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The journey to sustainability is becoming increasingly crucial in manufacturing, particularly in resource and energy intensive industries. In recent years, the matter of sustainability in industrial contexts has become an important point on the legislative agendas of many governments as well as in public opinion, with the latter becoming increasingly sensitive to enterprises' dedication to this problem. As a result, companies have started to implement sustainable approaches into their manufacturing processes and increased the amount of information about these practices to customers and stakeholders. The purpose of this work is to evaluate manufacturing sustainability using coupled exergetic and life cycle performance indicators, which are used to comprehend the outcomes of the studies as well as to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the models developed. The purpose of this study is to first present an overview of the metrics associated with the integrated or combined implementation of Exergetic Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment, their significance, and their application in specific use scenarios. Some illustrative indicators are then compared in an actual industrial case study, and the outcomes are discussed. Among the highlights, it is not yet able to determine a metric that measures the degree of manufacturing sustainability individually and thoroughly owing to the multifaceted character of the manufacturing processes. The overall conclusion is that combining Exergy with Life Cycle Thinking is indeed a beneficial solution for enhancing industrial processes, although the accuracy in measuring environmental, but primarily social and economic, concerns is not obvious. he assessment's interpretation is typically troublesome due to a lack of full and up-to-date data and confidence analysis, as well as a lack of scientific coherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the focus on manufacturing-sustainability is not necessarily on energy management, but rather on its intelligent use. An increase in productivity leads to a reduction in costs, but may increase consumptions based on demand elasticity as rebound effect. The article focuses on exergy coupled with Life Cycle Assessment to address manufacturing-sustainability. Indicators are widely adopted in order to better interpret and communicate the results of a hybrid analysis; they are easy to interpret and represent a useful strategy to quickly and intuitively detect changes in the energy efficiency and quality of processes that are subject to change in time. The aim of this work is to firstly provide an overview on the metrics related to the hybrid or coupled use of exergy and Life Cycle Assessment, their meaning, their practice in particular use cases. The most representative indicators are compared within a real case study and discussion of the results is provided. Among the main outcomes, their accuracy in evaluating environmental but especially on social and economic aspects is not yet clear. The lack of complete and up-to-date data and uncertainty analysis is often problematic, such as the lack of scientific consistency in the interpretation of the assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: Applications of papercrete as new eco-friendly mortars for masonry panels. The manufacturing of Portland cement is responsible for a big amount of energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Therefore, to date, it is imperative to find alternative materials to replace a major part of cement for sustainable concrete constructions. The present study forms a part of an on-going research project on the application of new cementitious matrices produced using different types of recycled materials. In particular, it focuses on the use of pulp and waste paper to partially replace Portland cement at varying percentages for producing a new lightweight mortar, frequently named papercrete. The development of this economical and eco-friendly material may permit of recycling a big amount of waste paper leading to lower housing costs with also ecological benefits. To this scope, an experimental campaign in the laboratory is carried out to characterize this new innovative material from a physical and mechanical point of view. The preliminary results of this on-going experimental campaign are illustrated and commented on in this paper. The obtained results confirm the possibility of applying this partially-recycled material as a possible alternative for strengthening existing panels of masonry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a careful energy audit and an energy restoration of some historical buildings was performed. In particular, three cultural heritages buildings situated in the city of Matera in Southern Italy were analysed. To analyse these buildings, an integrated approach based on measurements in situ and on dynamic energy simulations was used. Then, some energy efficiency actions were performed, safeguarding the authenticity value of these structures. The thermal conductance, the indoor temperature and the energy consumption were measured in situ and then the numerical virtual model was created by the Energy Plus code (Energy Plus is free, open-source, and cross-platform developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's and Building Technologies Office) (U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO), Washington, DC, USA). The numerical model was validated by using the Inequality Coefficient (IC) and then different parametric energy analyses were performed. The paper analysed different energy improvements and a techno-economic feasibility study was performed for each improvement. This analysis was conducted in dynamic regime by using the Energy-Plus code. In these buildings the thermal system improvements have a better payback time than envelope improvements. Two different thermal system improvements were analysed: the absorption heat pump with thermostatic valves and the compression heat pump with fan coil unit. Moreover, the replacement of present lighting with LED technologies has a payback time near one year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stone and the clay are the basic elements of the existing architectural heritage in the Mediterranean area, both historical and monumental. The study cases taken into account are the "Sassi of Matera" and the "Trulli of Alberobello." The thermohygrometric performances of the "Tufo of Matera" (commonly denoted as calcarenite sandstone) and the "Stone of Fasano" (commonly denoted as calcareous stone), which are the base materials of the buildings "Sassi" and "Trulli", were quantified through measurements in situ, realized with nondestructive methodology and analyses in laboratory. The behavior of these constructions has finally been better described with dynamic simulations developed by the software EnergyPlus. This study demonstrated that the thermal mass of these structures mainly affect the indoor microclimate, stabilizing the inside temperatures and thus annulling the great thermal daily oscillations of the external temperature. The results of the measurements and numerical simulations confirmed that the seasonal thermal storage of these structures allows comfortable temperatures during the summer season, with values below 26°C, and stabilizes the indoor temperatures during the winter season, through the release of the heat stored during warm season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work analyzes, through in situ measurements, the environmental parameters of a mobile home (camper type van) characterized by a light envelope, located in Southern Italy. Through dynamic simulation, using EnergyPlus software, a few strategies to improve the inside conditions are then proposed and verified. The solution that best improves the indoor microclimate is forced ventilation combined with shading providing by simple roofing. Three envelope solutions were also analyzed: a low thermal mass (polyurethane foam), a high thermal mass (phase change material, PCM), and a medium thermal mass (mixture of polyurethane foam and PCM) solution. The material that improves the inside conditions appears to be the high thermal mass solution (pure PCM), while the mixture of polyurethane and PCM has a performance similar to that of pure polyurethane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sassi of Matera are a very interesting example of a rocky settlement. The limestone walls often present high moisture content which negatively influences the room microclimate. In the first part of this paper, rooms without evident problems of moisture were analyzed for the purpose of carrying out a statistical analysis, to be repeated in analogous situations and to identify the distribution of what we can define as background moisture of the rocky installation. The knowledge of moisture, however, greatly influences the evaluation of heat loss since thermal conductivity of a material increases with an increase in the percentage of water that is contained within it. Consequently, the second part of the paper deals with thermal conductivity and other thermal physical properties related to the moisture of the calcareous sandstone present in the installation of the “Sassi,” continuing the analysis initiated in a previous work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]