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This paper describes the implementation of an open-source platform integrating HBIM-IoT monitoring sensors, applied to the Royal Site of Carditello, a Bourbon 18th-century Palace near the city of Capua (Italy). Based on open standards and processes, the platform is accessible on different devices through the Internet and acts as a digital representation of the building and the monitoring system therein, allowing users to navigate a detailed HBIM model and query, visualise and manipulate static and dynamic information attributed to the building and its collections, as well as the data from applied sensors, linked to their virtual objects' equivalent in the model. Integrating robust data management with a user-friendly 3D interface, this solution aims to enhance the preventive conservation of historical buildings and their collections, which depend on regular monitoring and a systematic diagnostic programme over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of HBIM for the information management of historical buildings is often hindered by the presence of uncertainty due to limited geometric information and documentation at the time of modelling; controlling and organising this level of uncertainty, in view of future developments, becomes paramount. This paper presents an HBIM workflow to tackle uncertainty by capitalising on parametric modelling and 4D modelling. Parametric modelling is used as a dynamic tool that allows for an easy and quick update of the model when new data become available, while 4D modelling is used for disassembling the building backwards, establishing temporal relationships among building elements and organising them in successive phases, when uncertainty concerns the historical development of building elements and architectural interventions. The workflow was applied to a building of industrial archaeology in southern Italy, the ‘De Simone’ factory, which is abandoned and in a poor state of conservation, but represents a valuable historical testimony due to its rich stratification resulting from significant physical and functional transformations over time. This application shows that structuring the data implementation process to accommodate the available information and its future integration, through the use of parametric and 4D modelling, can be very efficient to support documentation, conservation and enhancement activities on built heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The architectural engineering and construction sector accounts for about 30-40% of global energy consumption. The European goal of reducing this consumption and the linked greenhouse gas emissions calls for an increased capacity to implement building renovations. Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Building Performance Simulations (BPS) are among the most promising tools for fostering interdisciplinary, efficient processes and feasible analysis and design solutions to support this goal. Of the whole building stock, heritage buildings represent the most challenging part, although their potential as a driver for mitigating climate change and supporting sustainable development is being increasingly recognized. This paper presents a Heritage BIM and BPS-based workflow to support the energy and environmental improvement of publicly-owned historical buildings, that was applied to 9 case studies of 7 different Mediterranean countries. The overall aim of this research is to enhance the capacity of public local administrations and professionals to upgrade the historical building stock and demonstrate the scalability of the proposed workflow to the entire building stock of the Mediterranean area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Built heritage energy and environmental improvement is increasingly being recognised as a key driver in the fight against climate change. This effort necessitates a thorough understanding of the building to guide the selection of technologies and design solutions. To have a picture of the buildings' characteristics and behaviour that is as complete as possible, in situ studies are essential, although the complexities and heterogeneities of historical buildings make these analyses still challenging, especially in professional practice. To address these issues, the paper describes an integrated approach including the field application of Non-Destructive Techniques (namely, Heat Flow Meter measurements, Infrared thermographies and indoor environmental monitoring) within a Heritage Building Information Modelling process. This interdisciplinary/integrated approach fostered the use of each type of analysis's results to guide the subsequent analyses and incrementally deepen the knowledge of the building. The methodology was applied to a case study in the historical city centre of Rome in Italy. The analyses will be of service in developing dynamic building performance simulations to support the design of the interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the potential of coupling natural ventilation and thermal storage systems to improve hygrothermal comfort and reduce energy consumption during summer season in an existing building in the Mediterranean. It aims at bridging the knowledge gap between designers, researchers and building scientists, fostering a multidisciplinary approach and promoting numerical simulation of the energy performance of buildings within architectural professional practice. The study analyses the interaction between six natural ventilation systems (single sided ventilation through facade openings; cross ventilation through facade openings, inlet wind tower, thermal chimney, evaporative cool tower, earth pipes) and with two thermal storage typology (heavy and medium-light) within four strategic Italian location (Rome, Naples, Messina and Catania). For each interaction we perform a numerical dynamic simulation of indoor comfort, indoor air quality and energy consumption during the summer period, on a reference building model corresponding to the most common Italian typology. Results show that the use of the chosen systems ensures significant reductions of discomfort hours and energy consumption in all configurations. The study also highlights the high efficiency of non invasive systems (single-sided and cross ventilation with automatic control present discomfort hours reduction and energy consumption reduction above 68% for all combinations) and the significant influence of the daily thermal range value on the performance of systems without air pre-treatment.

Whole-building dynamic simulation has been increasingly adopted as a tool to non-invasively investigate possible strategies to improve energy efficiency, thermal comfort, and conservation of historical buildings. Several critical assumptions are needed to cope with insufficient input data and limitations in simulation models, therefore the modelling approaches implemented by researchers are inhomogeneous and customised for each case study. A review of the literature was conducted to collect common patterns and replicable solutions, based on the case studies reported in scientific journals published between 2011 and 2022. The discussion covers all the key stages in the simulation process, from information gathering to the analysis of the target outcomes, highlighting current practices and open issues. The resulting informative panorama and technical discussion are intended to assist scholars and specialists in approaching the dynamic simulation of historical buildings as well as stimulating a debate toward standardisation and consolidation of a robust scientific community in the field. • Whole-building dynamic simulation of historical buildings was thoroughly reviewed. • Insights on pitfalls, workarounds, and critical issues are provided. • Consolidation of input data gathering, modelling, and calibration in needed. • More research on energy and environmental representation of built heritage is urged. • Interdisciplinary dialogue among experts from various fields is advocated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As urban overheating is increasing, there is a strong public interest towards mitigation strategies to enhance comfortable urban spaces, for their role in supporting urban metabolism and social life. The study presents an assessment of the existing thermal comfort and usage of San Silvestro Square in Rome during the summer, and performs the simulation of cooling strategies scenarios, to understand their mitigation potential for renovation projects. The first stage concerns a field analysis of the thermal and radiative environment on the 1st and 2nd of August 2014, including meteorological measurements and unobtrusive observations, to understand how people experience and respond to extreme microclimate conditions. In the second stage, the research proposes scenario simulations on the same day to examine the influence of cool colored materials, trees and vegetative surfaces on thermal comfort. The thermal comfort assessment was based on Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET), whereas microclimatic simulations were conducted with CFD calculations (ENVImet v.4.3.1). The first stage shows a strong relationship between lower PET values and attendance rate, depending on daily shading patterns. The second stage shows a relevant improvement of thermal comfort, with PET values of -12 °C comparing to the no-intervention scenario, associated with a combination of cool materials and trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerical optimisation through dynamic simulation should consider the influence of urban microclimate on the energy balance of buildings, to reduce the energy consumption of the residential sector, even if a full interaction of the two different simulative resolutions is still under development. The current study employs free software readily available and widespread in professional practice to explore the currently available possibilities to analyse the dynamic interaction between microclimate and building. It combines dynamic simulation, parametric design and genetic algorithms to identify the optimal position of trees around a 1-floor and a 2-floors building, located in Rome, as a function of the maximum reduction in energy consumption for cooling during summer season (from 21st June to 22nd September), taking into account only the shading effect of trees. The results confirm the significant influence of vegetation's shading effect for energy savings: energy consumption in the 1-floor building decreases from 11.1% for the 1-tree configuration up to 44.4% for the 5-trees configuration; in the 2-floors building, the reduction goes from 12.8% up to 48.5%. For each configuration, the optimised positions generally favour the east and west sides. The optimised positions of the first two trees have a paramount effect on energy consumption reduction, above 20% in both models, while there is a sharp decrease in energy consumption reduction between 2-trees configurations and 3-trees configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar access has a critical influence on human thermal comfort. In shaded areas, direct shortwave radiation fluxes decrease and a cooling effect is produced. The percentage and position of shaded areas in an open space depend on sun position and urban morphology, so they change during the day, affecting attendance distribution over time. The study assessed the relationship between daily shading patterns, attendance and thermal comfort during summer at San Silvestro square in Rome, Italy. Field investigations were conducted on 1 st and 2 nd August 2014, including meteorological measurements and unobtrusive observations. The assessment of thermal comfort was based on the Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET), calculated using the RayMan model. The majority of visitors at San Silvestro square sought shaded locations when sitting, resulting in a variation of attendance throughout the day. The attendance in unshaded location passed from 0 to 2 people at 11:00 to 2–10 at 12:00, whereas the attendance in shaded locations had a minimum of 0–4 at 12:00 and a maximum of 52–94 at 18:00. This preference was strongly correlated with thermal comfort analysis, as PET values were significantly lower in shaded areas. The minimum difference in the median of PET from shaded and unshaded locations was 2 °C at 18:00 and the maximum difference was 7 °C at 11:00. The main findings of this study highlight the importance of considering daily shading pattern when renovating open spaces in Mediterranean climate and can be used as reference for future renovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heterogeneity and historical complexity of interventions on built heritage are testified by the constant development of the conservation discipline. The purpose of the research is the development of a digital workflow of parametric modelling for the analysis and conservation of historical buildings, by applying visual programming language (VPL) to support the Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM) methodology. VPL represents a tool for explicit parametric modelling that can be used to enhance geometric and information enrichment of HBIM models. The paper describes the integration, within an HBIM-VPL process, of the Index of Masonry Quality, widely used for seismic structural analysis, and its application to a case study in Cornillo Nuovo, a village damaged by the earthquake of Amatrice in 2016. Similar approaches could enhance HBIM modelling to support different knowledge domains associated with built heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]