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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]

This work is focused on micro-climate analysis of the Matera town. We carried out several measurement campaigns of climate parameters in summer and winter season by measuring temperature and relative humidity. These analyses show that, in the historical center, the temperature values are greater than in areas with presence of vegetation. We analyzed the temperature and relative humidity trend of the last seven years. The average seasonal temperatures rise, due to an increased use of air conditioners, causes the growth of urban temperatures. The sparse vegetation present in the town center does not allow the dissipation of the latent heat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sassi of Matera are a unique example in the world of rock settlements, developed from natural caves carved into the rock and molded into increasingly complex structures inside two large natural amphitheaters. Research focuses on the compatibility of the energy efficiency measures applied in Sassi buildings with the recent MiBACT guidelines on “Energy efficiency improvements in cultural heritage” and AiCARR guidelines on “Energy efficiency of historical buildings”. The paper aims to analyze energy and environmental performance of different building typologies and monuments of the Sassi site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School buildings constitute an important part of the non-residential building stock, because students and teachers spend much time in these rooms. This paper presents the outcome of a study on the energy performance of five different school buildings located in Matera city (South Italy). The analysis is aimed at calculating the energy requirement in accord with UNI TS 11300, comparing the results with dynamic analyses (using the Energy Plus method) and the effective energy consumptions. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 649956. The analysis has confirmed the best precision of dynamic method respect the stationary one, with an error estimated of about the ten percent compared to the real consumptions. We also presented the energy auditing interventions for all schools and evaluate the incidence of the envelope and thermal system on energy consumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School buildings constitute an important part of the non-residential building stock, because students and teachers spend much time in these rooms. This paper presents the outcome of a study on the energy performance of five different school buildings located in Matera city (South Italy). The analysis is aimed at calculating the energy requirement in accord with UNI TS 11300, comparing the results with dynamic analyses (using the Energy Plus method) and the effective energy consumptions. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 649956. The analysis has confirmed the best precision of dynamic method respect the stationary one, with an error estimated of about the ten percent compared to the real consumptions. We also presented the energy auditing interventions for all schools and evaluate the incidence of the envelope and thermal system on energy consumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research focuses on an abandoned area within the Casalnuovo District, situated in the south of the city, probably the place of the future Demoethnoanthropological Museum. It is known today that the particular shape of the area is made up of settlements mainly in cave. Since the evaluation of the historical buildings conservation state using destructive techniques should be avoided to prevent the integrity of the cultural heritage, the development of non-destructive techniques is very important. For this reason, an appropriate cognitive apparatus has been set up for the entire technical process, first of all making use of infrared thermography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Matera Cathedral was built in Apulian-Romanesque style in the thirteenth century on the highest spur of the “Civita” that divides “Sassi” district in two parts. The constructive material is the calcareous stone of the Vaglia, extracted from quarries in the area of Matera. The interior is Baroque and presents several artworks. The research had to evaluate the indoor microclimate during and after the restoration works, that also concern the installation of floor heating system to heat the indoor environments. Specifically, we have analyzed the thermal comfort and the effect that the artwork and construction materials inside the Cathedral of Matera have undergone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The traditional Mediterranean architecture shows the balance between nature and human activities, whose conservation has to consider the local characters and the low recovery technologies and lead to the recovery design, by favoring the criterion of minimum intervention. The research has found a complete systematization from the identification of housing types representative of the historical construction materials (calcareous sandstone and stone block) present in Puglia and Basilicata regions. Consequently you can assess the energy and static vulnerability of the pre-consolidation state and identify qualitatively and verify quantitatively the traditional recovery solutions, exportable on similar constructive units present in other environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Experimental research carried out on two types of buildings that are the examples of vernacular architecture in Southern Italy, namely the Sassi of Matera and the Trulli of Alberobello are outlined in this paper. Experimental measurements on thermal properties, energy performance and hygrothermal indoor comfort were carried out to validate the numerical code provided by DesignBuilder/EnergyPlus that was used to investigate the buildings on a yearly basis. The very high thermal mass of the building structures give rise to a quasi-constant seasonal indoor temperature with no need for air conditioning in the mid- and peak-summer seasons. The seasonal thermal storage can almost guarantee near the comfort levels using simple heating systems during the cold season. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The site of the “Sassi of Matera” classified by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as World Heritage in 1993, is an exceptional example of traditional bioclimatic Mediterranean architecture. Within this immense artistic heritage, we find hypogea habitations, stone buildings, and mixed habitation – half-hypogeum and half-built. In this study, we analyze the energy and microclimatic performance of hypogeous structures in three states: not-restored, immediately after restoration, and a few years after restoration (in normal use). We monitored a surface hypogeum and a deep hypogeum. We performed a dynamic parametric simulation using the software EnergyPlus to quantify the energetic balance of the hypogeous structures during one calendar year. The energetic valuation of the surface hypogea shows that these environments, once restored and in a condition of normal use, give indoor comfort within the limits of comfort thermo-hygrometrics established by the comfort indices of predicted mean vote (PMV) and predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD). The huge thermal mass of the walls ensures that the microclimate indoor conditions are regular throughout the seasons, without differences in the daily thermal oscillation. Deep hypogea without an air change system cannot reach thermal-hygrometric comfort values. We determined that these structures have a null thermal balance during mid-season, while in the summer the floor loses heat, thereby cooling the environment. The opposite occurs in winter. We can conclude that these buildings were designed as bioclimatic. In fact they can be used, after restoration, with limited use of technology systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]