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In this work, two different bioheat models are implemente d to model a thermal ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma liver tumor . A mixed constant and pulsating heat source protocol is developed, evaluating the thermal damage level on the tumor rim. A porous media based model and a modified Pennes’ bioheat equation are developed to consider the realistic variation of both blood volume fraction (porosity) in the first model, and perfusion term in the second one , from tumor core, tumor rim, and the sur rounding healthy tissue. The results are presented in terms of temperature fields, thermal damage and dimension of the ablated zone achieved.

Buildings are responsible for about 35-40% of energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions, and it implies that improvements of local and global climate, containment of urban heats islands, saving targets, and environmental goals cannot be achieved without high-efficient new buildings and a deep energy renovation of the existing building stock. This work analyses three possible case studies to fulfill the goals of policies in energy-matter and considers real case studies of new construction and the energy refurbishment of existing buildings. This is only a small part of a wider study that provides an overview of evolution, achieved goals, criticalities, and perspectives of twenty years of policies in the matter of energy performance of buildings. The new construction of a single-story dwelling, the refurbishment of a historical building, and a 70s cement-based building are the three exemplary case studies that will be proposed, as a part of a larger investigation.

The paper proposes a discussion about the operational performance of an existing nearly zero energy building in the Mediterranean climate, during the heating season. The required electric power for variable winter conditions is analyzed and it is compared with design calculation, under stationary conditions. Indeed, the indoor and outdoor conditions, during the real operating mode, could be quite different compared to the ones adopted during the design period, also because of the progressive climate change. Thus, it is important to understand if the building-HVAC system is able to meet the variable conditions that can occur and what is the difference that could happen during the sizing of the systems for the microclimatic control.

Hospitals are complex structures that require the highest energy intensity of the building sector. Thus, in both cases of new construction and retrofit, their proper energy design and management are a critical issue, because these must consider all levers of energy performance, from the building envelope to the operation and efficiency of energy systems. Furthermore, different objective functions to minimize can be pursued, for example, energy consumption, thermal discomfort, lifecycle costs, and polluting emissions. Definitely, comprehensive approaches are required to address the aforementioned issues. The chapter provides an overview of these approaches by showing the application to different case studies.

Smart windows, especially those electric-driven, represent one of the most advanced technologies for controlling solar radiation. For a correct use, it is necessary to understand their real behaviour through in-situ measurements on full-scale application as well as calibrating and validating visual simulation models capable of predicting their performances. In this paper, the preliminary results of current research activities aimed at developing simulation models of electric-driven full-scale glazing are presented. The research activities started with the assessment of the visible solar transmittance as a function of light incident angle through in-situ measurements; different models, with related values, of the visible solar transmittance were considered. For each simulation model, the corresponding transmittance value was set in the RADIANCE ?trans? material model and the simulated illuminance values, for a defined acquisition point of a test-facility, were then compared with the experimental data. Finally, for each model, indoor luminance distributions were reported considering a typical office seating position. Preliminary results, based on the in-situ measurements approach, highlighted a sufficient accuracy for one of the models adopted; further analyses are needed in order to upgrade the simulation models available and assess the effective performances of these windows., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

About 40% of global energy consumption is due to buildings. For this reason, many countries have established strict limits with regard to building energy performance. In fact, the minimization of energy consumption and related polluting emissions is undertaken in the public perspective with the main aim of fighting climate change. On the other hand, it is crucial to achieve financial benefits and proper levels of thermal comfort, which are the principal aims of the private perspective. In this paper, a multi-objective multi-stage approach is proposed to optimize building energy design by addressing the aforementioned public and private aims. The first stage implements a genetic algorithm by coupling MATLAB® and EnergyPlus pursuing the minimization of energy demands for space conditioning and of discomfort hours. In the second stage, a smart exhaustive sampling is conducted under MATLAB® environment with the aim of finding constrained cost-optimal solutions that ensure a drastic reduction of global costs as well as of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Furthermore, the impact of such solutions on heat emissions into the external environment is investigated because these emissions highly affect urban overheating, external human comfort and the livability of our cities. The main novelty of this approach is the possibility to properly conjugate the public perspective (minimization of GHG emissions) and the private one (minimization of global costs). The focus on the reduction of heat emissions, in addition to the assessment of energy demands and GHG emissions, is novel too for investigations concerning building energy efficiency. The approach is applied to optimize the retrofit of a reference building related to the Italian office stock of the 1970s.

In this paper, the Multi-Criteria Decision Making analysis has been proposed as methodology for choosing the best building components between different alternatives. As case study, TOPSIS method (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) has been applied for comparing four different roof slab technologies both traditional and innovative. The assumed criteria are related to different fields as thermal, acoustic, air quality building science, structural performances, economic and human impacts. The main research objective is to discuss how the decision-making process, performed by the design team and contractors, can influence the final selection. Briefly, the results of the case study allow to point out that the optimal solution depends on the importance that the decision maker assigns to each considered criterion.