1 AKI (OR 1.83, p = 0.02), and preoperative eGFR < 60 ml/min (OR 7.80, p < 0.001) were predictors of renal function decline at 12 months. In LM models, age (p = 0.019), hydronephrosis (p < 0.001), POD-1 AKI (p < 0.001) and pT-stage (p = 0.001) influenced renal function variation (ss 9.2 +/- 0.7, p < 0.001) during follow-up. Conclusion Age, preoperative eGFR and POD-1 AKI are independent predictors of 6 and 12 months renal function decline after RNU for UTUC