1,721,004 research outputs found
Re‐shaping the construction industry
Full text linkRe-shaping the Construction Industry: an International Consensus seems
to be convergent in order to trigger some impressive game changers.
Namely, the Digitization appears as the most disruptive agent, together
with the Circularity.
It sounds a little bit paradoxical to imagine a radical innovation as far as
a reluctant industry is concerned.
A transformational narrative makes the transformation so easy to be
achieved: nevertheless, such a storytelling encounters a fierce and silent
opposition.
This is the reason why the Digital Transition plays a crucial role, more
relevant than the final destination, indeed.
The XXI Century's early decades have been featured by Building
Information Modelling (BIM) which arose and surged as the gate key
entrance to the digital brave new world.
It does mean that, once entered within the digital environment, any
stakeholder needs to behave and act according to a computational way.
It is clear that the stakeholders must be persuaded to enter the digital ecosystem
by means of promising them to become more effective and finally
to recover the lost productivity rates.
To be viable, this expectaction has to be nurtured by arguing that the
traditional players won't be menaced, in spite of the uberised ambiance of
the disintermediation.
Nonetheless, could they really avoid any fear or concern about the
digitization's transformational power?
Digitization has been correctly assessed as unavoidable, but the industry's
analogical attitude remains quite deeply rooted.
ISTeA, as a scientifical society, retains an institutional duty to foster the
ultimate questions dealing with the digitization of the strategic supply
chain.
Apart from having been the societal chairman over the last six years, I
have been involved into the international standardization works (at ISO
and CEN level), the European institutional body (EU Task Group), some
national initiatives (in Italy, France, Switzerland, and elsewhere), an
academic joint research programme (between Italy and Germany), and I
got a first hand understanding of the UK BIM Saga.
The European digital journey is just starting, in spite of its origins dating
back to the UK BIM Mandate issued in 2011 or to the US BIM
Implementation: nevertheless, it is really astonishing to acknowledge how
long it did progress since then.
Likewise, the stated targets look as quite far to be reached, because of the
intimate nature of the industry.
I was learned to adopt a humble mood, my feeling became more and more
cautious, because the items are quite sensitive and the stakes extremely
valuable.
The challenge lies between a couple of different poles: the whole
digitization of the lowest tiered practictioners or trade contractors and the
unforeseeable dimensions stemming and sourcing from Smart Cities and
4.0 Paradigms.
How long the former intent will last? How deep the latter ambition will
be?
It is unthinkable to seek at answering such final questions: however, they
undoubtedly conceal or disclose (?) the promise or menace of changing,
re-inveinting, the usual identities.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are stimulating notions which
entail new and unprecedented soft skills, although they recall a lot of
expertises' replacement and erasement.
A critical thought obviously avoids to accept any (re)evolutionary vision
and prediction as forced and unescapable: meanwhile, the change drivers
are so powerful and threathening. They cannot be neglected nor ignored.
How our vision is differing from the actual on going outcomes? How our
transformational efforts will be fanciful and whimsical, anything but a
wishful thinking?
ISTeA is currently accomplishing the six-year term I chaired: we were
accepting an analogical legacy.
At this time, our seminal scholars did retire and provided us with some
interesting outcomes, which left forcefully unsolved the untrivial
assumptions of the «industrial» era, to be faced again over our own term
of office.
I am not able to evaluate how successfully we performed: anyway, we
tried to cope with the unknown phenomena searching at realizing any pros
and cons.
Eventually, the pioneering stages of the digital evolution are ending: our
achievements might be judged as unstable.
However, nowadays, ISTeA has the tremendous chance to freeze the
ingrained issues pertaining to the Circular and Digital Economy and
Society.
Provided that, as the incumbent chairman, I might succeed in conveying
to the successors the correct questions, as a trend-setter, the Scientifical
Society's perspectives deal with problem-solving.
Unfortunately, the strong temptation of explaining the radical and
stochastic innovations in terms of incremental and mechanistic agents
might seriously compromise any attempt, because a consulatory and
selfish attitude can be adopted.
My suggestions are focused upon the digital transition: it would be a hard
task to renounce to a two-speeded route: the more the most advanced early
adopters will progress, the more the laggards will suffer a gap.
An intertwined approach, far away from chasms, has to be envisaged
Modelling the structure-property relationships of high performance PBAT-based biocomposites with natural fibers obtained from Chamaerops humilis dwarf palm
No full textTwo fibrous fillers were achieved from stalks and leaves of Chamaerops humilis dwarf palm and tested as reinforcing agents for poly(butylene adipate co-terephthalate) (PBAT)-based composites. The influence of filler type and content on the morphomechanical properties of the green composites was assessed. The outcomes of tensile tests pointed out that both fillers are strong candidates to overcome the two main limiting aspects of PBAT, that is, the lack of both stiffness and cost-effectiveness, while preserving its stretchability and environmental sustainability. The remarkable stiffness increments (up to 300%), combined with fair retention of stretchability (33%) and doubled resistance, led to the fabrication of biocomposites with toughness values as high as 20-25 MJ/m(3). These results could be ascribed to the combination of several factors, including the formation of an extensive and robust interphasic region. This latter, ascribed to the chemical affinity between aromatic parts of fillers and matrix, presented different features in the two types of fillers, thus endowing resulting biocomposites with a broad array of mechanical performance, which can be predicted by introducing opportune modifications to Halpin-Tsai model which allow considering the crucial role of interphase
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
New settlements for a nZEB residential and handicrafts intended use: a case study.
No full textThe design from the urban scale to the architectural one of a new mixed residential and handicrafts district located in an area of a Venetian countryside municipality, shows how to reach the goal for achieving nZeb buildings by combining a specific design methodology with the use of sustainable envelope technologies and integrated and innovative plant systems. The adopted design methodology works out the principles of environmental or bioclimatic design, with verification and control of indoor microclimatic conditions through the use of computerized modeling. The design follows a specific methodological procedure developed for subsequent steps. It envisages indeed the monitoring, collection and analysis of the climatic data detected in situ over the last five years, necessary to work, with the iterative method, the design choices.
This design method is thus able to implement the strategies that are able to optimally utilize the contributions of the climatic elements present in nature, to significantly reduce, by using passive systems, the energy requirements of the constructed and to satisfy the residual part of these needs with the help of systems integrated to the building envelope that draw energy from renewable sources. The use of renewable energy sources allows to reach the near zero energy consumption target, as shown by the balance between consumptions and the annual energy output of residences. Obviously with CO2 emissions equal to 0. From the results obtained, it is possible to identify, as future research development, the implementation of the design methodology applied with the systematization of its phases in order to improve the performance levels
Towards adaptive building automation systems, simulating occupant behaviors by means of an agent based approach
No full textThe recent international directives have introduced the "Nearly Zero Energy Building" standard in response to the high impact of buildings on energy consumptions and greenhouse gas emissions.
Most of the innovative strategies and technology solutions for reducing energy consumption in buildings are focused on energy efficiency of building-HVAC system. The interaction between occupants and the building-HVAC system is completely neglected, especially regarding the operating modes by occupants. In most cases, it causes a significant difference between the expected energy consumptions and the real ones during the exercise phase. Especially in buildings with high levels of thermal insulation and airtightness, occupant behavior may have a significant influence on energy consumption and on indoor comfort.
In this context, the aim of this research work is to evaluate the occupants' behavior impact on energy consumption and thermal comfort, in order to design building automation systems adaptable to occupants behaviors. In particular, unlike the common deterministic approach to simulate occupant behavior in buildings, this work presents a more realistic approach to simulate occupant behavior by means of a stochastic and agent-based model (ABM).
The case study regards the residential building context, where behavioral logic of occupants relating to the opening/closing of the windows and shading and to the activation of the cooling system in summer are implemented by TRNSYS software. The comparison between models where occupants are simulated in deterministic way and by means of ABM allows to evaluate the significant impacts of occupants on building performanc
Common Data Environment (CDE). An efficient and effective use in Italian standard UNI 11337:2017
No full textThe article seeks to define the rules for building and managing data sharing environments, such as structured connection sites of information atoms, in order for them to be fully correlated (Pavan, 2017a).
With the diffusion of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the information systems of the construction industry, it was necessary to create a specific digital data sharing environment. This environment was introduced by the British standard BS 1192-1: 2007 (BSI, 2007), under the name of Common Data Environment (CDE).
In the first time, it was regarding the information collaboration rules in the AEC (Architectures, Engineering and Construction). Only in second time, in the PAS 1192-2: 2013 (BSI, 2013), it was extended its horizon, to information management during development phases of constructions processes, using BIM.
Some interpretative difficulties contained in the above technical specification (PAS 1192-2) and the lack of knowledge of the instrument (CDE) by the public and private clients are now creating operational confusion which is likely to limit, if not in some cases, to erase, part of the innovation introduced by BIM systems in this sector.
Starting with the simple confusion of the BIM-CDE with a traditional file hosting environment (and not data management environment), until the impossibility of statistical data processing or data relational verification and validation (Pavan, 2017b).
This research defines the criticalities found in the non-rigorous application of the BIM-CDE and identifies possible prospects for system improvement.
Future developments are aimed at creating specific analysis and processing applications for single data to increase the performance of chain-management
Nearly zero energy multifunctional modules for public use
Full text linkThe present work is based on the elaboration of flexible multi-functional modules for public use assigned for waiting rooms, box-offices, hygienic services, kiosk and coffee-bars, employed for example to support the transport of intermodal services located in public areas.
Usually realized after calamitous events to respond to emergency situations, such modules’ typologies are thought and planned to be used in the long term. On the base of the exposed criteria, prebuilt in the factory, the module (both in sections or completely) is decomposable and entirely re-employable on other sites, it is realized with a dry stratified technology and it is at high energy performance.
The module is planned to realize a building at nearly zero energy consumption; for such end, simulations for the determination of the energy performance finalized to the choice of materials and/or functional layers are devised.
On the base of the principles affirmed in the Document “Energy Roadmap 2050" (European Commission Communication 15.12.2011), section 3.1) not only should the realization of buildings to nearly zero energy consumption must concern residential or tertiary buildings, but also any type of building, even if temporary, detachable and/or movable. The use of such criterion must become of routine in the planning and realization of any type of building for any destination of use; besides, the building does not have to be an energy consumer but it must become a producer of it.
Although the planning uses products and materials already present in the production process, it appears to be innovative because it uses renewable energy systems opportunely integrated
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