Energy, SBS symptoms, and productivity in Swiss open-space offices: Economic evaluation of standard, actual, and optimum scenarios

The fundamental aspiration of new-generation high-performing buildings is to reduce energy use while securing indoor environmental quality conducive to human health and productivity. However, existing frameworks for identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of buildings are sporadic and limited to a few parameters. Based on two Swiss open-space buildings, this paper demonstrates an economic comparison combining three KPIs: health (represented by sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms), occupants' productivity (based on the thermal environment and ventilation), and operational energy for heating (based on building simulations using measured inputs). Monetization translated various criteria into the same unit currency and compared them on equal terms. Three scenarios for human- and energy-related performance analysis were actual (considering measured data), standard (using parameters from the national standard), and optimal (maximized productivity). The actual environment in case studies measured in the Fall and Winter seasons was relatively warm, with poor ventilation in one of the two buildings as no mechanical ventilation was on. Therefore, there was some loss of productivity (0.11-0.4%) and SBS symptoms (e.g., dry eyes, fatigue) present in both buildings resulting in up to 2 times the difference between the energy and human costs. The minimum energy costs for the standard scenario indicated that standard settings prioritize energy objectives. Oppositely, energy costs were the highest (47.6-69.6%) in the optimal scenario minimizing the human-related costs but not the weekly SBS symptoms. The analysis presented highlights the conflicting goals when one parameter is prioritized over another one, thus demonstrating the importance of a multi-criteria approach

Electrify Italy

This study explores a possible pathway to implement a new energy paradigm in Italy based on electrification. The objectives are: • To build a forward-looking vision of possible scenarios at 2022, 2030 and 2050 by integrating a multi-focus perspective on the penetration of renewables and the electrification potential of the residential, industrial and transport sectors. • To estimate the potential benefits of further electrification through the calculation of Key Performance Indicators in four different areas: energy, economy, environment and society. The study shows how the electricity triangle, a paradigm based on clean generation by renewable sources, electrification of final uses, and electricity exchange through efficient smart grids, closes the loop of clean energy and efficient consumption. This leads to improvements in energy, environment, economy and social performances, and boosts the share of renewables in final consumption

The environment of Venice area in the past two million years

A ca. 950 m thick succession that was continuously cored in 1971 in Venice has been revisited, in order to reconstruct the environmental history of the Venice area since about 2.15 Ma. Magnetic polarity stratigraphy, integrated with refined calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy, provides a firm chronostratigraphic framing of the succession. In order to improve the chronological resolution, we derived astrochronological refinements in the lower Pleistocene sapropel-bearing interval by a comparison with other time-correlative sections in the Mediterranean. The pollen record is used as a proxy of climatic changes and as an indirect tool in the chronological reconstruction in the upper part of the succession. The following history has been inferred: (1) in the late Gelasian (late Pliocene), the depositional area was a strongly subsiding shelf which shoaled to near sea level; (2) following a hiatus of a minimum duration of 0.2 Myr, encompassing most of the Olduvai Subchron, the shelf rapidly drowned to bathyal depths over the early Pleistocene (biozones MNN 19a to 19e: from 1.947 Ma to 0.96 Ma). This interval was characterized by starved sedimentation (less than 10 cm/kyr), represented by hemipelagic muds interbedded with sapropel layers; (3) during most of biozone MNN19f (Pseudoemiliania lacunosa Zone, 0.96\u20130.42 Ma) a thick package of turbidites was laid down as a result of massive terrigenous input from the eastern Southern Alps; (4) later, in the middle part of Chron 1n (Brunhes), deltaic sedimentation, primarily related to the progradation of the paleo-Po system, led to the progressive infill of the basin. This progradational episode was a major building phase, and ended with the first appearance of continental sediments, tentatively correlated with marine oxygen isotope substage 8.4; (5) the upper part of the succession shows a cyclic organization, with an upward increasing amount of marginal-marine and subaerial deposits. In this interval the Venice area was below sea level during glacioeustatic highstands but became emergent during subsequent major glacioeustatic lowstands. Pollen data support an overall good correspondence of continental sediment packages of sequences with glacial conditions and of maximum flooding intervals with interglacial conditions

A methodological framework to motivate and assess behavioral change: Insights into an interdisciplinary user awareness campaign

Raising awareness among building occupants on how their behavior, comfort crite-ria settings, and lifestyles affect building energy use has become a central topic of inno-vative energy efficiency strategies. Indeed, reaching European energy efficiency goals does not only require the optimization of building design and features, but also necessi-tates the real energy consumers to be more aware of their energy-related interactions with the building. However, motivating occupants to change their behavior can become a challenging task. It is essential to provide novel, stimulating, and easily understandable information that help triggering a more energy-friendly behavior on a daily basis. Another challenge is to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of human-centered interventions. In this con-text, this paper presents an interdisciplinary methodological framework developed within an European project (H2020-MOtivating end-users Behavioral change by combined ICT based modular Information on energy use, indoor environment, health and lifestyle), de-signed to raise user awareness, reduce energy consumptions and improve health and IEQ conditions by providing combined feedback on energy, indoor environmental quality, and health. This paper identifies methodological steps designed to evaluate the outcomes, pro-cess and impacts of an interdisciplinary user-centered engagement campaign, including the application of Cost-Benefit Analysis in assessing co-benefits related to behavioral changes