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In this paper a generalised model is described for the analysis of the pollutant substances released in the atmosphere by urban transportation means. It essentially requires data referring to the running transportation fleet, year by year, that are generally on disposal of the local administrators through official data-bases. Pollutant emissions are here taken into account by means of the algorithms provided by the COPERT methodology, that applies to many European countries. The method, by means of a suitable statistical analysis of data concerning the running car fleet, allows also the definition of an useful indicator, that is the “yearly average vehicle”, that can be assumed as representative of the average pollutant emissions of a given urban context. This indicator can be adopted for suitably ranking the environmental effects produced by different policy options concerning the transportation sector.

Thermal comfort of people working or living in confined spaces depends, to a large extent, on the radiative thermal exchanges. These contributions are expressed, among other things, as a function of the mean radiant temperature that, in the general cases where there is a presence of high intensity sources, must be expressed as a function of the angle factors between subjects and the surrounding surfaces of enclosures. Angle factors, in turn, depend on the projected area factors. Despite this evidence, at the present there is a lack in the availability of simple and reliable methods capable of computing angle factors of people in assigned postures with respect to complex geometry buildings. In this work, a new algorithm is proposed for the computation of the angle factors of people within rooms characterised by complex shapes. The algorithm is based on the results obtained by means of an experimental photographic apparatus which allows measurements of projected area factors of seated or standing people in such complex confined environments. Finally, the algorithm for computing angle factors in complex geometric situations is applied to a dome building. The effectiveness of the algorithm in computing the local thermal conditions in the building is also shown.

In this paper, the results of a preliminary study on the environmental noise pollution of a technologically advanced landfill to be realized in Sicily (Italy) are presented. The investigation has been carried out analysing, at the beginning, a simulating model suggested by the European Community. The method makes reference to the ISO 9613-2:1996 standard, which suggests a general method of calculation to assess the attenuation of sound during propagation outdoors. The simulation has pointed out the troubles in carrying out the noise pollution assessment of an advanced landfill, where several and different kinds of sound sources are present at the same time; it isn’t always possible, for example, to find in scientific literature the spectra of all different sound. In this respect, the paper intends to provide an useful subject for discussion in order to achieve guidelines to be used in the assessment of acoustic impact of typical processes which occur in advanced landfills. Finally, an “area sound source”, which characterizes the landfill, is defined, in order to carry out an acoustic impact assessment in a more fast and simple manner.

Purpose Decarbonizing cities is one of today’s biggest challenges. In this regard, particular attention has been paid on improving the environmental performance of buildings. In this framework, this work consists in assessing the environmental impact of an innovative building envelope component derived from urban agriculture (UA) wastes. In fact, rooftop UA seems to be a possible solution to the rising food demand due to increasing urban demographic growth. Consequently, rooftop UA wastes need to be treated in sustainable ways. Methods This study aims to determine the carbon footprint and embodied energy of a new infill wall material, derived from UA wastes produced by a building rooftop greenhouse tomato crop, and evaluate the potential biogenic carbon that such by-product could fix temporally until its end of life. After an initial description of the manufacturing process of the new material, its carbon footprint and embodied energy have been calculated by means of the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology according to the ISO 14044 and the ISO 14067 guidelines adapted to the analyzed context. In particular, the inventory analysis is based on data collected from the production of samples of the new material at the laboratory scale. Results and discussion The results of the LCA indicate that, when the biogenic carbon fixed in the UA wastes is considered, a negative carbon footprint of − 0.2 kg CO2 eq. per kg of material can be obtained. Hence, it can be assumed that from a life cycle perspective the material is able to fix carbon emissions instead of emitting them. Specifically, for the considered scenario, approximately 0.42 kg CO2 eq./m2 per year could be sequestered. However, the crop area required to produce enough waste to manufacture a unit of material is quite high. Therefore, future studies should focus on individuate solutions to reduce the density of the new component, and also different urban crops with higher waste production rates. Conclusions The outcomes of the study put in evidence the potential of the new proposed infill wall component in fixing carbon emissions from UA, allowing to also compensate those relating to the production and transportation stages of the component life cycle. Moreover, producing by-products with UA wastes, hence temporally storing the carbon fixed by crops, may contribute to reduce the carbon cycles speed conversely to traditional waste management solutions, other than lower new raw materials depletion.

Reducing energy consumption in the building tertiary sector, which accounts for a big share of the total energy use (and related CO 2 emissions) at European and Italian level, represent a strong element of safety for the EU-28. On the other hand, it is important to improve the, often overlooked, indoor comfort conditions of Italian schools since they have a significant impact on the well-being, productivity, health and safety of their occupants. Thus, it is appropriate to take into account the combination of both needs, also in light of the climate change scenario, in order to identify adequate improvement measures and justify such economic investment. This paper brings a contribution to the matter by means of a case study concerning a Sicilian school belonging to the 1930s period, representing an emblematic case of the Italian school construction panorama.

Human activities are severe sources of greenhouse gases and, particularly, of CO 2 . This trend, according with the highly demanding criteria released by the international institutions, must be suitably cut, in order of turning the pollutant emissions within limits that will guarantee a sustainable and environmentally safe development of the human species. Apart the measures that are since long time usually implemented in the technological systems, other interventions should be properly adopted in supporting the sustainability of the anthropic activities. These actions mainly apply to the so-called bioclimatic and passive measures and, particularly, could usefully refer to the plantation of proper surfaces of trees that, thanks to their metabolic mechanisms, are able to sequester relevant amounts of greenhouse gases. In this paper, after a description of a simple method for evaluating the quantities of CO 2 sequestered by trees, the availability of the main parameters on which the sequestration of CO 2 by urban trees is based will be discussed.

Green roofs are increasingly being used in urban settings because of the many benefits they are capable of providing. Because of their widespread use, the issue of how to conduct proper disposal of green roofs once they have reached their end of life is beginning to be raised. The present study is a review of the scientific literature published between 2007 and 2022. Specifically, the contribution of this review study is to clarify whether a waste scenario exists and if so, identify the methodological frameworks and/or criteria used in green roof-related studies to establish the end-of-life scenario of a given green roof, which will then be used to analyze its environmental and economic performance. The literature analysis indicated that a standardized method, widely adopted, which allows identifying recovery and/or disposal treatments to be assigned to waste from the disposal of a green roof, is missing. In general, the feeling one gets from reading all these articles is that when it comes to the end of life of green roofs, everything is rather vague, and that one proceeds in no particular order. The main results of the study are a collection of the criteria currently proposed in the literature to identify the end-of-life scenario of green roofs. These essentially include predominant waste management practices in place in the country where the green roof is located, safety sheets of products constituting single layers of the green roof, and statistical data on the management of specific types of waste. The results also include an overview of the current body of knowledge related to the management of the end-of-life of these building components. This study also intends to serve as a starting point for opening a debate on the disposal of green roofs, a current hot topic and still open as it has not yet been codified. Finally, some recommendations for future research work in this field are proposed.

Detailed construction analysis is essential to the compatible energy improvement of historic buildings. In-situ measurements are crucial for energy diagnosis but their use is limited, especially in vernacular architecture. This paper exposes the development of a hygrothermal and mechanical database for Sicilian historic walls. The proposed method, applied to eleven historic centres, is based on the investigation of those masonry construction features, which recur in local contexts. Preliminary results concern the case study of Petralia Sottana, where a first set of laboratory measurements of stone compressive strength and thermal conductivity was conducted, together with in-situ tests of masonry thermal conductance. Focused on stone walls, these results are used to discuss potentialities and limits of the proposed categorisation of traditional masonry as a support to the energy diagnosis of historic buildings.

Several studies analyze the thermal performance of vegetated roofs, presenting either mathematical models or experimental quantifications of heat transfer process through them, also showing the effect of vegetation and soil parameters on the thermal and energy performance of this type of roofing system. However, presently the level of availability of these parameters, has not been enough considered. This work intends to investigate this underestimated issue of the green roofs’ thermal modeling, through the consideration of the availability of parameters pertinent to the shortwave radiation exchange, which are adopted by models based on leaf area index (LAI) and on the fractional vegetation coverage (σf). From the analysis of these models, the importance of a precise knowledge of such parameters arises, despite the availability of their values is still limited. In addition, the absence of a proper database including several green roof plant species and information on their stage of growth, to which a technician possibly will refer in the case of lack of field data, represents quite a worthwhile matter because it may lead to inaccurate estimations of the thermal loads for climatization of buildings equipped with green roofs. In this respect, the manuscript reports an estimation of the errors potentially occurring when not specific vegetation data are used. This evaluation is based on simulations, performed with the DesignBuilder© software, showing the energy effects produced by different assumptions in the green parameters (that is by adopting experimental data revealed by authors and a potential mix of the literature available parameters). Thus, the mission of the paper is to enlighten a difficulty that a technician possibly will encounter when performing an energy and thermal simulation of a green roof; therefore a strong call for making the current database more tailored on green roofs has also arisen.

In this paper, a dynamic simulation of a building located in the Campus University of Palermo, Italy, has been carried out. We considered two different scenarios; in the first one, the building as it is, with a conventional covering, while in the second one the roof was equipped with a green roof. The results of the two simulations have been compared, suggesting that such building component could contribute to the energy savings of the building. However, it has to be considered as part of other possible actions devoted to improve the energy efficiency of the whole building. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of the CENTRO CONGRESSI INTERNAZIONALE SRL In this paper, a dynamic simulation of a building located in the Campus University of Palermo, Italy, has been carried out. We considered two different scenarios; in the first one, the building as it is, with a conventional covering, while in the second one the roof was equipped with a green roof. The results of the two simulations have been compared, suggesting that such building component could contribute to the energy savings of the building. However, it has to be considered as part of other possible actions devoted to improve the energy efficiency of the whole building.

The general aim of the experimental study, presented in this paper, was that to investigate the relationship between the characteristics of five different types of LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamps, which are nowadays those allowing the highest energy consumption reduction, and the humans non image-forming (NIF) reactions.

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552 Recent years have seen an increasing public interest in issues related to energy saving and environmental pollution reduction in the building sector. As a result, many directives have been issued, the most important being the Directive 2010/31/EU (EPBD Recast) on the energy performance of buildings, which requires that "Member States shall ensure that by 31 December 2020 all new buildings are nearly zero-energy buildings". This goal can be obtained not only by reducing energy demand for heating and cooling, but also, for example, by improving building envelope performances. In this work, a first analysis of the thermal and structural behaviour of a biocomposite material, constituted by a natural resin (rosin) and vegetal fibres (hay), has been performed, with particular attention to the share of fibres and the granulometry in the mixture. The biocomposite has shown both good insulation properties and mechanical resistance. However, the results show that further analyses should be performed on the optimisation of the samples' preparation process.

The Eco-label scheme is becoming ever more important in the environmental certification of products and services, especially in light of the recent ambitious aim of containing greenhouse emissions and improving the efficiency of utilizing energy sources. A recently-introduced hypothesis concerns the European Eco-label scheme relating to buildings, in the awareness that the construction industry is of primary importance to the whole economic and social life of states. This scheme should adopt an integrated approach to environmental problems and include construction, day-to-day management, and the possible disposal of building materials, throughout the life cycle of the building. In addition, in consideration of the particular scope of buildings, the main aim of this new scheme should also be to ensure enhanced conditions of comfort to the occupants of these buildings. In sight of this challenge, the building can be regarded as a summation of components (each of them characterized by a given level of environmental quality) or as a unique physical entity aimed at delivering suitable indoor condition to occupants with an assigned amount of primary energy and with a limited impact on the natural environment. In the paper, both approaches will be investigated, keeping also in mind the initiatives that are currently on the ground in the aim of establishing ecological criteria for the award of the community Eco-label for buildings.

The rapid improvement in the standard of living requires more detailed and sophisticated methods of evaluating comfort conditions. But, maintaining thermal comfort conditions in confined environments may require complex regulation procedures and the proper management of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. In turn, the requirements for indoor thermal comfort do not necessarily coincide with those of energy saving purposes, which in the last years are becoming a crucial issue owing to the enactment of the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). The aim of this work is to compare different indoor control thermal comfort strategies in view of the evaluation of the energy cost of quality in buildings. In particular, a new PID-fuzzy controller is presented and compared with a classic ON–OFF controller. The performances of the two controllers are quantified and compared by means of two cost functions that are based on the quadratic forms of the overall energy required by the thermal fluid and of the deviation from the preferred set point of the predicted mean vote (PMV). It is found that the application of the PID-fuzzy controller results in lower costs of energy input and lower deviation from set point of PMV.

One of the most important components affecting the human thermal balance is represented by its radiative exchange with the surrounding surfaces. The projected area of the human body is an important parameter of these thermal exchanges. Unfortunately, although the anthropometric measures of people are characterized by significant differences among various populations, the experimental data currently available in the literature refers to a small group of people. Moreover, measurements are generally performed regardless of the statistical significance of the involved subjects with respect to the population to which they belong. In this study, a statistical study is introduced that is based on a large analysis of the anthropometric characteristics of the analysed population. Moreover, a new experimental procedure is applied to evaluate the projected area factor and the effective radiating area of a sample of people belonging to the population of southern Italy. The calculated projected area factors are fairly in accordance with those originally proposed by Fanger for standing people. For seated people, however, the experimental values of the present study show some differences from those of the literature. This study provided a tentative explanation for these discrepancies.

This paper addresses an important problem in the evaluation of the thermal comfort of people living or working in the sort of confined spaces typical of current architecture. In the details, a new algorithm is proposed for the evaluation of the angle factors of people within rooms characterized by complex shapes, where the envelope components are not always mutually orthogonal. The algorithm is based on field data obtained by means of an experimental photographic apparatus which allows measurements of projected area factors of seated or standing people in such complex confined environments.

Thermal indoor microclimate conditions in museum buildings refer to two important requirements: the preservation of works of art and the comfort of visitors to these buildings and/or those working inside them. Unfortunately, different works of art have different internal parameters which render the management and control of the indoor thermal microclimate difficult. In this work the values proposed by various standards for the thermal environment of museum buildings have been revised. Moreover, the indoor microclimatic conditions relating to people's comfort have been described, with the aim of singling out possible common ranges for these parameters. With this aim, a useful simultaneousness index has also been introduced. Finally, the proposed approach has been applied to an old Italian building for purposes of clarification.

Town Administrations are increasingly facing the challenge to identify smart planning actions to reduce the cities' energy demand by improving the efficiency of the urban energy systems. Buildings play an important role in this regarding both the demand and supply energy. In this scenario, the neighborhood or district scale seems to be the most appropriate to implement a multi-disciplinary approach on which smart planning relies. This paper shows the application, to a district of the city of Palermo (Sicily, Italy), of a methodology for architectural-energy classification of existing buildings. Such methodology provides, regarding the building sector, an easy tool that can support smart planning at district scale using data available to the municipalities. The work also shows a first experimental approach for the neighborhoods' characterization. The basic idea guiding this work is to identify possible features and subsequent intervention actions for energy refurbishment in neighborhoods clusters.

Recent years have seen an increasing public interest in issues related to energy saving and environmental pollution reduction in the building sector. As a result, many directives have been issued, the most important being the Directive 2010/31/EU (EPBD Recast) on the energy performance of buildings, which requires that “Member States shall ensure that by 31 December 2020 all new buildings are nearly zero-energy buildings”. This goal can be obtained not only by reducing energy demand for heating and cooling, but also, for example, by improving building envelope performances. In this work, a first analysis of the thermal and structural behaviour of a biocomposite material, constituted by a natural resin (rosin) and vegetal fibres (hay), has been performed, with particular attention to the share of fibres and the granulometry in the mixture. The biocomposite has shown both good insulation properties and mechanical resistance. However, the results show that further analyses should be performed on the optimization of the samples preparation process.

Sulla spinta delle sempre più stringenti normative in tema di efficienza energetica degli edifici, l’Università degli Studi di Palermo ha posto in essere un laboratorio di materiali naturali e di componenti edilizi passivi, finalizzato all’analisi delle prestazioni energetiche di elementi d’involucro caratterizzati da elevate prestazioni energetiche ed ambientali. In particolare, sono oggetto di indagini sperimentali alcuni elementi d’involucro realizzati con mix di materiali naturali e minerali ed alcune configurazioni di coperture a verde. I primi risultati sperimentali sembrano confermare la praticabilità di siffatte soluzioni, almeno limitatamente ai climi mediterranei.

Questo scritto fa esplicito riferimento alle “Linee d’indirizzo per il miglioramento dell’efficienza energetica nel patrimonio culturale - Architettura, centri e nuclei storici ed urbani”, recentemente redatte da un gruppo di lavoro composto da dirigenti e funzionari del Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo (MiBACT) e da docenti universitari, per fornire indicazioni per la valutazione e per il miglioramento della prestazione energetica del patrimonio culturale tutelato, con riferimento alle norme italiane in materia di risparmio e di efficienza energetica degli edifici. Tali linee di indirizzo costituiscono uno strumento scientifico semplice, ma in grado di coniugare rigore scientifico ed aggiornamenti tecnici sulla materia, e di fornire indicazioni operative a progettisti e tecnici, sia esterni sia interni al Ministero, relative all’impiego delle fonti energetiche rinnovabili negli edifici del patrimonio culturale italiano, alla valutazione delle prestazioni energetiche degli edifici storici nelle condizioni esistenti e ai criteri operativi per il progetto di eventuali interventi di riqualificazione energetica, opportunamente calibrati sul rispetto delle specifiche peculiarità del patrimonio culturale. Inoltre, le linee di indirizzo si propongono di fornire agli organi preposti alla tutela del patrimonio culturale criteri e metodi per una compiuta valutazione critica sia dei progetti presentati ai fini del rilascio delle autorizzazioni di legge, sia di quelli predisposti direttamente, affinché tengano in debita considerazione anche gli aspetti della prestazione energetica degli edifici tutelati. Le linee d’indirizzo affrontano in particolare il tema dell’uso efficiente dell’energia per la conservazione e la protezione dei centri e dei nuclei storici e dell’architettura rurale ai fini paesaggistici, ed il tema della qualità dell’intervento di riqualificazione degli edifici e dei nuclei urbani, ritenendo tali tematiche strettamente interconnesse, rispetto a quelle dei beni architettonici sottoposti a tutela. Il Decreto Legislativo 19 agosto 2005, n. 192 recante Attuazione della direttiva 2002/91/CE relativa al rendimento energetico nell’edilizia, che è stato recentemente aggiornamento dalla Legge 90/2013, ha reso di fatto “condizionata” la deroga per la sua applicazione ai beni culturali, nonché, ai fini della tutela paesaggistica, alle ville, ai giardini, ai parchi che si distinguono per la loro “non comune bellezza” ed ai complessi di cose immobili che compongono un caratteristico aspetto avente valore estetico e tradizionale, tra cui i centri ed i nuclei storici. Infatti, sulla base del nuovo dettato normativo, qualora applicabile anche per gli edifici vincolati, il decreto si applica esclusivamente per: • l’attestazione della prestazione energetica, APE (art. 6); • l’esercizio, la manutenzione e le ispezioni degli impianti tecnici (art. 7). L’esclusione dall’applicazione della norma suddetta è prevista solo nel caso in cui si accerti: “…previo giudizio dell’autorità competente al rilascio dell’autorizzazione, ai sensi del codice di cui al decreto legislativo 22 gennaio 2004, n. 42, (ovvero gli organi periferici del Ministero) [che] il rispetto delle prescrizioni implichi un’alterazione sostanziale del loro carattere o aspetto, con particolare riferimento ai profili storici, artistici e paesaggistici”. Tale importante innovazione comporta un’ulteriore assunzione di responsabilità per il Ministero e giustifica ancora di più l’esigenza di fornire utili riferimenti operativi. Il documento redatto, pertanto, non fornisce soluzioni pronte all’uso, né prescrive metodologie a carattere vincolante, in considerazione delle peculiarità dei beni interessati, della naturale evoluzione nel tempo delle tecnologie adoperate e dei futuri aggiornamenti normativi, ma può solo guidare la sensibilità del personale e dei progettisti per il raggiungimento istituzionale primario della protezione e conservazione del patrimonio culturale, ottimizzandone, laddove possibile, il livello di prestazione energetica

The paper provides a contribution for populating database of three physical parameters needed to model energy performance of buildings with green roofs: “coverage ratio” ( σ f ), leaf area index (LAI) and leaf temperature ( T f ). On purpose, six plant species were investigated experimentally: Phyla nordiflora, Aptenia lancifolia , Mesembryanthenum barbatus , Gazania nivea, Gazania uniflora , and Sedum . Proper ranges of the cited parameters have been found for each species. The here indicated ranges of σ f values refer to different growth levels of the species in the same lapse of time, that is four months. Single measured LAI values are also reported for the same plants. As for the T f (upper and lower layer), ranges of revealed temperatures refer to those detected from 10:30 a.m. to 16:30 p.m. of a selected day. Additionally, the dependence of T f on climatic parameters was investigated. A linear equation resulted the best fitting curve for all experimental T f data and the corresponding solar radiation data (with autocorrelation coefficients between 0.80 and 0.98). Furthermore, the effect potentially produced on building energy consumption by these species was analyzed using a simulation tool. Estimated cooling energy savings range approximately between 8% and 20% depending on adopted plants.

Transportation is a crucial sector, to be suitably approached in order of getting human activities in more environmentally sustainable paths. In fact, in developing, as well in less developing, countries people and freights mobility are responsible of important amount of pollutant emissions and are cause of significant levels of energy consumptions. In this paper, a Sicilian regional project is presented, aiming at establishing an interconnected grid of material and immaterial laboratories. These laboratories, that are devoted at inducing more virtuous behaviors in the transportation policies, are constituted by equipment and software tools, mainly located in the region’s universities, acting as monitoring and simulation stations. After a description of the structure of the grid, first results of the laboratories activity are provided, along with an estimation of the expected improvement in the environmental and energy efficiency of the transportation sector in Sicily.

A simplified version of the ecological footprint method is proposed for assessing the environmental performances of urban transportation systems. The method, starting from the knowledge of the composition of the running vehicular fleet, is here applied to a southern Italian province. It represents a synthetic indicator of the environmental pressure exerted by the system also matching the pollutant emissions with the carrying capacity of the site. Particularly, the forested area needed to absorb the CO2 emissions of the system is compared with the total forested area of the province. The results of the case-study indicates the yearly maximum distance that each vehicle of the fleet can cover in order for their emissions to be absorbed by the surrounding forested area. Specifically, if all cars of the fleet would travel for 10,000 km/year, 97% of the forested area would be involved. Thanks to its features, this indicator can be usefully adopted for ranking different transportation options. Therefore, it could allow local administrations to environmentally hierarchize alternative plans concerning urban transportation choices.

Towards a de-carbonization of European countries, green roofs are becoming popular, due not only to aesthetic reasons but also to energy and environmental issues. Indeed, especially in summer periods, the building cooling demand might be sensibly cut thanks to such passive components often chosen for planning smart cities. To properly model the energy performances of buildings equipped with these components, a particular attention must be paid to radiative exchanges occurring among soil surface, leaves and outdoor surroundings. These thermal exchanges depend on parameters, like the “fractional vegetation coverage” whose literature data do not seem particularly suitable for the simulation needs. To further populate database for thermal simulations of buildings equipped with these components, the experimental evaluation of the coverage ratio of six vegetated species, that is Phila nordiflora, Gazania (nivea and uniflora), Aptenia lancifolia, Mesembryanthemum barbatus, and Sedum adopted for the green coverings installed in a university campus, is presented.

L'attuale tendenza dell’utilizzo di sistemi di risorse energetiche distribuite (sistemi DER), insieme con il crescente sviluppo tecnologico, incoraggia l'uso di tecnologie capaci di recuperare efficacemente energia da fonti di calore a temperatura bassa o moderata, che rappresentano un'opzione essenziale per affrontare le problematiche energetiche ed ambientali. In questo contesto, i cicli Rankine a fluido organico (ORC) si stanno affermando come una tecnologia molto promettente tra quelle attualmente disponibili, in particolare per bassi valori di temperatura. I principi di funzionamento dei sistemi ORC sono essenzialmente gli stessi di quelli del ciclo Rankine. Nei sistemi ORC, l’acqua è sostituita da un fluido caratterizzato da un basso valore della temperatura di ebollizione rispetto a quello dell'acqua; questo rende adatti i sistemi ORC ad applicazioni per il recupero di calore a bassa temperatura (inferiore a 400 ° C). In questo lavoro, abbiamo utilizzato un sistema ORC accoppiato con un impianto solare termico e relativo modello matematico sviluppato da Wang et al. (2013). La scelta di questo tipo di sistema è dovuta alla sua semplicità e all'utilizzo dell’energia solare come fonte energetica. Le simulazioni, utilizzate per valutare l'efficacia del sistema, sono stati eseguite con i dati relativi alla città di Palermo (Italia). The tendency towards the use of distributed energy resource systems (DER systems), along with the increasing development of technologies, encourages the use of technologies in order of effectively recovering energy by low or moderate temperature heat sources, that represent an essential option to address the energy and environmental problems. In this context, the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system is stating itself like a very interesting one among the energy conversion technologies, particularly when low temperatures are in context. The ORC working principles are essentially the same as that of the Rankine Cycle, where the working fluid is water. In ORC systems water is replaced with a fluid characterized by a lower degree of boiling temperature in comparison with water, which makes ORC systems suitable for applications for low temperature heat recovery (less than 400°C).In this work, we used the solar-driven regenerative ORC system and related mathematical model developed by Wang et al. (2013), but utilizing different organic working fluids. The choice of this type of system is suggested by its simplicity and by the use of solar energy as power supply. The simulations aimed at investigating the effectiveness of the system have been performed for the city of Palermo (Italy).

This poster describes the results of a research aimed to design and assess a new layered envelope component that might be implemented on buildings of the Mediterranean area, in order to improve the energy efficiency and the environmental sustainability. These goals have been achieved by means of the use of local and natural building materials or arising from renewable resources. In particular, thermal insulating has been realize utilizing a mix of natural and mineral materials, obtaining a biocomposite with comparable building physics and mechanical properties to commonly used building materials. Among natural materials, the sheep wool was chosen since it is, on the hand, a waste to exploit and, on the other hand, it has a good behavior towards heat, moisture and indoor air pollution. Several sample have been realized mixing sheep wool, at different granulometry, with lime in different weight percentages. For each sample, thermal tests have been performed by means of a heat flow meter. The U value, Yie, mass and time lag have been evaluated for the whole designed system according to the Italian standards. In order to compare the environmental impact of the designed system with a similar commercial product, a Life Cycle Assessment has been carried out. Finally, thermal performance of the envelope system was evaluated by simulating its use in the retrofit of the old structure of a factory both in wall and in floor elements. The results was good in terms of energy balances of the building, while LCA results are contradictory, being one of the main issue the lack of data for local materials not directly investigated by authors.

Today the utilization of renewable energy sources is very important to support the traditional ones, and also in order to reach the objectives fixed by the Kyoto Protocol. In this context, also well-known technologies related to the electric energy production, formerly not suitable – due to the poor technological level of the components or due to the high costs linked to the system efficiency – may now find a suitable collocation. Among these technologies, the thermoelectric effect may be very advantageous in some particular applications of small power. A power generation system utilizing this technology has been studied by the authors. This system utilizes the thermal difference between a lower temperature sink, e.g. a water reservoir, and a higher temperature source, such as exhaust heat (e.g. from industrial processes) or as produced by solar energy captured by an extended surface. The thermoelectric generator is made up of thermocouples placed on the internal surface of a tubular heat exchanger, located inside the water body and filled up with hot water coming from the energy source. In this paper, the physical mechanisms and the energy balances governing the system are described in order to evaluate its energetic feasibility. Once fixed, the electrical power required by the end user, the system parameters are optimized with the aim to have the most compact equipment and components. A simulation of the proposed system was performed referring to the city of Palermo, Italy. A very poor economic convenience of the system has been found in this applications.

Se da un lato l’energia ed il suo costo rappresentano da tempo una delle più serie limitazioni alla sostenibilità del settore della pesca, dall’altro lato affrontare questo tema in un’ottica di innovazione può costituire un interessante fattore di sviluppo e di innovazione del settore stesso. Non è del resto un caso che ai temi della sostenibilità siano ispirate le linee guida del nuovo programma europeo Horizon 2020, Work Programme 2014-2010; come è noto, tra le sette sfide principali del programma europeo, una è espressamente riservata alla ricerca marina e marittima (“Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture, Marine and maritime research and the bio-economy”). Nell’ambito dei programmi sviluppati o in progetto da parte dell’Osservatorio della Pesca, questa visione ha sempre ricevuto una costante attenzione. L’intento è, da un lato, quello di individuare gli interventi migliorativi ed innovativi che consentano di razionalizzare e rendere economicamente ed ambientalmente sostenibile il processo produttivo e le fasi organizzative delle aziende prese in esame; dall’altro lato, quello di indirizzare efficacemente le aziende verso le certificazioni e le dichiarazioni ambientali che le rendano maggiormente protagoniste nel mercato, con evidenti benefici anche sul fronte occupazionale. Per intraprendere questa strada virtuosa è necessario partire da un’indagine capillare volta all’individuazione del profilo energetico ed ambientale del ciclo produttivo e lavorativo delle aziende, al fine di determinare il livello di efficienza con cui viene impiegata l’energia (termica ed elettrica) e l’entità dei rilasci in atmosfera connessi con il ciclo lavorativo, anche in relazione all’intero ciclo di vita dei processi produttivi. Occorre inoltre monitorare le modalità di gestione dei reflui, di utilizzo dell’acqua potabile e la produzione e gestione dei rifiuti. Questa base conoscitiva dinamica dei dati del settore, oltre a rappresentare l’imprescindibile punto di partenza per qualunque azione migliorativa e per la partecipazione ai bandi di sostegno finanziario da parte delle singole aziende, consentirebbe altresì di porre le basi per la progettazione di un Marchio di Filiera per l’intero distretto della pesca di Mazara del Vallo.

Lo studio si colloca sulla scorta dei risultati elaborati nell’ambito del Rapporto Annuale del 2009, nel quale è stata presentata una rassegna generale dello stato del settore della pesca in Sicilia, con particolare riguardo ai consumi energetici, all’impatto ambientale ed all’innovazione tecnologica nella filiera della pesca e dell’acquacoltura in Sicilia. In questo studio si analizzeranno più in dettaglio alcune situazioni di aziende della filiera ritenute emblematiche delle condizioni del settore in Sicilia, allo scopo di delinearne le esigenze ed i limiti, anche in vista della proposta di introdurre innovazioni tecnologiche mirate e puntuali. Ancora una volta, il tema dell’efficienza energetica della filiera sarà assunto come il parametro centrale per le analisi, dal momento che intorno ad esso si possono sviluppare le tematiche e le motivazioni di carattere ambientale, economico e sociale. In particolare, per contestualizzare lo studio sullo sfondo dei temi di ricerca proposti dal VII Programma Quadro, sarà proposta un’analisi delle pressioni esercitate dal settore della pesca nei suoi segmenti principali: la fase di cattura e le altre fasi che concorrono a sincronizzare il prodotto pescato sui mercati. Come detto, sarà seguito un approccio metodologico che si basa su analisi di campo di alcune particolari situazioni operative nel Distretto della Pesca di Mazara del Vallo. Da queste indagini di campo saranno desunti alcuni parametri di efficienza energetica e produttiva e di compatibilità ambientale, che verranno confrontati con i dati medi regionali del rapporto del 2009. Inoltre, sarà proposto un semplice “calcolatore” che consentirà di acquisire facilmente lo stato di efficienza con cui i natanti utilizzano l’energia e la tecnologia: si tratta di un semplice foglio di calcolo già utilizzato in Nord Europa che, sulla base di informazioni molto basilari, indica il livello delle prestazioni dell’imbarcazione, della sua manutenzione e dell’uso dei combustibili.

Through the paper the characterization of a comfort model, enriching that proposed by Fanger with an adaptive approach, is carried out using a Multi Agent System (MAS). This is a well suited coordinated set of Intelligent Agents, that are software applications interacting in order to follow user in his own needs and preferences in relation to indoor comfort, adapting to the changes of context variables. As a matter of fact, MAS are systems aware of the scenery where users live, following them in their own needs and preferences and adapting to their expectations. Indeed, thermal comfort conditions in the built environment are strictly related not only to the thermal and geometric building features and to air-conditioning systems, but also to the building using profile and to the biological-metabolic-psychological characteristics of the users. Within this frame, as a consequence, it is very useful to formalize new models, both subjective and adaptive to the environmental scenery, where users are represented as an integral part of the global experience context, in a particular holistic vision of the problem, strongly addressed towards the personalization of the service, with regards to the novel tern user-plant-building system. In this aim, Intelligent Agents can be considered as the best solution to be adopted, allowing characterization of a control model for an Advanced Smart Conditioning System, that would realize integration of Fanger’s theory with an adaptive approach, also proposed by other authors (Brager and de Dear, Nicols, etc.), in particular by means of a Multi Agent System (MAS).

This paper will examine three methodologies deployed in off-line research relating to air quality in museums. These methodologies made use of sensors based on the different chemical-physicalproperties of various materials (corrosiveness, hardness and absorption). Various field applications were applied to case studies, which were performed in two museums in Palermo, Italy: the Regional Gallery of Palazzo Abatellis and the Diocesan Museum. This review of methodologies and sensors examines which protocol should be put into practice in museums in monitoring the air quality of display spaces and the conservation of cultural artefacts.

This article address an issue of paramount importance in the Mediterranean area, that is the efficient use of energy and sustainability of fishing sector. A recent study concerning the situation of Fishery and Aquaculture in Sicily highlighted that the Sicilian fishing system requires a bigger amount of energy than the typical Italian or European situation, in order of getting the product available to the market. On the other hand this involves an higher level of environmental pollution, for a given quantity of catch. One of the main findings is that there is a need for a clear, scientifically-founded panorama of the situation and that further studies should be undertaken to provide fishing operators with adequate guidance in order to choose fishing practises and energy technologies that are more efficient in terms of energy expenditure by unit of revenue from catch. At this aim, this work carries out a concise analysis of catching segment of the fishing sector in Europe, in Italy and Sicily, starting from literature data. Some productivity, economic, capacity and efficiency indicators will be analyze and suggest in order to make a comparative comparison among the three geographic ambits.

The Eco-label scheme is becoming ever more important in the environmental certification of products and services, especially in light of the recent ambitious aim of containing greenhouse emissions and improving the efficiency of utilizing energy sources and resources. A recently-introduced hypothesis concerns the European eco-label scheme relating to buildings, due in part to the awareness that the construction industry is of primary importance to the whole economic and social life of states. This scheme should adopt an integrated approach to environmental problems and include construction, day-to-day management and the possible disposal of building materials, throughout the life cycle of the building., In addition to protecting the environment and making better use of resources, the main aim of this new scheme should also be to ensure enhanced conditions of comfort to the occupants of these buildings. Indeed, the starting point of this environmental classification of buildings is the recognition of the primary importance of conditions of comfort enjoyed by those who frequent these buildings.

The energy demand of the hotel sector of an Italian region is here utilized for hierarchizing, by means of an empirical method, efficient measures devoted to energy saving and reduction of CO2 emissions. Due to the large number of consumers present in the selected territorial area and the lack in detailed data, the energy demand assessment is here carried out by the analysis of a sample of representative consumers. A short set of indexes, referring to energy and environmental performances, are defined and calculated for different clusters of hotels, grouped on the basis of site characteristics, opening periods, number of beds, and building age. Such indexes are utilized to establish lists of actions with assigned priorities stemming from energy, environmental and economics issues. Energy planners and decision makers can easily use this approach for defining, implementing and monitoring energy efficiency as well as sustainability policies in the tourist sector of a given geographical area, starting from a limited set of data. The method has been proposed by authors within the assessment of the Sicilian Energy Masterplan.

L’avvento di controlli intelligenti nella gestione delle apparecchiature elettriche di tipo domotico negli hotel consente risparmi energetici significativi e tali da giustificare l’adozione diffusa di queste tecniche.

The improvement of the energy efficiency of buildings calls for the availability of tools for evaluating and simulating the thermal behaviour of buildings. These simulation tools generally need a complete input data set and, in particular, information referring to the climatic conditions of the site where buildings are built-up. Among climatic issues, particularly important for the thermal energy balance is the solar radiation. However, this huge mass of data is not very useful in this form, so simple aggregation methods have been developed in order to run these simulation computer programs: the test reference year (TRY) is one of the most used methods. In this paper the comparison of two methodologies for compiling TRY of the solar radiation is presented. The two methodologies, elaborated respectively by Dogniaux and Finkelstein-Schafer, have both a statistical approach to the problem. The first one is based on the normal distribution of the monthly average of each climatic parameter and his variance, while the second one is a more powerful version of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, based on the cumulative probability function. The two methods give quite different results, suggesting a particular caution in the choice of the method for generating such reduced sets of data.

Nei musei, le condizioni ambientali interne dovrebbero, nello stesso tempo, assolvere due compiti fondamentali: preservare le opere d’arte ivi esposte e garantire buone condizioni di comfort per i visitatori e per le persone che vi lavorano. Purtroppo, i requisiti ottimali per le persone e per le opere d’arte sono caratterizzati da differenti valori dei parametri fisici all’interno degli ambienti museali che, occasionalmente, possono entrare in conflitto. Nel presente articolo questi problemi vengono analizzati a partire da un’indagine di campo effettuata presso un importante museo italiano, con specifica attenzione alle condizioni microclimatiche all’interno di alcune sale espositive. Inoltre, viene discussa la possibilità di individuare un range di valori comuni dei parametri microclimatici atti a garantire sia i requisiti per la preservazione delle opere d’arte che quelli per il comfort degli occupanti.