Estimating the potential biomasses energy source of forest and agricultural residues in the cinque terre italian national park

This paper aims to evaluate the feasibility of biomasses exploitation as an alternative Energy source, in areas characterized by high environmental, cultural and landscaping value. In particular, a. methodology for assessing the energy potential from biomass was applied in protected areas, using Geographic Information System (GIS) software and data from European Program Conine Land Cover, jointly with other local data useful for analyzing the topography and the biomass availability of the chosen territory, as well as for an assessment of the necessary logistics for biomasses transportation. This methodology was applied to the Cinque Terre national park, obtaining as a result an estimation of the potential biomasses energy source coming from forest and agricultural residues

Selecting eco-friendly thermal systems for the "Vittoriale Degli Italiani" historic museum building

Thermal systems installed in museums should guarantee the maintenance of the optimal hygrothermal parameters ranges for the conservation of their collection materials. Considering the preservation of historic buildings, according to their historical and landscaping constraints, not all the thermal system typologies could be installed in these buildings' typologies. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to present some indications for the choice of the best thermal system solutions for a considered historic museum building, called Vittoriale degli Italiani, in the north of Italy, taking into account their installation feasibility and their related environmental impacts. The methodology includes a monitoring of the current hygrothermal parameters as well as the assessment of design heat and cooling loads related to the maintenance of the optimal hygrothermal parameters ranges for the conservation of collection materials. In addition, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of each selected system typology is considered for highlighting the most eco-friendly solution among the suitable ones. The obtained results highlights the feasible thermal system solutions able to maintain the hygrothermal parameters between the optimal ranges with a lower environmental impact in the Vittoriale degli Italiani historic museum building

A GIS-based model to assess electric energy consumptions and usable renewable energy potential in Lazio region at municipality scale

The ongoing energy transition processes need a rapprochement between the places of energy production and consumption with the aim of creating innovative and integrated territorial models. Consequentially, models and strategies for increasing the use of local and renewable energy sources (RES) play a key rule for enhancing energy independence and sustainability of the considered areas. The main objective of this study is to analyse the energy system of the Lazio Region in Italy, comparing electricity consumptions and production from renewable sources at municipality scale. In order to estimate the electricity consumptions and the local production by RES, the main sectors of electricity consumption together with the potential of the available RES for the electricity production have been analysed. The obtained results pinpointed the main critical aspects of the Lazio region, that are mainly focalized in the city of Rome and in the most densely inhabited municipalities. Furthermore, research outputs provide an overall framework on the regional RES potential and allowed the formulation of proposals aimed at overcoming the identified criticalities and increasing the share of electricity production from renewables. Finally, the research approach could be replicated in other areas, providing a useful process for decision makers and stakeholders

Technologies and strategies to design sustainable tourist accommodations in areas of high environmental value not connected to the electricity grid

As envisaged in the Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism, the adoption of an holistic and integrated approach and the use of the best available knowledge and technologies are key aspects to ensure a sustainable tourism. In particular, policies and actions should be planned considering the latest and best available knowledge, analyzing at the same time all the related impacts on the area of intervention. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to describe an approach for designing sustainable tourist accommodations that allow the fruition of areas characterized by high environmental values minimizing the related impacts on the surrounding environment and sensitizing users towards preservation and conservation of natural resources. In the proposed approach three aspects of tourist accommodation have been considered: the system component, the building envelope and the integration between them. As a result, the architectural structures designed, including their materials, shape, energy efficiency, modularity and removability, are in line with the standards of bio-architecture. The materials used, complying with the technical requirements and the technological needs of the tourist accommodations, are mostly recycled or reusable, coming from the surrounding area or of easy integration in the landscape. The components , that constitute the accommodations, are easy to assemble and disassemble for reuse them in another area, without changing the environmental conditions in the site. Some elements are precast and completed on site with local materials, moreover the modularity allows a high adaptability to different environmental and morphological conditions. To apply these architectural structures even in places without services and distribution networks of energy and water, special attention has been given to innovative and sustainable energy solutions: Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has been used as the only energy vector, combined with a cogeneration plant to provide heat and electric energy as well as with particular building envelopes that allow the transfer of LPG into the walls for provide energy to innovative gas appliances. Lastly, in order to assess the environmental impact of the proposed approach, it has been analyzed the environmental insertion of these structures for tourist accommodation in the Circeo National Park, in Italy

A sustainable requalification of Bracciano lake waterfront in Trevignano Romano

This paper describes the first interventions carried out in accordance with the results of the three years bilateral research SoURCE (Sustainable Urban Cell) performed by CITERA (Inter department Centre for Territory, Building, Conservation and Environment) of the Sapienza University of Rome and the Department of Urban Planning and Environment of the Royal Institute of Technology of Stockholm (KTH) regarding urban redevelopment and distributed micro-generation of buildings. The location is the municipality of Trevignano Romano in the area (urban cell) of the lake waterfront aimed at the integration of all facilities that will increase the tourist accommodation of the area. The concept of the project is to utilize empty spaces, in all lake waterfronts, for the construction of public toilets and showers, introduction of electric boat and bike rental for sightseeing with charging stations and construction of an energy efficient wooden prefabricated building to be used as a general shop for tourists (closest analogue service is about 3 km). The research is included in the executive programme for the scientific and technical cooperation between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Republic of Italy, in the area defined ‘Energy and Environment: Sustainable Cities’

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

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

Air Quality in Portal Areas: An Index for VOCs Pollution Assessment

The main purpose of this chapter is to assess air quality in portal areas considering Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emissions which involve local air pollution and increase climate changes. The methodology adopted foresaw the elaboration of a comparative index, called AQIvoc “Air Quality Index related to VOCs pollution”, weighed on the atmospheric concentrations of each VOCs as well as on the dangerousness of the different analyzed substances. In particular, VOCs dangerousness was estimated in proportion to the emission limit values of each substance according with the Italian regulations. In order to pinpoint the most critical areas of each harbours, the methodology foresees the monitoring of VOCs concentrations and the evaluation of AQIvoc values in each intended use areas inside a portal area. Therefore, four portal areas have been chosen as case studies for testing the methodology and obtaining the first results of the application of the AQIvoc index. Finally, this chapter briefly describes some Best Available Technologies (BAT) and best practices for mitigating VOCs concentrations and for improving local air quality in those areas that were particularly characterized by VOCs pollution

Dynamic simulation model of trans-critical carbon dioxide heat pump application for boosting low temperature distribution networks in dwellings

This research investigates the role of new hybrid energy system applications for developing a new plant refurbishment strategy to deploy small scale smart energy systems. This work deals with a dynamic simulation of trans-critical carbon dioxide heat pump application for boosting low temperature distribution networks to share heat for dwellings. Heat pumps provide high temperature heat to use the traditional emission systems. The new plant layout consists of an air source heat pump, four trans-critical carbon dioxide heat pumps (CO2-HPs), photovoltaic arrays, and a combined heat and power (CHP) for both domestic hot water production and electricity to partially drive the heat pumps. Furthermore, electric storage devices adoption has been evaluated. That layout has been compared to the traditional one based on separated generation systems using several energy performance indicators. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis on the primary energy saving, primary fossil energy consumptions, renewable energy fraction and renewable heat, with changes in building power to heat ratios, has been carried out. Obtained results highlighted that using the hybrid system with storage device it is possible to get a saving of 50% approximately. Consequently, CO2-HPs and hybrid systems adoption could be a viable option to achieve Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB) qualification

Assessment of a urban sustainability and life quality index for elderly

The research here presented originates from some of the ongoing challenges of our society: the demographic changes and the high share of population living in urban areas. The aim of the research is the definition of an index of sustainability and quality of life for elderly at suburban scale, not only able to outline aspects related to the local territorial context but also to represent the neighbourhood level. This would provide significant added value to existing indicators that represent the quality of life for much larger areas as cities, regions and nations. Indeed, it is universally recognised that the quality of life varies quite considerably depending on whether you live in different neighbourhoods or urban areas. The index proposed with the research is elaborated on the base of objective and subjective indicators integrated with the judgment of experts, in order to give an accurate and truthful weight to each indicator. Moreover, it has been elaborated for microscale analysis, dividing urban areas into cells, in order to highlight more in detail the real needs of each specific zone. As a result, the elaborated index would be an available tool to be provided to the local public administration to facilitate and optimise the urban planning and management, prioritizing interventions on the base of the sustainability principles and subjective needs of the population, in particular of elderly