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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 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]