Lorenzo Olivieri

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid | UPM · Departamento de Construcción y Tecnología Arquitectónicas

Urban heat island effects and climate change are climatic phenomena responsible for periods of extreme heat in summer which severely impact citizens’ well-being and health. In this alarming context which questions the livability of our cities, Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) are considered an unavoidable component of the complex strategy in diminishi...

While the effects of climate change are already being felt in many parts of the world, societies are compelled to drastically rethink the way they produce and manage energy, to reduce the greenhouse-gases emissions associated to the sector. Urban areas are a critical piece of the puzzle to achieve the energy transition and reach the ambitious clima...

The deployment of Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) is currently facing a set of diverse and complex challenges, mainly arising from their novelty and the lack of practical experience. In that sense, there is a clear need for translating concepts and strategies into instruments that support the design, planning and operation of PEDs. The present res...

This paper reviews the main energy-related features of building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) modules and systems, to serve as a reference for researchers, architects, BIPV manufacturers, and BIPV designers. The energy-related behavior of BIPV modules includes thermal, solar, optical and electrical aspects. Suitable standardization to evaluate hea...

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems provide the people working/living inside buildings with ‘conditioned air’ so that they will have a comfortable and safe environment. Thermal comfort is considered as an aspect of a sustainable building in almost all sustainable building evaluation methods and tools. In fact, in the building...

Pandemic caused by the covid-19 disease brought as a consequence a confinement that prevented the continuation of visits to building sites of the 4th year of the Grade in Foundations of Architecture. To solve this problem, three different virtual methodologies were implemented. The first one consisted in elaboration of construction specifications o...

La pandemia provocada por la enfermedad del covid-19 trajo como consecuencia un confinamiento que impidió seguir con las visitas a obra de la asignatura Taller de visitas a obra de 4º curso del Grado en Fundamentos de la Arquitectura. Para solucionarlo se implementaron 3 metodologías diferentes de carácter virtual. La primera consistió en la elabor...

Solar energy, as main energy supply that sustains life on Earth, is also an unavoidable component of the complex strategy in achieving a clean and fair energy transition and goals for sustainable development by 2030. The present work studies the potential of installing Photovoltaic Distributed Generation at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid – Ciuda...

To decrease the negative impacts of construction on the environment, we must increase our efforts in recycling waste materials to produce new value-added construction materials. One of the main disadvantages of using recycled rubber to produce new materials resides in its low binding capacity, resulting in materials with low mechanical strength. Th...

The objective of this work is to show the several energy saving strategies required to convert a code-compliant building into a Zero-Energy Building (ZEB). The case study is a real building located in Madrid whose energy consumptions have been monitored for three years. In the first step of the study, the current state was modelled in detail using...

Systemic innovation must be the driving force behind actions to transform cities to address climate change. It includes transformations of environmental, social, economic, financial, technical, regulatory, and governance nature, supporting the permanent change of cities. Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), can be part of the tools to address the challeng...

Green walls can act as natural thermal regulators, reducing solar radiation on surfaces and providing cooling due to shading and evapotranspiration. Several studies have investigated the cooling effects of a bare wall, in contrast to a vegetated wall, as well as the correlation between temperature reduction and system characteristics. In the presen...

Today cities are the scene of major problems linked to air pollution, resource consumption, and inequality. The Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development proposes a roadmap for the transition to more resilient and sustainable city models. This challenge can only be met through systemic innovation, which produces technological, social, environmental,...

Today, our society has the duty of reducing the energy consumed in the building sector. A promising technology to achieve this goal is the implementation of thermal energy storage (TES) solutions in buildings envelope. Lately, much literature dealing with the effect of the inclusion of latent heat storage materials in construction materials to prov...

In this paper, we present a grid-connected PV-battery systems simulator called PVbat. PVbat was designed to simulate the power flows between the PV system, building loads, the battery system and the utility grid. In addition, PVbat uses ageing battery models in order to calculate the battery lifetime. An economic analysis is also performed taking i...

This paper presents theoretical and experimental work that was carried out in a grid-connected residential building demonstrator at the 'Instituto de Energía Solar'. The house is provided with a building-integrated PV system coupled to a battery energy storage system (BESS), and a heating, ventilation, and airconditioning system (HVAC) based on two...

This work presents an experimental research on the thermal properties of novel cementitious mortars incorporating microencapsulated Phase Change Materials intended to be used as the innermost layer in a precast radiant building component actively controlled by an integrated hydronic system. The characterization was developed in two steps: the first...

This article presents an experimental study on the workability of cementitious mortars containing different amount of micro-encapsulated PCM. In fact, when microencapsulated PCM is added in the mortar mix, in general the mix workability is substantially reduced. Taking into account this aspect, the knowledge of the range within which the workabilit...

This paper presents theoretical and experimental works that are being carried out in a grid-connected residential building prototype available at the Solar Energy Institute. The house is provided with five rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems distributed on different planes, a battery energy storage system (BESS) and heating, ventilation and aircondit...

This chapter shows the potential of the architectural integration of semi-transparent photovoltaic (STPV) systems for improving the energy efficiency of buildings. The research presented focuses on developing a methodology able to quantify the building energy demand reduction provided by these novel constructive solutions. At the same time, the des...

In this paper, the electricity demand for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems of an office building located in two Ecuadorian cities (Quito and Guayaquil) has been analyzed. To perform the analysis, two scenarios have been considered: in the first, energy required for HVAC is entirely supplied from the grid; in the second, the...

Whereas the modern architecture trends to an extensive use of glazing elements, buildings are increasingly required to minimize the external energy demand, cutting down the energy needed and covering the residual demand using local energy generation solutions. In this context, the integration of optimized Semi-Transparent Photovoltaic (STPV) elemen...

Within the Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) systems, the use of semi-transparent photovoltaic (STPV) elements presents a promising energy saving potential based on the close relationship existing between these multifunctional systems and the overall building energy balance. This work analyses the global energy performance (heating, cooling...

The general hypothesis this work seeks to demonstrate is that the architectural integration of Semi-Transparent Photovoltaic (STPV) systems can contribute to improving the energy efficiency of buildings. Accordingly, the research has focused on developing a methodology able to quantify the building energy demand reduction provided by these novel co...

Resumen: De acuerdo a cifras del parque edificatorio a nivel mundial, entre el 40% y el 60% de la energía utilizada en los edificios comerciales se destina al acondicionamiento térmico. En este contexto, la subida de los precios de la electricidad experimentada en los últimos años, conjuntamente con la disminución de los precios de la tecnología fo...

Según los datos publicados por el IDAE en el Plan de Acción de Ahorro y Eficiencia Energética 2011-20, el 58% de la energía utilizada en edificios comerciales españoles se destina al acondicionamiento térmico (HVAC). En este contexto, la subida de los precios de la electricidad experimentada en los últimos años, y la disminución de los precios de l...

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2015.06.067

The use of vegetal systems in façades affects the reduction of the buildings' energy demand, the attenuation of the urban heat island (UHI) and the filtration of pollutants present in the air. Even so, up to now the knowledge about the effect of this type of systems on the thermal performance of insulated façades is limited. This article presents t...

This article presents the results of an experimental study carried out in a vegetal façade situated in a locality close to Madrid. The objectives of the study are to develop a performance predictive model of a vegetal façade whose independent variables are irradiance, exterior temperature and relative humidity, based on the effect of the vegetation...

The green envelope systems that we propose are industrialised solutions that allow the incorporation of natural elements into architecture, providing significant qualities for the passive conditioning of buildings. The proposals developed are: modular pre-vegetated roof, modular green enclosure and sliding green shutter. These enclosures act as org...

Nowadays the lack of vegetation in the urban areas causes a significant rise of the urban temperature, that causes an increase of the cooling energy use (airconditioning machines) and it accelerates the formation of urban smoke. The biological activities of the foliage may lower the indoor-outdoor air temperature and save cooling energy use in buil...