1,721,000 research outputs found
Reversible building design. Material Circularity and life cycle extension in the construction industry
No full textIn the last decades, the effects of the climate crisis have become increasingly evident, as demonstrated by the growth in the number and intensity of extreme weather events recorded worldwide. The construction sector is one of the economic and production sectors that contributes most to worse this phenomenon, due to its environmental impact in terms of resource consumption, CO2 emissions, and waste generated by building construction and demolition processes. Globally, the construction sector produces approximately 40% of global CO2 emissions, and in only in Europe, construction and demolition waste accounts for about a third of total waste. It is therefore the responsibility of designers to explore new alternative approaches to the traditional way of designing, constructing, and managing buildings, in order to counteract trends and reduce the environmental impact of the construction sector. This study attempts to critically examine a new possible approach to building design and life cycle management through the principles of reversible design. Framed within the strategies of Design for Environment (DfE), reversible design aims to create artifacts designed to be easily assembled and disassembled, allowing for modifications of the construction over time, if the original requirements change, or allowing dismantling and material recovery at the end of the life cycle. Enabling adaptability over time, facilitating conditions for material reuse, and extending the building and its components’ life cycle are implementable strategies to achieve the decarbonization goals of the construction sector by 2050, as outlined in the most recent international climate agreements. For the methodological control of reversible design principles, the research intends to present their possible application to a case study: the design of a functional module for post-natural disaster housing emergency
Reuse and Retrofitting Strategies for a Net Zero Carbon Building in Milan: An Analytic Evaluation
No full textThe building sector accounts for 38% of carbon emissions, the principal cause of climate change. To meet the targets set by the Paris Agreement, including zero net emissions by 2050, it is necessary that governments develop a culture of sustainability. Whole Life Carbon Assessment of a building, comprehensive of operational and embodied carbon (EC), is described by EN15978:2011. Net Zero Carbon Buildings (NZCB) achieve a balance of zero emissions during their life cycle, promoting both reduction and compensation by adopting many strategies (e.g., reuse of existing structures, design for adaptability and disassembly, circular economy principles). Choosing bio-based materials is also helpful to compensate for EC, thanks to the biogenic carbon stored during their growth. The aim of this research is to find out which strategies are relevant to meet NZCB target, in order to apply them to a case study of reuse of an abandoned building in Milan, highlighting the design process. Material quantities were extracted from the BIM model and imported in OneClick LCA to assess embodied carbon emissions (A1–A5 modules, material production and supply, transport, construction). The final design stage achieved a reduction of 91% in EC compared to a standard new construction, while the bio-based materials compensated for the rest. Further research can improve the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) of materials and assess the entire building life cycle
Moving toward Net Zero Carbon Buildings to Face Global Warming: A Narrative Review
Full text linkThe increase in global surface temperatures will surpass the 2 °C target set by the Paris Agreement unless carbon emissions are lowered to zero by 2050. To date, the building sector is responsible for 38% of all carbon emissions, thus one of the main targets is represented by the development of building strategies that can facilitate the transition toward carbon-neutral buildings. The main strategies are today represented by nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs), zero energy buildings (ZEBs)/net zero energy buildings (NZEBs) and net zero carbon buildings (NZCBs). Particularly, NZCBs completely target zero operational and embodied carbon during their life cycles, fulfilling the leadership role in the decarbonization of the construction sector. Moreover, adopting the European Standard EN 15978:2011, carbon emissions can be precisely classified to enhance strategies aimed at reducing them. Commercial viability remains a fundamental economic driver, but the higher initial capital costs hinder the NZCBs. In addition, legislative, socio-cultural, technological, professional and geographical barriers hold back its diffusion. NZCBs can be met by a four-steps program: embodied carbon reduction, operational carbon reduction, increase in renewable energy supply and offset and carbon storage. Circular economy principles are strictly connected to design for disassembly and for adaptability to reduce embodied carbon, while passive design and solar and geothermal energy production can satisfy the renewable energy demand of the building. The aim of this narrative review is to determine and describe which is the current state of the art for NZCB definition, the drivers and barriers toward its application in a broader context and which strategies are eligible to meet the ambitious goal of zero operational and zero embodied carbon emissions
Sistema e comunità collegiali in pandemia: caratteristiche, risposte e strategie nel caso pavese
No full textLa città di Pavia vanta una lunga tradizione di collegi universitari che affiancano l’Ateneo fin dal XV secolo, ospitando in città oltre 2.500 alunni fuori sede su una popolazione studentesca di circa 25.000 unità. Nel marzo 2020, mentre in Italia e all’estero molte strutture residenziali per studenti venivano chiuse in seguito alla pandemia dovuta al COVID-19, EDiSU Pavia (Ente Strumentale dell’Università di Pavia che gestisce il diritto allo studio) ha deciso di continuare ad ospitare gli alunni che hanno voluto rimanere a Pavia (circa il 40% dei posti letto complessivamente gestiti dall’Ente) e di riorganizzare i propri servizi (mensa, tutorati, biblioteche, ecc.) per garantire alla comunità collegiale di poter continuare le proprie attività di studio e di formazione secondo le nuove modalità imposte dalle restrizioni dovute all’emergenza sanitaria.
I Collegi EDiSU (ciascuno condotto da un Rettore, docente universitario) si sono dunque trovati a gestire una trasformazione epocale delle abitudini di vita condivisa (distanziamento fisico, sa-nificazione di locali, ecc.) dovendo assumere decisioni nella gestione degli spazi delle strutture residenziali e della vita delle comunità collegiali a volte in assenza di linee guida e protocolli defi-niti, ma in un contesto di adeguamento rapido ad uno scenario in continua evoluzione. Attraverso una stretta collaborazione tra Università, EDiSU e Policlinico S. Matteo è stato possibile attuare diverse forme di assistenza agli alunni presenti in collegio, tenendo in considerazione le caratteri-stiche morfologiche, distributive e organizzative dei diversi edifici che ospitano gli alunni, la loro dotazione di servizi collettivi e la loro collocazione nelle diverse aree della città.
Il contributo, dopo una breve introduzione sulla storia dei suoi collegi e del legame con l’Ateneo pavese e con la città di Pavia, intende sviluppare una riflessione critica sugli spazi del collegio (da quelli privati della camera a quelli comuni propri della sfera di condivisione sociale della vita collegiale) ponendo l’attenzione da un lato sulla capacità di risposta offerta nella primavera 2020 e dall’altro sulle opportunità di interventi che si potrebbero rendere necessari in futuro per ga-rantire le adeguate condizioni di sicurezza nelle strutture residenziali collettive, nel contesto del cosiddetto “new normal” post-pandemia. Il contributo sarà quindi l’occasione per una riflessione sul concetto di adeguatezza e adeguabilità spaziale e tipologica delle strutture collegiali esistenti, e per tracciare un primo, possibile profilo morfo-tipologico di come concepire possibili future nuove strutture, alla ricerca di un punto di equilibrio tra spazi privati e collettivi
Il sistema dei collegi EDiSU di Pavia: tradizione e innovazione della residenza collettiva per studenti
No full textLa città di Pavia vanta una lunga tradizione di collegi universitari che affiancano l’Ateneo fin dal XV secolo, ospitando in città oltre 2.500 alunni fuori sede su una popolazione studentesca di circa 25.000 unità.
Nel marzo 2020, mentre in Italia e all’estero molte strutture residenziali per studenti venivano chiuse in seguito alla pandemia dovuta al COVID-19, EDiSU Pavia (Ente Strumentale dell’Università di Pavia che gestisce il diritto allo studio) ha deciso di continuare ad ospitare gli alunni che hanno voluto rimanere a Pavia (circa il 40% dei posti letto complessivamente gestiti dall’Ente) e di riorganizzare i propri servizi (mensa, tutorati, biblioteche, ecc.) per garantire continuità di servizio alla comunità collegiale accademicadi poter continuare le proprie attività di studio e di formazione secondo le nuove modalità imposte dalle restrizioni dovute all’emergenza sanitaria.
I Collegi EDiSU (ciascuno condottoi da un Rettore, docente universitario) si sono dunque trovati a gestire una trasformazione epocale delle abitudini di vita condivisa (distanziamento fisico, sanificazione di locali, ecc.) dovendo assumere decisioni nella gestione degli spazi delle strutture residenziali e della vita delle comunità collegiali a volte in assenza di linee guida e protocolli definiti, ma in un contesto di adeguamento rapido ad uno scenario in continua evoluzione.
Attraverso una stretta collaborazione tra Università, EDiSU e Policlinico S. Matteo è stato possibile attuare diverse forme di assistenza agli alunni presenti in collegio, tenendo in considerazione le loro caratteristiche morfologiche, distributive e organizzative dei diversi edifici che ospitano gli alunni, la loro dotazione di servizi collettivi e la loro collocazione nelle diverse aree della città.
Il contributo, dopo una breve introduzione sulla storia dei suoi collegi e del legame con l’Ateneo pavese e con la città di Pavia, intende sviluppare una riflessione critica sugli spazi del collegio (da quelli privati della camera a quelli comuni propri della sfera di condivisione sociale della vita collegiale) ponendo l’attenzione da un lato sulla capacità di risposta offerta nella primavera 2020 e dall’altro sulle opportunità di interventi che si potrebbero rendere necessari in futuro per garantire le adeguate condizioni di sicurezza nelle strutture residenziali collettive, nel contesto del cosiddetto “new normal” post-pandemia. Il contributo sarà quindi l’occasione per una riflessione sul concetto di adeguatezza e adeguabilità spaziale e tipologica delle strutture collegiali esistenti, e per tracciare un primo, possibile profilo morfo-tipologico di come concepire possibili future nuove strutture, alla ricerca di un punto di equilibrio tra spazi privati e collettiv
A decision-making process for resilience assessment in adaptive reuse
Full text linkIn the field of public heritage valorisation through renovation, resilience assessment
is crucial to foresee the impact of each project action, monitor the transformability thresholds
and achieve more sustainable restoration projects. Within this framework, methodologies to
achieve early evaluation of different project alternatives since the very preliminary design phases
are supposed to be a key factor for the success of the building process, as it is highlighted by the
Italian public procurement code (D.Lgs 50/2016). Therefore, the role of the contracting authority
is crucial, as it is called both to activate the process through the definition of the project
requirements and to accomplish the evaluation of the proposed solutions by respecting the
principles of public interests, legality, transparency and responsibility.
In order to achieve these goals, the research proposes a standard methodology composed of a list
of synthetic indicators and the criteria for their combination, aiming to assess the residual
performances of the building and evaluate the compliance with new intended uses through the
match with a set of conceivable design strategies. In this direction, two assessment tools are
defined: the PAV (Performance Adequacy and Vulnerability), which is calculated on the actual
state of the building for the evaluation of its residual efficiency with reference to some
transformative hypothesis and then integrated in a grid of design strategies, and the RTE
(Resilience Threshold Evaluation) though to measure the expected transformative impacts on
the building and their positive or negative implications within its resilience thresholds.
The methodology is implemented in a BIM-based process with the definition of a simplified
informative model that makes it possible to retrieve all the information and to define the
calculation rules in order to activate the defined methodology with the advantage of ensuring
time-saving, data-safety and transparency in the process
Strumenti di valutazione per la lettura del grado di reversibilità del patrimonio costruito
No full textThe regeneration of the existing building stock is a priority in achieving the decarbonization goals set by international agreements on the climate crisis. To date, the gap between the required and the actual performances of the construction sector in meeting these goals necessitates not only the energy ef-ficiency of buildings, which addresses the operational emissions of a construction, but also interventions on the embodied carbon emissions. In this direction, new circular design approaches such as reversible design, which aims to extend the life cycle of buildings and reduce demolition and construction waste, are being developed. While these principles are easier to apply to the design of new buildings, their integration into the reuse of existing buildings is less explored in the literature. This paper proposes a reinterpretation of the aspects of reversibility applied to reuse, presenting a tool for pre-assessing scena-rios of repurposing existing buildings, which provides a synthetic index of the level of adaptability and functional flexibility of a building
Detoxification of tuna from mercury through L-cysteine: a speciation-based study.
Full text linkMercury (Hg) contamination in tuna, especially as methylmercury (MeHg), remains a persistent food safety concern. This study assessed the effectiveness of l-cysteine in reducing total Hg (tHg) and MeHg in canned tuna and fresh fillets. Samples were treated with a 1.2% (w/w) cysteine solution and analysed by ICP-MS for tHg and frontal chromatography ICP-MS for MeHg. Untreated canned tuna contained 0.066-0.225 mg kg-1 tHg, whereas fresh fillets reached 1.036 mg kg-1. Cysteine treatment significantly reduced Hg levels, with mean removal of 48% in canned tuna and 64% in fillets. MeHg decreased proportionally with tHg, indicating cysteine binds both Hg and MeHg without species selectivity. Removal was more consistent in fillets than canned tuna, likely due to processing effects on protein binding. Overall, cysteine treatment represents a simple, low-cost, food-safe intervention that lowers Hg exposure and reduces concentrations below regulatory limits, providing additional protection for vulnerable consumers (pregnant women and infants)
Strategie e approcci sostenibili per l’edilizia universitaria: la rigenerazione dell’area degli “Istituti Scientifici” in Pavia
No full textItalian universities are enjoying a particularly favorable period in terms of funding, which is allowing them to renew their building stock and research infrastructure, after years of scarce resources. Different approa-ches are implemented depending on the size, degree of conservation of the buildings and expansion policies of the universities. The paper shows the regeneration project developed by the University of Pavia for the “Istituti Scientifici”, an area between the downtown and the Campus Cravino (where there are some Scientific Departments such as Engineering and Natural Sciences) settled in the XX Century to host some Departments closely connected with the Main Hospital of the town. The design approach is oriented to the regeneration declined according to dif-ferent actions depending on the degree of obsolescence of the buildings considered and having a look at the entire university building heritage. Some design principles, oriented towards sustainability and functional efficiency, can be a reference for similar initiatives in which buildings for learning and research and their open spaces stand as the fulcrum of the regeneration of entire sections of the city
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