CONTRIBUTION OF INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY TO SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

The sustainable challenge in building construction has lead new requirements to which the building design has to provide. Innovation is not only a matter of technologies but also of ideas and building conception. In the same time new elements would have to be considered in evaluation phases to implement the existing the assessment methods or to provide new ones

Exploring the Effects of Climate-Adaptive Building Shells: An Applicative Time-Saving Algorithm on a Case Study in Bologna, Italy

Adaptive façades represent a viable and effective technological solution to reduce the building energy demand for cooling while achieving interesting aesthetic effects on the building envelope to screen solar radiation. During the last decade, many different design solutions, including those based on shape memory alloys, have been experimented to obtain appropriate responses without being dependent on electro-mechanically actuated systems. Several recent and ongoing studies have been published in the scientific literature regarding the different actuator typologies, as well as the different properties of the materials used, which usually determine the adaptive solution characteristics after a series of complex and time-consuming simulations using specialised dy-namic modelling software. Due to the time and resources required, this kind of evaluation is usually delivered during the last and more advanced design stage as a form of assessment of al-ready-taken architectural and technological choices. The study reported in the paper aims to offer a quick, time-saving simplified algorithm to calculate the response of an adaptive façade, ac-cording to the ISO 13790 standards, to be adopted during the early design stage to evaluate the possible effects of design decisions. The study includes three main steps: (a) the conceptualisation of the adaptive solution considering the context conditions; (b) the definition of the calculation algorithm; (c) the application of the method to a test room in a case study building located in Bologna for supporting the discussion of the related outcomes

Hydrologic Performance of an Extensive Green Roof under Intensive Rain Events: Results from a Rain-Chamber Simulation

The water storage capacity of a green roof generates several benefits for the building contermi-nous environment. The hydrologic performance is conventionally expressed by the runoff coeffi-cient, according to international standards and guidelines. The runoff coefficient is a dimension-less number and defines the water retention performance in a long period. At the scale of single rain events, characterized by varying intensity and duration, the reaction of the green roof is scarcely investigated. The purpose of this study is to highlight how an extensive green roof \u2013 hav-ing a supposed minimum water performance, compared to intensive ones \u2013 responses to real and repetitive rain events, simulated in a rain chamber with controlled rain and runoff data. The ex-periment provides, through cumulative curves graphs, the behaviour of the green roof sample during 4 rainy days. The simulated rain events are based on a statistical study (summarized in the paper) on 25 years of rain data for a specific location in North-Italy characterized by an av-erage rain/year of 1,100 mm. The results prove the active response of the substrate, although thin and mineral, and so quit draining, in terms of water retention and detention during intense rain events. The study raises questions about how to better express the water performance of green roofs

Architectures for Next Generation EU Cities

Cities are facing unprecedented challenges driven by different forces. On the one hand the ever-increasing effects of climate change are impacting on the urban microclimate and environmental balance, on the other one social, political and economic issues are influencing the living conditions, the accessibility to primary services and resources, as well as growth opportunities for the younger generations. The rise of a social awareness regarding these topics suggests how relevant scientific-based evidence could be and calls for additional efforts to bridge the gap between science and society, in order to stimulate a collective responsibility and due actions. The complex interaction among these factors inspired a forward-looking reflection not only on key drivers of change but also on possible future trends for research assuming an interdisciplinary and multiscale perspective. The book collects several experiences from different contributors working in many contexts and countries, but sharing the same projection to the future. Four key priorities are addressed: the resilience to climaterelated events and impacts, the energy issue with reference to both the advances at building level and the role of end users, the capacity to adapting components and systems to emerging needs, and the adoption of assessment and simulation tools for improving the design capacity within a circular system perspective. The book provides therefore insights, experiences, approaches to deal with current and especially with future transition processes which are expected to shape the cities of tomorrow. Thus, its ambition is not to provide definitive answers but to become a starting point for exploring promising research pathways for the next generation cities

Architectures for Next Generation EU Cities

Cities are facing unprecedented challenges driven by different forces. On the one hand the ever-increasing effects of climate change are impacting on the urban microclimate and environmental balance, on the other one social, political and economic issues are influencing the living conditions, the accessibility to primary services and resources, as well as growth opportunities for the younger generations. The rise of a social awareness regarding these topics suggests how relevant scientific-based evidence could be and calls for additional efforts to bridge the gap between science and society, in order to stimulate a collective responsibility and due actions. The complex interaction among these factors inspired a forward-looking reflection not only on key drivers of change but also on possible future trends for research assuming an interdisciplinary and multiscale perspective. The book collects several experiences from different contributors working in many contexts and countries, but sharing the same projection to the future. Four key priorities are addressed: the resilience to climaterelated events and impacts, the energy issue with reference to both the advances at building level and the role of end users, the capacity to adapting components and systems to emerging needs, and the adoption of assessment and simulation tools for improving the design capacity within a circular system perspective. The book provides therefore insights, experiences, approaches to deal with current and especially with future transition processes which are expected to shape the cities of tomorrow. Thus, its ambition is not to provide definitive answers but to become a starting point for exploring promising research pathways for the next generation cities

Climate Change Effect on Building Performance: A Case Study in New York

The evidences of the influence of climate change (CC) in most of the key sectors of human activities are frequently reported by the news and media with increasing concern. The building sector, and particularly energy use in the residential sector, represents a crucial field of investigation as demonstrated by specific scientific literature. The paper reports a study on building energy consumption and the related effect on indoor thermal comfort considering the impacts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2018 report about temperature increase projection. The research includes a case study in New York City, assuming three different scenarios. The outcomes evidence a decrease in energy demand for heating and an increase in energy demand for cooling, with a relevant shift due to the summer period temperature variations. The challenge of the last decades for sustainable design was to increase insulation for improving thermal behavior, highly reducing the energy demand during winter time, however, the projections over the next decades suggest that the summer regime will represent a future and major challenge in order to reduce overheating and ensure comfortable (or at least acceptable) living conditions inside buildings. The growing request of energy for cooling is generating increasing pressure on the supply system with peaks in the case of extreme events that lead to the grid collapse and to massive blackouts in several cities. This is usually tackled by strengthening the energy infrastructure, however, the users\u2019 behavior and lifestyle will strongly influence the system capacity in stress conditions. This study focuses on the understanding of these phenomena and particularly on the relevance of the users\u2019 perception of indoor comfort, assuming the IPCC projections as the basis for a future scenario

A Study on Parametric Design Application to Hospital Retrofitting for Improving Energy Savings and Comfort Conditions

The scientific literature offers a wide range of studies evidencing the progress done in the retrofit actions dealing with the current building stock; however, renovations of hospitals are still an open field of research due to their typical complexity that is usually associated with a very challenging updating processes to maintain or increase operational level. The paper provides a synthesis of a study developed by a team of the Department of Architecture for Saint Orsola Hospital in Bologna with the scope to explore innovative retrofitting strategies. The brief provided by the management unit of the hospital was connected to the general renovation plan involving the entire site and particularly some existing buildings taking into account some limitations concerning budget availabilities and everyday activities needed to ensure acceptable service level for the end users. The design approach starts from defining a basic unit (a typical hospital room) that is deeply analyzed to report the starting conditions (indoor environmental parameters) and then used to simulate the potential impacts of retrofitting actions on its performances. The results allowed to parametrically develop a step by step strategy scaled on each building sector and on the building as a whole to evaluate the global impact on energy performances while considering time and costs of each retrofitting options

Indoor Thermal Comfort of Pregnant Women in Hospital: A Case Study Evidence

Despite studies on thermal comfort being consolidated in the scientific literature, people\u2019s well-being in some specific conditions and places, such as hospitals, requires to be further explored. The paper describes the methodological approach adopted to evaluate thermal comfort level and perception of pregnant women hosted in the obstetric ward of a test-bed case (Sant\u2019Orsola hospital in Bologna, Italy). The methodology adopts a mixed approach that compares the results of on-site monitoring by probe (as quantitative data) with the ones of a survey (questionnaire form) delivered to the involved subjects (as qualitative data) to understand if metabolic alteration may influence the pregnant women\u2019s perception of comfort conditions. The first follows ISO 7730, the second, ISO 10551. The comparison between the instrumental collected data and the outcomes of the survey revealed a wide gap between TSV (Thermal Sensation Vote) and PMVm (Predicted Mean Vote, measured on-site). The reason can be identified in the use of a standardized metabolic unit from ISO that does not correctly reflect the physiologic condition of pregnant women. Following a trial and error methodology, a met value for pregnant women is accordingly proposed. Moreover, an adaptive thermal comfort approach is adopted. This research is a first step towards the definition of specific thermal comfort in a hospital ward hosting pregnant women and more generally offers a reflection about the need to define specific met in the standards for some particular categories (children, elderly, pregnant women, etc.) when investigating thermal comfort

A Study on the Impact of Climate Adaptive Building Shells on Indoor Comfort

Energy savings and indoor comfort are widely considered to be key priorities in the current architectural design trends. Additionally, the well-being and satisfaction of end users is a relevant issue when a human-centred perspective is adopted. The application of Climate Adaptive Building Shells (CABS) compared to conventional façades offers appropriate opportunities for tackling these challenges. This paper reports the outcomes of a study performed on CABS in order to optimise the indoor comfort while calibrating the configuration of a dynamic façade module. The horizontal louvres of the adaptive façade are moved by an actuator that exploits the expansion of a thermo-active resin as it melts, by its absorption of energy. The actuation mechanism depends on the outdoor air temperature conditions and does not require a supply of energy. The performed simulation evidenced a decrease of approximately 4°C indoors when the dynamic module is fully efficient (21st June at 12 p.m.). Furthermore, the lux level is always within the comfort range for an office building (500-2000 lux) during both winter and summer scenarios. The optimised solution shows a substantial gain for energy performance and environmental sustainability. Moreover, the uniformity of distribution of daylight illuminance across the entire space is another associated advantage, giving interesting insights into potentials for architectural façade design

The Role of Architectural Skin Emissivity Influencing Outdoor Microclimatic Comfort: A Case Study in Bologna, Italy

This article examines the influence of the emissivity of façade materials on outdoor microclimat-ic comfort. The developed methodology is based on the collection of input data regarding the site, the geometrical and technological characterization of the building envelope and the defini-tion of the associated emissivity, the development of alternative emissivity-driven scenarios, the scenario simulation to obtain Outdoor Microclimate Maps (OMMs), and their interpretation and discussion. The operative steps of the proposed simplified method are applied to a specific case study in the city of Bologna made of a mix of buildings, including some towers overlooking an inner courtyard. The emissivity of the façade materials is assumed as the main variable. The re-sults show how, by properly addressing the design choices, it is possible to achieve significant improvements in the outdoor microclimate for the space in-between the considered volumes