319 research outputs found
Titanium dioxide nanotechnological coatings for preventive envelope maintenance
No full textThis paper illustrates the result of a wide experimental campaign focused on the application of titanium dioxide self-cleaning coating for envelope maintenance. Such coatings have proven to be effective with regards to soiling deposition and build-up on façade surfaces over a time span equal to at least three years. Applications considered within the frame of this study span from opaque to transparent and active envelope components, where the consequences of soiling accumulation are likely to affect the overall building performance. Effects of functional materials application are presented through comparison of surface behaviour with respect to soiling accumulation between non treated cladding elements and the corresponding coated samples, that were subjected to the same environmental conditions. This extensive comparative study was useful to quantify actual self-cleaning performance of envelope materials and determine the convenience of coating application according to the specific substrate and exposure context. Thanks to the self-cleaning behaviour, surfaces are enabled to be cleaned under the sole effect of rainfall, without requiring additional manual work. This represents a significant opportunity for sustainable management of the building envelope, saving natural resources as water and limiting the use of detergents and other specific cleaning products. The integration of self-cleaning coatings represents an interesting
option for active envelope systems and also complex geometry building skins, where manual and mechanical cleaning operations seldom represent a viable strategy to ensure building performance over time. The integration of such coatings as preventive maintenance strategies brings about consistent advantages related to the assured cleaned appearance of the façade over time, together with medium and long-term savings related to the avoidance of costly cleaning operations on envelope components. This applies especially to existing buildings, where façade access systems are often not present and whose integration is not possible due to structural or architectural constraints
Innovative solutions for micro ventilated facades
No full textThe present work faces the issue of energetic quality in architecture, aiming in particular at analyzing the new and unexplored opportunities new generation insulation materials seem to offer.
A focus is made on the use of multifoil insulations, considered among the most advanced materials within building insulation products market, to guarantee the best possible ratio between costs and performances according to the overall thickness of the analyzed solutions. Particularly, the paper deals with the use of these materials within ventilated wall systems and the evaluation of the consequent performances and practical advantages.
The study has led to the development of advanced technological solutions suitable to combine a very high thermal performances with the integration of solar gain systems (PV, thermal, etc.) for clean energy production, starting from a minimum of only 75 mm. The goal is to introduce a strongly innovative practice within the field of architectural and energetic refurbishment of existing buildings, through the proposal of an advanced envelope technology as an alternative to traditional systems
De-Risking the Energy Efficient Renovation of Commercial Office Buildings through Technical-Financial Risk Assessment
No full textEnergy efficiency in the building sector plays a key role in supporting European and global
commitments against the current climate crisis. A massive adoption of deep renovation measures
would allow a global reduction of energy need up to 36%, based on estimations. However, the market
for building renovation is still limited, due to uncertainties associated with risk evaluation. This
paper aims to suggest a method to evaluate the financial impacts of technical risks related to energy
efficiency investments. Key performance indicators (KPIs) necessary to evaluate the investment risk
associated with energy renovation have been defined based on an analysis of the correlation between
technical and financial risks, and their originating factors or root causes. The evaluation has been
carried out thanks to the EEnvest tool: a web-based search and match platform, developed within the
EEnvest collaborative research project funded by the European Commission (EC). This evaluation
methodology has then been applied to a case study, an office building located in Rome, for whom an
energy efficient renovation project was already in place to reduce energy needs. The investment risk
of the renovation project is calculated for two different scenarios: with and without risk mitigation
measures being applied during the design, installation and operation phases. The results show the
different technical and financial risk trends of these two scenarios, highlighting the benefits obtained
by the implementation of mitigation measures
Photocatalytic self-cleaning coatings for building facade maintenance. Performance analysis through a case-study application
No full textFacade maintenance has become a key aspect in building management, due the specific actions involved and operation related costs. Within this framework, the application of titanium dioxide photocatalytic sol-gel products on facade elements offers a wide range of opportunities to ensure proper functionality maintenance over time. This paper illustrates the self-cleaning performance of titanium dioxide and silicon dioxide based coatings applied to different kinds of cladding materials. All tested samples were opaque. Preliminary laboratory tests were performed by means of water contact angle measurements to verify hydrophobic and hydrophilic behaviour prior to outdoor application. Afterwards, outdoor tests were performed to monitor colour variation over a 36-month period to verify product effectiveness and durability. Results proved that the application of functionalized nanotechnological coating to a facade can significantly facilitate cleaning operations and reduce the necessary frequency over time. In addition, the output provides some preliminary information about the exposure condition influence on self-cleaning performance, which could be further investigated in the future
Innovazione tecnologica, prestazionale e architettonica di sistemi di rivestimento a parete ventilata
No full textLa riqualificazione architettonica, tecnologica ed energetica del costruito è un tema di sempre maggiore importanza e rilevanza, oltre che di interesse strategico. Essa può infatti contribuire da un lato al miglioramento della qualità dell’ambiente urbano, dall’altro al raggiungimento di elevati standard di risparmio energetico e benessere ambientale. Particolare rilevanza va perciò attribuita al rinnovamento del patrimonio edilizio esistente, caratterizzato da soluzioni di involucro scadenti, spesso affette da gravi carenze energetico - prestazionali. A tal riguardo sono oggi utilizzabili soluzioni e tecnologie innovative,
quali i sistemi a facciata ventilata.
Il paper, dopo aver illustrato le principali strategie per la riqualificazione energetico, architettonico prestazionale del costruito, propone delle soluzioni di rivestimento a parete ventilata caratterizzate da forte contenuto innovativo, elevate prestazioni energetiche, bassa vulnerabilità sismica, facilmente integrabili con sistemi attivi per lo sfruttamento di fonti di energia rinnovabile. Tra le soluzioni di rivestimento di facciata proposte rientrano: sistemi a basso spessore (max 10 cm) integranti isolanti sottili multistrato riflettenti, sistemi dalle elevate caratteristiche di resistenza meccanica e bassa vulnerabilità sismica impiegabili con rivestimenti leggeri e pesanti, sistemi integranti pannelli fotovoltaici per lo sfruttamento di fonti rinnovabili, sistemi connotanti complesse e prestigiose architetture con rapporto costi/benefici particolarmente conveniente
Framework for Evaluating Financial Impacts of Technical Risks Related to Energy-Efficient Renovation of Commercial Office Buildings
No full textEnergy efficiency in the building sector is a priority of the EU Commission to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Renovation of the existing buildings, which are currently responsible for approximately 40% of EU energy consumption and 36% of the greenhouse gas emissions can lead to significant energy savings. This paper presents the EEnvest calculation method for evaluating the financial impacts of technical risks related to energy-efficient renovation of commercial office buildings. The evaluation method aims to increase investors’ confidence and boost investments in the renovation of the existing building. Through a series of Key Performance Indicators (KPI), the technical and financial risks impact is evaluated. The results are strictly connected to building features, climatic conditions, solution sets and mitigation measures specific to the building energy efficiency project
Studio della metodologia per la riduzione del rischio tecnicoeconomico negli investimenti di riqualificazione energetica: il progetto EENVEST
No full textLa Direttiva sull’efficienza energetica (EED) (Direttiva 2012/27/UE) e la Direttiva sul rendimento
energetico degli edifici (EPBD) e relativo aggiornamento (Direttiva 2018/844) contengono
entrambe prescrizioni tecniche per aumentare il rendimento energetico del patrimonio
edilizio europeo. Tuttavia, la sfida maggiore per ridurre il consumo totale di energia negli
edifici consiste nell’aumentare al 3% l’attuale tasso di ristrutturazione pari a circa all’1,2%
annuo, senza compromettere la qualità e l’efficacia delle misure di miglioramento tecnico.
Uno dei principali ostacoli che impediscono l’adozione massiccia delle ristrutturazioni da
parte del mercato è la mancanza di fiducia dovuta ai rischi tecnici e finanziari associati al
processo e ai risultati ottenibili. La percezione del rischio che circonda le operazioni di
ristrutturazione degli edifici è un fattore importante nella maggior parte delle operazioni
di finanziamento legate all’efficienza energetica e richiede un’indagine più approfondita. Il
progetto EEnvest (Risk Reduction for Building Energy Efficiency Investments), finanziato
dal programma Horizon 2020 della Commissione Europea, propone un’analisi e valutazione
del rischio affinché sia identificata una consapevolezza del rischio e del gap finanziario legato
alle attività di ristrutturazione degli edifici, fornendo informazioni tecnico-finanziarie
standardizzate, verificate e stimate su una ampia serie di fonti di costi e ricavi relativi ad operazioni
di efficientamento energetico di edifici esistenti. L’obiettivo principale del progetto
EEnvest è di garantire la fiducia degli investitori in azioni di efficientamento energetico degli
edifici esistenti del settore commerciale, attraverso un quadro strutturato capace di valutare
per ogni azione di efficientamento energetico il rispettivo rischio tecnico e finanziario connesso.
Nel presente report è presentato il progetto complessivo, l’obiettivo finale e gli studi
preliminari relativi allo sviluppo di un solido e replicabile modello di valutazione del rischio
tecnico legato alle azioni di riqualificazione ener getica di edifici commerciali per uffici
Integration of photovoltaic systems in thin ventilated façades with innovative insulation
No full textThe architectural, technological and energetic renewal of the built environment is a very relevant and strategic topic in relation to both the enhancement of urban environment quality and the support to production activities within the civil building field. A particular focus needs to be made on the upgrading of building envelopes which are characterized by low profile architectural solutions and energetic performance which are far lower than the minimum required to new buildings. This article deals with the built environment refurbishment, focusing on the opportunities and modalities of strongly innovative façade applications integrated with photovoltaic systems, aimed to achieve high performance and at the same time a very thin nominal dimension (thickness). There is also a detailed description of the study for the Building n° 15 of Politecnico di Milano envelope requalification, through the design of a cladding system ventilated façade with thin multifoil insulation, composite tile (porcelainized stoneware and sintered glass covering) integrated with amorphous silicon photovoltaic panels
Innovative ventilated facade systems integrating multifoil RBS insulation: from 2D design to 3D model
No full textThis paper deals with the design of an innovative ventilated façade technological solution, which has been developed through subsequent steps, from 2D CAD project to 3D model, both virtual and physical. The design process will be carefully described in order to show how virtual prototyping and mock-up modeling are at the basis of complex design process management, enabling all construction process actors to take into consideration a number of variables concerning materials, products, installation procedures and construction time. Bi-dimensional design characterized mainly the initial study of the technical solution, leading to the definition of the functional layers needed to fulfill the performance targets together with their appropriate on-site installation.
Afterwards, reckoning that a virtual prototype would have certainly been useful to study interfaces and/or interferences among different elements, the work went through a 3D modeling phase which allowed the team to define specific functions of each system component down to the smallest detail, in order to identify and immediately solve any issue related to the installation. This is particularly significant when transferring any project to construction site, where a clear definition of installation procedures prior to initiation would obviously avoid time and costs variations due to unexpected problems related to components handling and operation. Finally, it is important to stress how tri-dimensional modeling has a central role in “communication”, as it allows both experts and non experts to understand immediately the key features of a project
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