• Energy Research
• 11. Sustainability close
• 2. Zero hunger close
• 1. No poverty close
• IT close

The building and construction sector is a large contributor to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and consumes vast natural resources. Improvements in this sector are of fundamental importance for national and global targets to combat climate change. In this context, vertical greenery systems (VGS) in buildings have become popular in urban areas to restore green space in cities and be an adaptation strategy for challenges such as climate change. However, only a small amount of knowledge is available on the different VGS environmental impacts. This paper discusses a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) between a building with green walls, a building with green facades and a reference building without any greenery system in the continental Mediterranean climate. This life cycle assessment is carried according to ISO 14040/44 using ReCiPe and GWP indicators. Moreover, this study fills this gap by thoroughly tracking and quantifying all impacts in all phases of the building life cycle related to the manufacturing and construction stage, maintenance, use stage (operational energy use experimentally tested), and final disposal. The adopted functional unit is the square meter of the facade. Results showed that the operational stage had the highest impact contributing by up to 90% of the total environmental impacts during its 50 years life cycle. Moreover, when considering VGS, there is an annual reduction of about 1% in the environmental burdens. However, in summer, the reduction is almost 50%. Finally, if the use stage is excluded, the manufacturing and the maintenance stage are the most significant contributors, especially in the green wall system.

AbstractOne of the most important functions for windows is to connect the interior space to the outside, as well as having a role in ventilation and natural lighting. However, as it is considered the weakest link in the building envelope, in terms of thermal insulation, designers in the areas with severe climatic factors, tend to minimize the window ratio, without taking into account the importance of the other functions, in providing the user’s comfort. This research aims to investigate the ability of electrochromic glazing to solve limited ratio problem and give designers more flexibility. A case study located in a hot and dry area was compared with several scenarios where electrochromic glazing was used in various ratios. Simulations were made using parametric design tools based on Rhinoceros and Grasshopper, which are among the most used software by designers. The study concluded that electrochromic glazing was useful in increasing the window-to-wall ratio and improving the building opening on the outside without having a negative impact on building energy performance.

Iron tie rods have been used for centuries both as auxiliary and as reinforcing elements for vaulted structures. Their presence in heritage buildings is widespread in some regions such as Italy, and in many cases they have become historical elements with their own value as testimony of past constructive solutions. The appreciation and study of these elements is an active field of research. Their conservation implies searching for a better understanding of the structural behaviour and the interactions between ties and masonry, which still is not fully understood. Through time, architectural manuals and treatises have evolved in their recommendations on the best way to apply them, mainly about the position and constructive solutions. This research is based on a case study that shows many different typologies due to consecutive reinforcing interventions. The structural performance of the different cases is studied through a simplified scaled model executed following Heyman’s structural masonry theories and the correspondent limit analysis. Applying the reinforcements identified in the case study and treatises, the model has been subject to load tests, taking measurements of collapse load, impost displacement and formation of collapse mechanisms. Thus, it is studied directly in the model how every solution provides a different structural enhancement. Going further, the combination of tie-rods with other reinforcing methods has been analysed. Besides, the results are compared to a parallel limit analysis, in order to discuss some of the assumed simplifications taken in this type of analysis.

Bio-based and biodegradable plastics (BBPs) are innovative materials, wholly or partially produced from biomass, with the potential to enhance the circulation of resources in the biological cycle of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s butterfly diagram. Although BBPs are generally considered more environmental-friendly than conventional plastics, robust scientific evidence is still missing. The lack of tools and metrics to assess the circularity and sustainability of the BBPs industry poses relevant challenges for its upscaling and contribution to climate neutrality goals in Europe. It calls for adopting system and life cycle thinking, guided by multi-level and multi-dimensional examinations, which led researchers to build a comprehensive picture of trends, gaps and future orientations that may boost a sustainable circular bioeconomy in the sector. The value- chain based and multi-faceted SWOT analysis that emerged from the intersection of system and corporate data reveals the need to establish a combined circular bioeconomy strategy where incentives to integrated local supply chain, dedicated EPR scheme, eco-design guidelines, revised EoL standards, new clear labelling schemes and harmonised sustainability criteria should be prioritized and conjointly pursued to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable circular bioeconomy of the BBPs value chain. European Journal of Social Impact and Circular Economy, V. 4 N. 2 (2023)

AbstractClimate change effects along with anthropogenic activities present the main factors that threaten the existence of heritage sites across the north Nile Delta of Egypt close to the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. Observing the changes in the landscape close to the archaeological sites is an important issue for decision‐makers in terms of reducing the negative impact of natural events and human activities. The coastal heritage sites are becoming strongly threatened by the rising sea level phenomena that will happen due to global warming. Focusing on the distribution of the archaeological sites, this study aims to detect the areas at risk of shoreline erosion or accretion in the northern shoreline of the Nile Delta. In this study, the changes in the northern shoreline of the Nile Delta were observed and calculated during the last hundred years based on the integration between the old topographic maps from surveys in 1900, 1925 and 1945, optical satellite images captured by Landsat in 1972, 1986 and 2000; Sentinel2 2021; and the Radar SRTM data. The results of this study showed that the changes were enormous with a great shoreline erosion process over the last 121 years recorded along the shoreline in the periods between 1900–1925, 1925–1945, 1945–1972, 1972–1986, 1986–2000 and 2000–2021. The areas eroded were about 5.3, 4.7, 5.6, 8.9, 2.5 and 5.4 km2, respectively. Such negative movements caused the loss of two heritage sites, and the expected changes will lead to the loss of additional heritage sites in the next 500 years. Furthermore, a model was suggested for protecting the coastal heritage sites threatened by the risk of submergence. This study can help the decision‐makers to detect the coastal archaeological sites at risk and create innovative solutions for protecting these irreplaceable heritage sites.

The transition to low carbon energy systems poses challenges in terms of energy efficiency. In building refurbishment projects, efficient technologies such as smart controls and heat pumps are increasingly being used as a substitute for conventional technologies with the aim of reducing carbon emissions and determining operational energy and cost savings, together with other benefits. Measured building performance, however, often reveals a significant gap between the predicted energy use (design stage) and actual energy use (operation stage). For this reason, lean and interpretable digital twins are needed for building energy monitoring aimed at persistence of savings and continuous performance improvement. In this research, interpretable regression models are built with data at multiple temporal resolutions (monthly, daily and hourly) and seamlessly integrated with the goal of verifying the performance improvements due to Smart thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) and gas absorption heat pumps (GAHPs) as well as giving insights on the performance of the building as a whole. Further, as part of modelling research, time of week and temperature (TOWT) approach is reformulated and benchmarked against its original implementation. The case study chosen is Hale Court sheltered housing, located in the city of Portsmouth (UK). This building has been used for the field-testing of innovative technologies such as TRVs and GAHPs within the EU Horizon 2020 project THERMOSS. The results obtained are used to illustrate possible extensions of the use of energy signature modelling, highlighting implications for energy management and innovative building technologies development.

Abstract The intervention on the existing building envelope thermal insulation is the main and effective solution in order to achieve a significant reduction of the building stock energy needs. The infrared technique is the methodology of the energy diagnosis aimed to identify qualitatively the principal causes of energy losses: the presence of thermal bridges. Those weak parts of the building envelope in terms of heat transfer result not easy to treat with an energy efficiency intervention, while they are gaining importance in the buildings total energy dispersion, as the level of insulation of opaque and transparent materials is continuously increasing. It is generally possible to evaluate the energy dispersions through these zones with a deep knowledge of the materials and the geometry using a numerical method. Besides, authors proposed in the past a methodology to assess the flux passing through thermal bridges with an infrared image correctly framed. The analysis of surface temperatures of the undisturbed wall and of the zone with thermal bridge, allows to define the Incidence Factor of the thermal Bridge (Itb). This parameter is strongly affected by the thermographic image accuracy, therefore, this paper deals with the development and validation of an innovative mathematical algorithm to enhance the image resolution and the consequent accuracy of the energy losses assessment. An experimental campaign in a controlled environment (hot box apparatus) has been conducted on three typologies of thermal bridge, firstly performing the thermographic survey and then applying the enhancement algorithm to the infrared images in order to compare the Itb and the linear thermal transmittance ψ values. Results showed that the proposed methodology could bring to an accuracy improvement up to 2% of the total buildings envelope energy losses evaluated by quantitative infrared thermography. Moreover, the proposed algorithm allows the implementation of a further process applicable to the images, in order to extract the physical boundaries of the hidden materials causing the thermal bridge, so revealing itself as a useful tool to identify exactly the suitable points of intervention for the thermal bridge correction. The application of the imaging process on the quantitative infrared thermography is an innovative approach that makes more accurate the evaluation of the actual heat loss of highly insulating buildings and reaching a higher detail on the detection and treating of thermal bridges.

AbstractThe potential impacts of future climate scenarios on water balance and flow regime are presented and discussed for a temporary river system in southern Italy. Different climate projections for the future (2030–2059) and the recent conditions (1980–2009) were investigated. A hydrological model (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) was used to simulate water balance at the basin scale and streamflow in a number of river sections under various climate change scenarios, based on different combinations of global and regional models (global circulation models and regional climate models). The impact on water balance components was quantified at the basin and subbasin levels as deviation from the baseline (1980–2009), and the flow regime alteration under changing climate was estimated using a number of hydrological indicators. An increase in mean temperature for all months between 0.5–2.4 °C and a reduction in precipitation (by 4–7%) was predicted for the future. As a consequence, a decline of blue water (7–18%) and total water yield (11–28%) was estimated. Although the river type classification remains unvaried, the flow regime distinctly moves towards drier conditions and the divergence from the current status increases in future scenarios, especially for those reaches classified as I‐D (ie, intermittent‐dry) and E (ephemeral). Hydrological indicators showed a decrease in both high flow and low flow magnitudes for various time durations, an extension of the dry season and an exacerbation of extreme low flow conditions. A reduction of snowfall in the mountainous part of the basin and an increase in potential evapotranspiration was also estimated (4–4.4%). Finally, the paper analyses the implications of the climate change for river ecosystems and for River Basin Management Planning. The defined quantitative estimates of water balance alteration could support the identification of priorities that should be addressed in upcoming years to set water‐saving actions.