Search Results (10)

The Italian residential building stock consists of 12.2 million buildings, with 7.2 constructed post-World War II during the economic boom. These structures were designed without specific regulations for seismic safety, fire resistance, and energy efficiency, and today lies the current state of strong obsolescence. Therefore, energy refurbishment may not always be the best cost/benefit solution due to these intrinsic issues. Consequently, the transition to construction systems based on circular economy principles brings new opportunities and becomes key to proposing replacement interventions for this heritage. This paper presents a comparative GIS-based bottom-up approach to evaluate the lifecycle impact of residential building blocks, encompassing energy, environmental, and economic aspects. Two tools are introduced: one for measuring energy consumption and the other for quantifying the quantities of materials stored in buildings. This methodology permits comparing the new circular buildings and different refurbishment scenarios to identify the most suitable solution from an environmental impact and financial point of view. The application of a case study, a residential urban block in Bologna, built in 1945–1965, highlights how the demolition and reconstruction scenario based on circular economy principles presents the lowest environmental impacts and is economically competitive compared to standard deep renovation techniques. Full article

This study’s scope is to collect and analyze all the needed information related to the residential building stocks in Mediterranean countries, especially those that participated in the framework of the HAPPEN project (Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, and France). A specific procedure was followed in order to conduct a coordinated evaluation of the residential building stock. The most important variables for a statistical examination of the building stock are outlined, as well as an approach for establishing reference buildings. National data for the seven participating nations were collected and evaluated using the prescribed methodology. The research findings identify six distinct reference buildings in each nation. More specifically, the most representative buildings were distinguished through a cross-country comparison of the obtained data, after classifying the buildings into different classes to which the same approach for deep renovation/refurbishment can be applied. Full article

The refurbishment of public residential districts represents a current and complex problem. The Cappuccinelli Social Housing (SH) district in Trapani, designed in the late 1950s by Michele Valori and built during the 1960s, is emblematic of the architectural quality and technological innovation of the time it was designed, but at the same time represents the physical and social decay that occurred just after its construction. The neighborhood was examined through a combination of inspections and documentary research. The inspections were conducted for the entire district in order to identify the recurrent external degradation of building components and the related causes, both physical and anthropogenic. This paper investigates the physical–mechanical degradation and problems connected to previous renovation work in this district. Furthermore, technological design solutions are discussed for deep renovation and energy efficiency improvement of one of the terraced buildings of the Cappuccinelli SH district. Full article

The protection of the natural environment and countering global warming are crucial worldwide issues. The residential sector has a significant impact on overall energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it is extremely important to focus on all of the activities that can result in more energy efficient and sustainable city scale areas, preventing global warming. The highest improvement in the energy efficiency of existing buildings is possible by combining their deep refurbishment and the use of renewable energy sources (RES), where solar energy appears to be the best for application in buildings. Modernizations that provide full electrification seem to be a trend towards providing modern, energy efficient and environmentally friendly, smart buildings. Moreover, switching from an analysis at the single building level to the district scale allows us to develop more sustainable neighborhoods, following the urban energy modelling (UEM) paradigm. Then, it is possible to use the energy cluster (EC) concept, focusing on energy-, environmental- and economic-related aspects of an examined region. In this paper, an actual Polish suburban district is examined using the home-developed TEAC software. The software is briefly described and compared with other computer codes applied for UEM. In this study, the examined suburban area is modernized, assuming buildings’ deep retrofitting, the application of RES and energy storage systems, as well as usage of smart metering techniques. The proposed modernizations assumed full electrification of the cluster. Moreover, the examined scenarios show potential electricity savings up to approximately 60%, as well as GHG emission reduction by 90% on average. It is demonstrated that the proposed approach is a valid method to estimate various energy- and environment-related issues of modernization for actual residential clusters. Full article

Cities are responsible for a large share of the global energy consumption. A third of the total greenhouse gas emissions are related to the buildings sector, making it an important target for reducing urban energy consumption. Detailed data on the building stock, including the thermal characteristics of individual buildings, such as the construction type, construction period, and building geometries, can strongly support decision-making for local authorities to help them spatially localize buildings with high potential for thermal renovations. In this paper, we present a workflow for deep learning-based building stock modeling using aerial images at a city scale for heat demand modeling. The extracted buildings are used for bottom-up modeling of the residential building heat demand based on construction type and construction period. The results for DL-building extraction exhibit F1-accuracies of 87%, and construction types yield an overall accuracy of 96%. The modeled heat demands display a high level of agreement of R² 0.82 compared with reference data. Finally, we analyze various refurbishment scenarios for construction periods and construction types, e.g., revealing that the targeted thermal renovation of multi-family houses constructed between the 1950s and 1970s accounts for about 47% of the total heat demand in a realistic refurbishment scenario. Full article

The current main issue in the construction sector in Europe concerns the energy refurbishment and the reactivation of investments in existing buildings. Guidance for enhancing energy efficiency and encouraging member states to create a market for deep renovation is provided by a number of European policies. Innovative methods and strategies are required to attract and involve citizens and main stakeholders to undertake buildings’ renovation processes, which actually account for just 1% of the total building stock. This contribution proposes technical and financial solutions for the promotion of energy efficient, safe, and attractive retrofit interventions based on the creation of volumetric additions combined with renewable energy sources. This paper focuses on the urban reality of Athens as being an important example of a degraded urban center with a heavy heat island, a quite important heating demand, and a strong seismic vulnerability. The design solutions presented here demonstrate that the strategy of additions, because of the consequent increased value of the buildings, could represent an effective densification policy for the renovation of existing urban settings. Hence, the aim is to trigger regulatory and market reforms with the aim to boost the revolution towards nearly zero energy buildings for the existing building stocks. Full article

The study presents a didactic experience for the deep refurbishment and the revitalization of the San Siro neighborhood in Milan (Italy). The public housing is a significative example of the 20th-century architecture (also named “Italian Modernism of Architecture”), designed by the Italian architects—Franco Albini, Renato Camus, Giancarlo Palanti, and Laslo Kovacs (1938–1941). Nowadays, it is a multicultural area, characterized by the presence of a fragile population, with strong socio-spatial inequalities, intercultural and intergenerational conflicts. Here, an architectural design project is realized, experimenting with innovative and up-to-date design solutions. This experience develops a sensitive awareness of the multidimensional complexity of the environmentally responsible design, which requires a critical balance among different disciplines and skills. The reusing of existing buildings has sustainable importance for preventing new land-uses and for saving the potential energy consumption related to the construction process. Only a widespread knowledge of the local socio-economic conditions through participatory actions permits the selection of appropriate retrofit solutions, considering also the high cultural, social, and economic values. Functional and social mix, space flexibility, green design, renewable energies, circular economy criteria, and continuative maintenance are the correct strategies for boosting the social revitalization and for improving fairness, safety, architectural quality, human comfort, energy efficiency, and sustainability in this public housing neighborhood. Full article

Despite the significant progress observed over the last decades, the European building stock still consumes significant amounts of energy (39% of the total final energy), whilst it does not always provide the conditions required for occupants’ well-being and thermal comfort sensation. In order to achieve the goal of nearly or even zero energy buildings, a deep refurbishment of the building stock is imperative. As the literature indicates, a firm evaluation of indoor conditions is essential, while having at the epicenter the occupants’ comfort perception, with emphasis on their individual characteristics. In this respect, a methodological framework is developed and a preliminary implementation is performed. The main goal of the methodological approach is the consideration of both the classical comfort parameters along with the occupants’ socioeconomic and personalized characteristics that affect their perception and can differentiate their needs even under the same conditions. Among other important findings this preliminary implementation achieved some very promising results, highlighting that occupants’ individual characteristics such as recycling and exercising can affect the occupants’ comfort perception. Full article

Buildings are the focus of European (EU) policies aimed at a sustainable and competitive low-carbon economy by 2020. Reducing energy consumption of existing buildings and achieving nearly zero energy buildings (NZEBs) are the core of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) and the recast of the Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD). To comply with these requirements, Member States have to adopt actions to exploit energy savings from the building sector. This paper describes the differences between deep, major and NZEB renovation and then it provides an overview of best practice policies and measures to target retrofit and investment related to non-residential buildings. Energy requirements defined by Member States for NZEB levels are reported comparing both new and existing residential and non-residential buildings. The paper shows how the attention given to refurbishment of NZEBs increased over the last decade, but the achievement of a comprehensive implementation of retrofit remains one of main challenges that Europe is facing. Full article

In the last few years, the renovation and refurbishment of existing buildings have become the main activities of the construction industry. In particular, many studies have recently focused on the mechanical and energy performances of existing retrofitted/refurbished facilities, while some research has addressed the environmental effects of such operations. The present study aims to assess the environmental impact of some retrofit interventions on an existing reinforced concrete (RC) building. Once the structural requirements have been satisfied and the environmental effects of these retrofit solutions defined, the final purpose of this study is to identify the most environmentally sustainable retrofit strategy. The environmental impact of the structural retrofit options is assessed using a life-cycle assessment (LCA). This paper sets out a systematic approach that can be adopted when choosing the best structural retrofit option in terms of sustainability performance. The final aim of the study is to also provide a tool for researchers and practitioners that reflects a deep understanding of the sustainability aspects of retrofit operations and can be used for future researches or practical activities. Full article