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121
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Introduction
In the Department of Energy he founded and led the research group TEBE (http://www.polito.it/tebe) generally working on energy efficient buildings, indoor environmental engineering, lighting and acoustics. He taught building physics and building services and he is author or co-author of more than 450 scientific papers, didactic papers, chapters of books and editorials. He is member of the Accademia delle Scienze in Turin and honorary member of AICARR,.
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Current institution
Publications
Publications (121)
In recent years, the awareness of the problem of the performance gap and rebound effect extends the interest in assessing the real operation of buildings, in assessing how buildings match users' needs once they are occupied, and in understanding how occupants' behavior affects the actual building performance. The paper discusses the case study and...
Energy Poverty alleviation measures often require large public investments. However, successfully targeting the beneficiaries can be hard due to the territorial specificity of the issue. Decentralized collective impact ecosystems leveraging on social innovation schemes of public authorities, creating shared value for market actors and ensuring the...
Growing urbanization is driving urban policy makers to adopt sustainable practices aimed to limit the environmental impact of buildings which are responsible for an estimated 36% of climate-changing gas emissions in European cities. In order to meet the ambitious emission reduction targets set by the EU, it is essential to develop a policy for CO2...
Within the framework of the well-known problem of the performance gap, the paper demonstrates how a building monitoring system is able to provide feedback data instrumental to address the ongoing management issues of multi-family buildings in social housing: the need to have a good understanding of what works and what does not in building operation...
Multi-energy systems satisfy different energy uses of a building such as space heating, space cooling, DHW, etc. by using different energy converters and energy sources simultaneously. These systems, if properly designed and operated, have high efficiency in the production of energy.
This paper presents a method based on the Energy Hub model for th...
In Europe, the recast of the Directive on the Energy Performance of Building and the consequent Zero Energy Buildings objective that has to be reached for all new buildings by 2020, lead designers to re-think building design as a complex optimization problem aimed at identifying the most effective strategies to improve building performance.These st...
For the management of a (micro)-smart grid it is important to know the patters of the load profiles and of the generators. In this article the power consumption data obtained through a monitoring activity developed on a micro-smart grid in an agro-industrial test-site are presented. In particular, this reports the synthesis of the monitoring result...
The international efforts for improving energy efficiency in buildings and reducing their environmental impact also constitute a challenge for working against the risk of energy poverty. The work aims to test a methodology for optimizing the operational costs of the different flats of a multi-family building for social housing. The method combines...
The development of smart grids is a strategic goal at both national and international levels and has been funded by many research programs. At the same time, an increasing interest is rising about local energy systems using renewable energy sources (RES). In this paper, the creation of a monitoring and managing procedure of an electricity micro-sma...
Cost optimization is one of the key elements of the EU regulatory framework concerning the energy performance of buildings. From this economic point of view, the optimum occurs when the global cost over the lifecycle of a building is minimized, and the cost-optimal energy performance level is that related to the minimum global cost. To determine th...
Abstract The work concerns the application of the cost-optimal methodology to a low-consumption French single-family house in order to study how the primary energy system influences the envelope design of a cost optimal nZEB. This is done applying a simulation based optimization method that combines TRNSYS with GenOpt in an iterative process. Four...
Abstract Systems based on the integrated use of multiple renewable energy sources, such as “Solar Assisted Geothermal Heat Pumps” (SAGHPs), seem to increase efficiency and overcome limits of the use of traditional heat pump systems. In this work, a SAGHP providing energy for heating and DHW of a newly built restaurant in an Alpine ski park was anal...
Abstract This study applies an optimization-based approach for calibrating building energy models using monitored data. The calibration was carried out on a test building coupling the EnergyPlus energy simulation tool with the GenOpt optimization tool. The objective function was set to minimize the difference between simulated and monitored energy...
EU Directives promote the implementation of energy efficient measures that address to the existing building stock as a key issue to achieve relevant environmental targets. The development of methods and tools to improve the sustainability of existing facilities, instead of simple energy retrofit, could be a greater challenge.
An effective design of green buildings requires a process of optimization to meet all the sustainability goals through an integrative design approach. The research focuses on the development of a replicable methodology for the optimization of the building features that affects specifically the energy demand and indoor comfort conditions.
With an old mean construction age, Italian buildings are considered as long-lasting goods; 75% and 17% of Italian live respectively in buildings built before 1990 and before 1950. The potential energy savings that can be achieved from the refurbishment of existing dwellings are clearly high. To this regard, the European Directive EPBD recast define...
Latest European Union programs related to energy efficiency underline the need for retrofitting existing buildings, which are responsible for 40% of EU final energy consumption. Although new buildings can be constructed with high performance levels, the majority of the building stock, characterized by a low energy performance, still needs renovatio...
A refined Lanthanide-Induced-Shift Analysis (LISA) is used with molecular mechanics and ab initio calculations to investigate the conformations of benzamide (1), N-methylbenzamide (2), N,N-dimethylbenzamide (3) and the conformational equilibria of 2-fluoro (4), 2-chloro (5) and N-methyl-2-methoxy benzamide (6). The amino group in 1 is planar in the...
Europe has set a clear path to guide Member States into the accomplishment of the nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs) target. To this regard, within EPBD recast directive, a cost optimality procedure has been defined. This study presents different cost optimal solutions of building and technical systems for nZEBs in Italy. In total 40 economically...
This study was born in the context of new challenges imposed by the recast of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. The aim of this work is to develop strategies to identify and investigate the relationship between decisional variables within a nZEB design concept, providing a useful method to deal with a huge number of simulations corr...
The integration of different energy sources to cover with the maximum efficiency the building energy demand is one of the principles for achieving the target of the nearly net Zero Energy Buildings (nNZEBs), as defined by the EPBD recast (2010/31/EU). Following this principle, there has been a shift from a conventional mono-carrier/mono-converter b...
This study was developed in the context of new challenges imposed by the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2010/31/EU (EPBD) and its supplementing regulation. The aim is to find the cost-optimal level for the French single-family building typology, while providing an effective method to deal with a huge number of simulations c...
Il riconoscimento del valore testimoniale un edificio storico è parte integrante di un processo di progettazione sostenibile finalizzata alla salvaguardia e alla valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale. Attualmente, i principali metodi per la certificazione del livello di sostenibilità degli interventi di recupero e riqualificazione degli edifici e...
This paper describes the application of dynamic energy simulation in order to analyze the application of thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) on four existing multi-family buildings that are served by a district heating network. A complex and detailed energy model of each case study was defined by means of the energy simulation code EnergyPlus, in o...
In Regione Piemonte, from 2009 to 2012, it was carried out an experimental phase for the application of museums' standards in order to improve and set up the accreditation procedure. A survey on a sample of 25 museums was carried out.
The Accreditation Program, developed within the Regione Piemonte with other Institutions (Politecnico di Torino, Fo...
The valorization of the Italian Cultural Heritage concerns the enormous stock of assets spread throughout the entire territory, which in most cases are closed or little visited, despite of their artistic, historical and cultural relevance. Compared with the national dimension of the problem, very few examples of efficient networks for the managemen...
A smart grid is defined where different elements are interconnected between them and with the public utility grid. The development of smart grids is considered a strategic goal at both national and international levels and has been funded by many research programs. Within the BEE (Building Energy Ecosystems) project, funded by the Piedmont Region u...
School buildings in Italy are affected by large energy losses. Moreover, the energy efficiency market is growing, but it is not considering the entire potential of the building automation technologies yet (DIG, 2011). In order to test the relevance of these measures, a reference building was designed according to different references, as representa...
A smart grid is defined where different elements are interconnected
between them and with the public utility grid. The development of
smart grids is considered a strategic goal at both national and international
levels and has been funded by many research programs. Within
the BEE (Building Energy Ecosystems) project, funded by the
Piedmont Region u...
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD recast, 2010/31/EU) requires Member States to define minimum requirements of energy performance of buildings and building components with a view to achieving cost-optimal levels. In order to calculate the cost optimal level of minimum energy performance, Member States are required to create a set...
A comparison between energy performance, simulated by means of the EnergyPlus building simulation program, of two air systems (all air and fan coil) and radiant heating and cooling floors/ceilings is developed in this work for various European climates (Milan, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Athens, Helsinki, and Moscow) and carried out on a reference b...
La tradizione costruttiva mediterranea si è sempre indirizzata verso
costruzioni massive, anche per il terziario, ma negli ultimi anni si assiste ad un sempre maggior numero di edifici per uffici in strutture leggere, caratterizzati da largo impiego di superfici vetrate. Se nel
caso della riduzione dei fabbisogni energetici per riscaldamento, il fa...
Energy and indoor environmental performance of buildings are highly influenced by outdoor/indoor climate, by building characteristics, and by occupants’ behaviour. Building simulation tools cannot precisely replicate the actual performance of buildings because the simulations are based on a number of basic assumptions that affect the results. There...
Maintaining suitable indoor climate conditions is a need for the occupants’ well being, while requiring very strictly thermal
comfort conditions and very high levels of indoor air quality in buildings represents also a high expense of energy, with
its consequence in terms of environmental impact and cost. In fact, it is well known that the indoor e...
The "Energy Hub" is a modelling framework that can be used to design an energy system based on an optimization approach. In this paper, an upgrade of the energy hub called "Regulated Energy Hub" is presented and applied to a system that serves a large district heating network and which is based on biomass boilers and cogenerators. Operational const...
Different aspects are investigated in order to highlight the causes of increased
energy consumption in buildings: in particular, the ongoing project IEA ECBCS Annex 53
groups the “influencing factors” into seven major categories empathising the role of
occupant behaviour on energy consumptions.
In fact, although building envelope and systems charac...
Maintaining the microclimatic parameters at the desired value is essential for artefacts preservation. In order to control the status of the microclimatic parameters, a continuous monitoring of the indoor environmental provides conservators, curators, restorers, and lenders with an exact knowledge of the microclimatic conditions under which the wor...
Increasing interest is currently being addressed to multi-energy systems in buildings. These systems integrate different energy sources, at least one of which is renewable, in order to cover the thermal and electrical loads of a building. Since the design and operation of such systems are very complicated for many reasons (e.g. the intermittent nat...
The study of the influence of solar radiation on the built environment is a basic issue in building physics and currently it is extremely important because glazed envelopes are widely used in contemporary architecture.
In the present study, the removal of solar heat gains by radiant cooling systems is investigated. Particular attention is given to...
In Italy there is currently an ongoing process for analysing the quality of museums. Following the Decree established in 2001 on the scientific and technical criteria and the standards of operation and development of museums,(“Atto di indirizzo sui criteri tecnico scientifici e sugli standard di funzionamento e sviluppo dei musei, D.M. 10/5/2001”),...
The promotion of the exploitation of renewable sources in the built environment has led to the spread of multi-energy systems in buildings. These systems use more than one energy source in various energy converters to overcome the limitations that may be characteristic of each source. However, the design of the optimization of such systems is a com...
Every single artefact, either exhibited in a museum or as an integral part of a historical building, needs a controlled microclimate in order to be preserved. Since a monitoring program can support decisions and actions aimed at preventing the deterioration of vulnerable objects, the need to observe the environmental parameter status and variations...
The heat transfer coefficients between radiant surfaces and room are influenced by several parameters: surfaces temperature distributions, internal gains, air movements.
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the heat transfer coefficients between radiant ceiling and room in typical conditions of occupancy of an office or residential building. Intern...
The sizing of the solar installation of an individual dwelling is a problem which can be solved in many ways. The approach described in this paper is a simplified procedure of considerable interest. It requires only a small quantity of data and can be computed in a short time. The performance of this procedure was evaluated by a more complex sizing...
This work shows the results of a field study about indoor thermal comfort, based on investigations in Italian classrooms. The surveys were carried out in Turin, in the North–West of Italy. The monitoring campaigns were performed during the mid season, in free running conditions. This study follows a previous one based on a monitoring campaign perfo...
An increase in the energy and environmental performance of building system can be found in a design that allows the operators
to choose between multiple energy sources. Such a system can be referred to as multi-energy system and recently a strong interest
was put in this topic at both district and building levels. Since multi-energy systems use non...
This paper deals with the classification of the indoor thermal quality (ITQ) in existing buildings. Thermal quality is one of the main aspects determining the indoor environmental quality (IEQ). The ITQ classification represents a synthetic evaluation, allowing a comparison between different environments or buildings. Furthermore this information c...
In the last years, the general request for a high quality of life in indoor environments has gradually increased, also because of the elevated percentage of time (often more than 90%) that we spend indoors, so the need to maintain indoor comfort conditions and to improve, at the same time, the energy efficiency is a very topical subject. The indoor...
It is possible to evaluate the energy demand as well as the parameters related to indoor thermal comfort through building energy simulation tools. Since energy demand for heating and cooling is directly affected by the required level of thermal comfort, the investigation of the mutual relationship between thermal comfort and energy demand (and ther...
This study deals with the statistical analysis of a data set of residential buildings to find simplified correlations for the assessment of the energy demand for space heating.The analyzed data come from a sample of 50 multi-family residential buildings of the local social housing company, built in different periods between the end of the 19th cent...
A field survey was carried out in order to collect, elaborate and analyse data concerning the actual energy consumption for space heating of a sample of about 140 buildings (120 high schools) in the Province of Torino (Italy).The buildings were equipped with heat meters. For each building the primary energy consumption (i.e. the fuel consumption mu...
Les standards des structures muséales : l'expérience italienne 55 rencontres du Léman Architecture et quotidien du musée Le triangle collection-bâtiment-public à l'épreuve des standards En Italie, il existe un « Atto d'indirizzo » sur les standards de fonctionnement et de développement des musées qui a été approuvé par le Ministère des Biens et des...
This paper deals with the modelling of degradation phenomena for works of art under the action applied by external agents. The analysis is based on a suitable development of the methods of the kinetic theory for active particles. The model consists in an evolution equation for the probability distribution of the degradation stage. The interpretatio...
This work shows some of the results of a field study about environmental comfort investigations in classrooms. In this project thermal, acoustic, visual and air quality aspects were analysed in a number of classrooms—13 classrooms at four different high schools of the Provincia di Torino and four typical medium-sized university classrooms of the Po...
This work examines the applicability of comfort criteria, based on a heat balance model and on an adaptive model, in naturally ventilated classrooms. The adaptive opportunity of students are limited during the lesson time, while they are free during the lesson breaks. The field study was conducted by physical observations, survey questionnaires and...
This work is focused on the evaluation of indoor thermal quality and shows some results of a wider field study in university classrooms. The field study was conducted through physical observations and questionnaires, performed at the same time during the regular lesson time, in a period just before the start of the heating season. The predictions o...
This study deals with the statistical analysis of a set of data related to 50 multi-family residential buildings, located in the district of Torino (Italy), in order to find simplified correlations for the assessment of the energy demand for space heating. Starting from the standard deterministic equations, this study revises them maintaining their...
SUMMARY A growing interest has been addressed to multi-energy systems in buildings that involve the integration of different energy sources to cover the thermal and electrical loads of the building. A modelling approach to multi-energy systems in buildings based on the concept of hybrid energy hub is presented. The model has been customised to be u...
By the time Torino, Italy, had become a candidate for the 2006 XX Winter Olympic Games, the Torino 2006 Organizing Committee had already submitted a document entitled "Green Card." This document contained concrete guidance for designing and constructing the Torino sports facilities and infrastructures and handling of the affected environment. It al...
This work is about the assessment of the acoustic perception of musicians both in a concert hall stage and rehearsal room. A recognized method for the subjective evaluations that includes face to face interviews and questionnaires was applied. The questionnaires were filled in by both professional and nonprofessional musicians belonged to three Ita...
