Smart Skin Envelope

The Smart Skin Envelope research analyses the recent revolution that has taken place in the sector of planning and production of smart skin components, made up of dynamic layers. The aim is to identify the technological, functional, qualitative and performance parameters that guide the decisions of the actors in the innovation process. It explores the factors that drive them to develop solutions and proposals designed to transform the envelope of the building from a static to a dynamic element, featuring interoperable components that can interact with the input from the outdoor and indoor environments, in relation to which the smart skin acts as a system of boundary and delimitation. The proposed research programme explores in particular the sector of Smart Envelopes, setting as its priority objective the identification and definition of the energy performance, both through analysis of the state of the art and through the development of a facade component that is dynamic in terms of the adaptive variability of its performance

Use of peas in organic buffalo farming: effects on nutrient digestibility and milk production

Twenty lactating buffalo cows, organically farmed, were used to examine the effects of including peas in total mixed ration. Two concentrates were formulated to contain, as the main protein sources, either 350 g/kg of soybean cake (CC) or 450 g/kg of peas (ExpC). Cows were blocked into two groups according to parity and previous milk yield and were assigned to one of two dietary treatments: one group was fed a diet with 6 kg/d of CC, whereas the treatment group was fed diet in which 3kg/d of CC were replaced by an equal quantity of ExpC. Digestibility of the diets and milk production of the cows were measured. The experimental period covered the whole lactation period. No differences were observed between groups for milk yield and composition, and for total tract apparent digestibility. The main hypothesis tested, that the replacement of soybean cake with peas in buffalo diet would not affect milk yield and composition, was confirmed. This suggested that the partial substitution of soybean cake with peas in diet for buffalo cows can be possible without affect performances