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Prof. Francesco Nocera
Catania University

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Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Acoustic
0 Building Energy Analysis
0 Energy & the Environment
0 Building energy performance
0 Reneawable Energy System

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Energy & the Environment
Acoustic
Building energy performance

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Short Biography

MS, Civil Engineering, 1997 University of Catania (UdC) Italy; Ph.D., Applied Physics, 2002, University of Palermo Italy. Key Analysis Expert, European Poly-technical University (Bulgaria) on the Project “With expert knowledge to successful career”. Currently he is Associate Professor of Building Physics and Building Energy Systems at UdC. Honorary Member of National Association for the Thermal and Acoustic Insulation. Member of " Evaluation and Mitigation of Urban and Territorial Risks” Ph.D. Course, University of Catania. University’s Delegate for UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). Best Research Paper Award in KES-SEB (2014) conference. Member of the Editorial Board of International Journal Sustainability and SCI.

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Journal article
Published: 02 May 2021 in Sustainability
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This paper proposes to identify an approach methodology for the incorporation of building-integrated photovoltaic systems (BIPV) in existing architectural heritage, considering regulatory, conservation and energy aspects. The main objective is to provide information about guidance criteria related to the integration of BIPV in historical buildings and about intervention methods. That will be followed by the development of useful data to reorient and update the guidelines and guidance documents, both for the design approach and for the evaluation of potential future interventions. The research methodology includes a categorization and analysis of European and Swiss case studies, taking into account the state of preservation of the building before the intervention, the data of the applied photovoltaic technology and the aesthetic and energy contribution of the intervention. The result, in the form of graphic schedules, provides complete information for a real evaluation of the analyzed case studies and of the BIPV technological system used in historical contexts. This research promotes a conscious BIPV as a real opportunity to use technology and a contemporary architectural language capable of dialoguing with pre-existing buildings to significantly improve energy efficiency and determine a new value system for the historical building and its environment.

ACS Style

Cristina Polo López; Floriana Troia; Francesco Nocera. Photovoltaic BIPV Systems and Architectural Heritage: New Balance between Conservation and Transformation. An Assessment Method for Heritage Values Compatibility and Energy Benefits of Interventions. Sustainability 2021, 13, 5107 .

AMA Style

Cristina Polo López, Floriana Troia, Francesco Nocera. Photovoltaic BIPV Systems and Architectural Heritage: New Balance between Conservation and Transformation. An Assessment Method for Heritage Values Compatibility and Energy Benefits of Interventions. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (9):5107.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Cristina Polo López; Floriana Troia; Francesco Nocera. 2021. "Photovoltaic BIPV Systems and Architectural Heritage: New Balance between Conservation and Transformation. An Assessment Method for Heritage Values Compatibility and Energy Benefits of Interventions." Sustainability 13, no. 9: 5107.

Journal article
Published: 12 March 2021 in Sustainability
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The increase of the urban warming phenomenon all over the world is gaining increasing attention from scientists as well as planners and policymakers due to its adverse effects on energy consumption, health, wellbeing, and air pollution. The protection of urban areas from the outdoor warming phenomenon is one of the challenges that policy and governments have to tackle as soon as possible and in the best possible way. Among the urban heat island mitigation techniques, cool materials and urban greening are identified as the most effective solutions in reducing the urban warming phenomenon. The effects produced by the adoption of cool materials and urban forestation on the urban microclimate were investigated through a computational fluid-dynamic (CFD) model. The CFD model was calibrated and validated thanks to experimental surveys within the Catania University campus area. The urban microclimate thermal comfort analysis and assessment were carried out with the Klima–Michel Model (KMM) and Munich Energy Balance Model for Individuals (MEMI). In particular, three scenarios were performed: cool, low, and high levels of urban greening. The cool scenario, although it produces air temperature at around 1.00 °C, determines the worst condition of outdoor thermal comfort, especially at the pedestrian level. On the contrary, a high level of urban greening, obtained by the extensive green roofs together with an urban forestation, guarantees the wellbeing of pedestrians, showing more convenient values of PMV and PET.

ACS Style

Maurizio Detommaso; Antonio Gagliano; Luigi Marletta; Francesco Nocera. Sustainable Urban Greening and Cooling Strategies for Thermal Comfort at Pedestrian Level. Sustainability 2021, 13, 3138 .

AMA Style

Maurizio Detommaso, Antonio Gagliano, Luigi Marletta, Francesco Nocera. Sustainable Urban Greening and Cooling Strategies for Thermal Comfort at Pedestrian Level. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (6):3138.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Maurizio Detommaso; Antonio Gagliano; Luigi Marletta; Francesco Nocera. 2021. "Sustainable Urban Greening and Cooling Strategies for Thermal Comfort at Pedestrian Level." Sustainability 13, no. 6: 3138.

Journal article
Published: 08 January 2021 in Energies
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The renewed attention paid to raw earth construction in recent decades is linked to its undoubted sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and low embodied energy. In Italy, the use of raw earth as a construction material is limited by the lack of a technical reference standard and is penalised by the current energy legislation for its massive behaviour. Research experiences, especially transoceanic, on highly performative contemporary buildings made with natural materials show that raw earth can be used, together with different types of reinforcements, to create safe, earthquake-resistant, and thermally efficient buildings. On the basis of experimental data of an innovative fibre-reinforced rammed earth material, energy analyses are developed on a rammed earth building designed for a Mediterranean climate. The paper focuses on the influences that different design solutions, inspired by traditional bioclimatic strategies, and various optimised wall constructions have in the improvement of the energy performance of the abovementioned building. These considerations are furthermore compared with different design criteria aiming at minimising embodied carbon in base material choice, costs, and discomfort hours. Results have shown the effectiveness of using the combination of massive rammed earth walls, night cross ventilation, and overhangs for the reduction of energy demand for space cooling and the improvement of wellbeing. Finally, the parametric analysis of thermal insulation has highlighted the economic, environmental, and thermophysical optimal solutions for the rammed earth envelope.

ACS Style

Giada Giuffrida; Maurizio DeTommaso; Francesco Nocera; Rosa Caponetto. Design Optimisation Strategies for Solid Rammed Earth Walls in Mediterranean Climates. Energies 2021, 14, 325 .

AMA Style

Giada Giuffrida, Maurizio DeTommaso, Francesco Nocera, Rosa Caponetto. Design Optimisation Strategies for Solid Rammed Earth Walls in Mediterranean Climates. Energies. 2021; 14 (2):325.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Giada Giuffrida; Maurizio DeTommaso; Francesco Nocera; Rosa Caponetto. 2021. "Design Optimisation Strategies for Solid Rammed Earth Walls in Mediterranean Climates." Energies 14, no. 2: 325.

Conference paper
Published: 08 December 2020 in Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes
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The research presented in the following paper aims to develop a sustainable emergency construction system based on natural materials and reversible systems. The current need for temporary shelters has raised, due to the increasing number of disasters affecting urbanized areas or their significant degradation. A viable solution is the use of prefabricated elements, which guarantees benefits in terms of both costs, and speed of assembly and disassembly. A thorough design of the construction components guarantees the reversibility of the construction and therefore the reuse of the structure for the same or other purposes. However, the benefits provided by sustainable prefabricated constructions make these systems suitable for multiple uses, considering both the design and construction phase and the indoor comfort provided during the building life. In fact, during the planning phase, the life cycle assessment of the materials is taken into account, resulting in the choice of natural materials that involve little to no resources consumption. The aim of the study is to assess the thermal behavior of a few different coating panels built with natural materials, used in combination with the designed prefabricated system, in order to identify a range of values that can be set as reference for similar systems. The first part of the paper introduces the implemented construction system, while the second part focuses on the characterization of the envelope coating panels, in order to achieve optimal overall thermal performance. The characterization of the panel samples was carried out in laboratory using a heat flow meter.

ACS Style

Stefano Cascone; Antonio Gagliano; Francesco Nocera; Renata Rapisarda; Gaetano Sciuto. Sustainable Housing Units for Emergency: Innovative Materials and Construction Techniques. Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes 2020, 407 -417.

AMA Style

Stefano Cascone, Antonio Gagliano, Francesco Nocera, Renata Rapisarda, Gaetano Sciuto. Sustainable Housing Units for Emergency: Innovative Materials and Construction Techniques. Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes. 2020; ():407-417.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stefano Cascone; Antonio Gagliano; Francesco Nocera; Renata Rapisarda; Gaetano Sciuto. 2020. "Sustainable Housing Units for Emergency: Innovative Materials and Construction Techniques." Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes , no. : 407-417.

Conference paper
Published: 01 September 2020 in Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes
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The growth in global trade and freight distribution has led to an increased demand for new containers and has caused immense leftovers of shipping containers at ports due to the expensive repositioning cost. These abandoned containers have a strong environmental impact. However, this is an issue that can be overcome by re-using shipping containers as homebuilding. Therefore, this research investigates the energy performances of container houses applying well-established Passivhaus standard which at the same time providing low environmental impact and a high level for occupant comfort.

ACS Style

Elisa Bongiorno; Concetta Borgia; Maurizio DeTommaso; Francesco Nocera. Sustainable and Green Building Design: Shipping Container as Passivhaus. Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes 2020, 1423 -1432.

AMA Style

Elisa Bongiorno, Concetta Borgia, Maurizio DeTommaso, Francesco Nocera. Sustainable and Green Building Design: Shipping Container as Passivhaus. Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes. 2020; ():1423-1432.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Elisa Bongiorno; Concetta Borgia; Maurizio DeTommaso; Francesco Nocera. 2020. "Sustainable and Green Building Design: Shipping Container as Passivhaus." Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes , no. : 1423-1432.

Conference paper
Published: 01 September 2020 in Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes
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Nowadays, energy equalization is one of the many issues concerning the energy policies on the urban scale and in the perspective of reducing the Urban Heat Island effects (UHI-e). The different economic-financial profiles of the interventions implemented in the buildings having a wide range of climatic locations, typological arrangements, architectural-historical constraints, need to be coordinated within unitary local energy-environmental policies inspired by economic-financial as well as environmental issues. The renovation of existing hotels to achieve a nearly Zero-Energy performance is one of the goals of the 2050 EU’s energy policy. This paper presents the nZEB retrofit case of an existing historic hotel and proposes a step by step approach to nZEB performance with a perspective on the costs, in order to identify the most effective energy solutions. Such approach allows highlighting useful insights regarding energy and economic-financial strategies for achieving nZEB standards.

ACS Style

Salvatore Giuffrida; Francesco Nocera; Maria Rosa Trovato; Grazia Napoli; Simona Barbaro. Energy Equalization and the Case of the “nZEB Hotels”. Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes 2020, 1268 -1278.

AMA Style

Salvatore Giuffrida, Francesco Nocera, Maria Rosa Trovato, Grazia Napoli, Simona Barbaro. Energy Equalization and the Case of the “nZEB Hotels”. Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes. 2020; ():1268-1278.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Salvatore Giuffrida; Francesco Nocera; Maria Rosa Trovato; Grazia Napoli; Simona Barbaro. 2020. "Energy Equalization and the Case of the “nZEB Hotels”." Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes , no. : 1268-1278.

Journal article
Published: 22 June 2020 in Energies
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Sicily is characterized by rural buildings, Palmenti, destined to wine production, which are scattered along the countryside and part of the local historical heritage. There are different types of rural buildings, but all have in common the use of ancient and well-established bioclimatic techniques for wine conservation and aging. Most of them were built with the double function of living space for the owner and productive spaces for all the activities correlated to the cultivations. Indeed, many rural houses, destined to the wine production, are characterized by wineries and wine cellars (the first for the wine production, the second to store the wine for the aging process). The growing production of high-quality Sicilian wines, very appreciated all over the world, leads to upgrade the ancient Palmenti to seek optimal hygrothermal conditions and, therefore, to guarantee high performance of the produced and stored wines. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the retrofit measures taken to comply with the energy regulations could affect the thermal behavior of a wine cellar constructed with consolidated bioclimatic technics. The results show the importance of not insulating the solid ground floor for maintaining suitable temperatures for the fermentation and aging of wine. This study can be useful for future analysis when comparing the optimal hygrothermal conditions of wine cellars located in homogeneous viticultural areas (with same climate, geology, soil, physical features, and height) in other parts of the world.

ACS Style

Francesco Nocera; Rosa Caponetto; Giada Giuffrida; Maurizio DeTommaso. Energetic Retrofit Strategies for Traditional Sicilian Wine Cellars: A Case Study. Energies 2020, 13, 3237 .

AMA Style

Francesco Nocera, Rosa Caponetto, Giada Giuffrida, Maurizio DeTommaso. Energetic Retrofit Strategies for Traditional Sicilian Wine Cellars: A Case Study. Energies. 2020; 13 (12):3237.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Francesco Nocera; Rosa Caponetto; Giada Giuffrida; Maurizio DeTommaso. 2020. "Energetic Retrofit Strategies for Traditional Sicilian Wine Cellars: A Case Study." Energies 13, no. 12: 3237.

Journal article
Published: 23 April 2020 in Sustainability
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Energy consumption in public buildings increased drastically over the last decade. Significant policy actions towards the promotion of energy efficiency in the building sector have been developed involving sustainable low-CO2-emission technologies. This paper presents the results of an economic–environmental valuation of a standard energy retrofit project for a public building in a Mediterranean area, integrating a life-cycle assessment (LCA) into the traditional economic–financial evaluation pattern. The study results show that simple retrofit of sustainable low-CO2-emission strategies such as wooden double-glazed windows, organic external wall insulation systems, and green roofs can reduce energy needs for heating and cooling by 58.5% and 33.4%, respectively. Furthermore, the implementation of an LCA highlights that the use of sustainable materials reduces the building’s carbon footprint index by 54.1% after retrofit compared to standard materials, thus providing an additional increase in the socio-environmental–economic–financial results of 18%. Some proposals are made about the accounting of the replacement costs and the residual value as requested in the logic of life-cycle cost (that is the economic extension of the LCA), namely concerning the method to take into account the replacement costs and the residual value. The economic calculation highlights the fundamental role played by tax benefits supporting the building energy retrofit, also in temperate climate zones, thus allowing the creation of environmental benefits in addition to remarkable cost savings.

ACS Style

Maria Rosa Trovato; Francesco Nocera; Salvatore Giuffrida. Life-Cycle Assessment and Monetary Measurements for the Carbon Footprint Reduction of Public Buildings. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3460 .

AMA Style

Maria Rosa Trovato, Francesco Nocera, Salvatore Giuffrida. Life-Cycle Assessment and Monetary Measurements for the Carbon Footprint Reduction of Public Buildings. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (8):3460.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Maria Rosa Trovato; Francesco Nocera; Salvatore Giuffrida. 2020. "Life-Cycle Assessment and Monetary Measurements for the Carbon Footprint Reduction of Public Buildings." Sustainability 12, no. 8: 3460.

Conference paper
Published: 27 October 2019 in Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes
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The progressive modification of the land surface in the urban area during the last decades has involved an increase in urban air temperature compared to surrounding rural areas. The significant replacement of green areas with built surfaces characterized by high solar radiation favored the energy storage during the day and heat release in the nocturnal hours. The Urban Heat Island (UHI) is an emblematic effect of the increase of urban temperature which in turn affects the energy consumption in the building sector. Several passive building technologies are available to mitigate the UHI phenomenon and reduce the energy consumptions in buildings. In the Mediterranean climate, where the solar radiation control is the most important passive strategy in summer, cool roof technology is able to reduce the solar radiation absorbed by materials and to limit the outer superficial temperature in the presence of high solar loads. This paper presents a numerical analysis of the energy and environmental performance of an office building equipped with a cool roof for three different climate zones. Dynamic simulations highlight the different thermal behavior of the investigated cool roof in comparison to the standard roof, also as a function of the roof thermal resistance. Moreover, the Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) of the different roof configurations has been evaluated. It was found that slight or no insulated cool roofs has the lowest superficial temperatures and hence mitigates the UHI.

ACS Style

Maurizio DeTommaso; Stefano Cascone; Antonio Gagliano; Francesco Nocera; Gaetano Sciuto. Cool Roofs with Variable Thermal Insulation: UHI Mitigation and Energy Savings for Several Italian Cities. Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes 2019, 481 -492.

AMA Style

Maurizio DeTommaso, Stefano Cascone, Antonio Gagliano, Francesco Nocera, Gaetano Sciuto. Cool Roofs with Variable Thermal Insulation: UHI Mitigation and Energy Savings for Several Italian Cities. Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes. 2019; ():481-492.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Maurizio DeTommaso; Stefano Cascone; Antonio Gagliano; Francesco Nocera; Gaetano Sciuto. 2019. "Cool Roofs with Variable Thermal Insulation: UHI Mitigation and Energy Savings for Several Italian Cities." Blockchain Technology and Innovations in Business Processes , no. : 481-492.

Journal article
Published: 15 October 2019 in Energy and Buildings
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A Solar Chimney (SC) is a passive system harnessing solar energy to ventilate inner spaces and improve occupants’ thermal comfort. The purpose of this study is to determine the time periods of a year most suitable for the use of a SC in terms of thermal comfort under the different climates of Bandar-Abbas (hot and humid), Yazd (hot and arid), Paris (mild and humid) and Toronto (cold and humid). To this aim, a thermosyphonic model – validated against published experimental data – was employed for running dynamic thermal simulations of a residential building using the EnergyPlus software. The optimal time periods of operation of the SC, driven by the values of the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) between -0.7 and +0.7 and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD) below 15%, are found to be November and January to April in Bandar-Abbas (2265 hours), while for the city of Yazd it comprises the months of April and May together with September and October (2145 hours). As for Paris and Toronto, the period spans from June to August, for a total of 1065 and 1620 hours respectively. Correlation coefficients disclosing the impact of the increased air mass flow rate revealed a positive impact everywhere during nighttime in terms of indoor air temperatures (from 0.02 in Bandar-Abbas to 0.77 in Yazd). On the other hand, the impact on indoor relative humidity is always negatively correlated, with a peak of -0.73 in Yazd. Year-long comfort conditions are finally displayed in psychometric charts against ASHRAE 55 Standard boundaries.

ACS Style

Ali Salehi; Rima Fayaz; Mehran Bozorgi; Somayeh Asadi; Vincenzo Costanzo; Nadie Imani; Francesco Nocera. Investigation of thermal comfort efficacy of solar chimneys under different climates and operation time periods. Energy and Buildings 2019, 205, 109528 .

AMA Style

Ali Salehi, Rima Fayaz, Mehran Bozorgi, Somayeh Asadi, Vincenzo Costanzo, Nadie Imani, Francesco Nocera. Investigation of thermal comfort efficacy of solar chimneys under different climates and operation time periods. Energy and Buildings. 2019; 205 ():109528.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ali Salehi; Rima Fayaz; Mehran Bozorgi; Somayeh Asadi; Vincenzo Costanzo; Nadie Imani; Francesco Nocera. 2019. "Investigation of thermal comfort efficacy of solar chimneys under different climates and operation time periods." Energy and Buildings 205, no. : 109528.

Review
Published: 27 September 2019 in Sustainability
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Raw earth historic and contemporary architectures are renowned for their good environmental properties of recyclability and low embodied energy along the production process. Earth massive walls are universally known to be able to regulate indoor thermal and hygroscopic conditions containing energy consumptions, creating comfortable interior spaces with a low carbon footprint. Therefore, earth buildings are de facto green buildings. As a result of this, some earthen technologies have been rediscovered and implemented to be adapted to the contemporary building production sector. Nevertheless, the diffusion of contemporary earthen architecture is decelerated by the lack of broadly accepted standards on its anti-seismic and thermal performance. Indeed, the former issue has been solved using high-tensile materials inside the walls or surface reinforcements on their sides to improve their flexural strength. The latter issue is related to the penalization of earth walls thermal behavior in current regulations, which tent to evaluate only the steady-state performance of building components, neglecting the benefit of heat storage and hygrothermal buffering effect provided by massive and porous envelopes as raw earth ones. In this paper, we show the results of a paper review concerning the hygrothermal performance of earthen materials for contemporary housing: great attention is given to the base materials which are used (inorganic soils, natural fibers, and mineral or recycled aggregates, chemical stabilizers), manufacturing procedures (when described), performed tests and final performances. Different earth techniques (adobe, cob, extruded bricks, rammed earth, compressed earth blocks, light earth) have been considered in order to highlight that earth material can act both as a conductive and insulating meterial depending on how it is implemented, adapting to several climate contests. The paper aims to summarize current progress in the improvement of thermal performance of raw earth traditional mixes, discuss the suitability of existing measurement protocols for hygroscopic and natural materials and provide guidance for further researches.

ACS Style

Giuffrida Giada; Rosa Caponetto; Francesco Nocera. Hygrothermal Properties of Raw Earth Materials: A Literature Review. Sustainability 2019, 11, 5342 .

AMA Style

Giuffrida Giada, Rosa Caponetto, Francesco Nocera. Hygrothermal Properties of Raw Earth Materials: A Literature Review. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (19):5342.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Giuffrida Giada; Rosa Caponetto; Francesco Nocera. 2019. "Hygrothermal Properties of Raw Earth Materials: A Literature Review." Sustainability 11, no. 19: 5342.

Journal article
Published: 04 September 2019 in Sustainability
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The Passive House (PH) concept is considered an efficient strategy to reduce energy consumption in the building sector, where most of the energy is used for heating and cooling applications. For this reason, energy efficiency measures are increasingly implemented in the residential sector, which is the main responsible for such a consumption. The need for professionals dealing with energy issues, and particularly for architects during the early stages of their architectural design, is crucial when considering energy efficient buildings. Therefore, architects involved in the design and construction stages have key roles in the process of enhancing energy efficiency in buildings. This research work explores the energy efficiency and optimized architectural design for residential buildings located in different climate zones in Spain, with an emphasis on Building Performance Simulation (BPS) as the key tool for architects and other professionals. According to a parametric analysis performed using Design Builder, the following optimal configurations are found for typical residential building projects: North-to-South orientation in all the five climate zones, a maximum shape factor of 0.48, external walls complying with the maximum U-value prescribed by Spanish Building Technical Code (0.35 Wm−2K−1) and a Window-to-Wall Ratio of no more than 20%. In terms of solar reflectance, it is found that the use of light colors is better in hotter climate zones A4, B4, and C4, whereas the best option is using darker colors in the colder climate zones D3 and E1. These measures help reaching the energy demand thresholds set by the Passivhaus Standard in all climate zones except for those located in climates C4, D3 and E1, for which further passive design measures are needed.

ACS Style

Maria-Mar Fernandez-Antolin; José Del Río; Vincenzo Costanzo; Francesco Nocera; Roberto-Alonso Gonzalez-Lezcano. Passive Design Strategies for Residential Buildings in Different Spanish Climate Zones. Sustainability 2019, 11, 4816 .

AMA Style

Maria-Mar Fernandez-Antolin, José Del Río, Vincenzo Costanzo, Francesco Nocera, Roberto-Alonso Gonzalez-Lezcano. Passive Design Strategies for Residential Buildings in Different Spanish Climate Zones. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (18):4816.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Maria-Mar Fernandez-Antolin; José Del Río; Vincenzo Costanzo; Francesco Nocera; Roberto-Alonso Gonzalez-Lezcano. 2019. "Passive Design Strategies for Residential Buildings in Different Spanish Climate Zones." Sustainability 11, no. 18: 4816.

Journal article
Published: 01 July 2019 in Renewable Energy
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The main objectives of the present paper are to describe a pilot cogenerative PV/T plant and discuss its preliminary electrical and thermal experimental data. The PV/T plant is installed in the campus of the University of Catania, (Catania, Italy) on the eastern coast of Sicily, right in the centre of the Mediterranean area. The operative conditions of the experimental PV/T plant can be modified to implement parallel and series electrical and hydronic connections to the PV/T modules. The electrical and thermal load supplied by the PV/T plant can also be managed in order to simulate different energy demand scenarios. This study reports the main thermal and electrical operating parameters of the PV/T plant on the basis of experimental measurements, with the PV/T modules connected in series. A good level of correspondence was found between the measurements and the simulations obtained from a model of the system, particularly as regards electrical features.

ACS Style

Antonio Gagliano; Giuseppe M. Tina; Francesco Nocera; Alfio Dario Grasso; Stefano Aneli. Description and performance analysis of a flexible photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar system. Renewable Energy 2019, 137, 144 -156.

AMA Style

Antonio Gagliano, Giuseppe M. Tina, Francesco Nocera, Alfio Dario Grasso, Stefano Aneli. Description and performance analysis of a flexible photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar system. Renewable Energy. 2019; 137 ():144-156.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Antonio Gagliano; Giuseppe M. Tina; Francesco Nocera; Alfio Dario Grasso; Stefano Aneli. 2019. "Description and performance analysis of a flexible photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar system." Renewable Energy 137, no. : 144-156.

Journal article
Published: 30 June 2019 in TECNICA ITALIANA-Italian Journal of Engineering Science
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ACS Style

Maurizio DeTommaso; Antonio Gagliano; Francesco Nocera. The Effectiveness of Cool and Green Roofs as Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategies: A Case Study. TECNICA ITALIANA-Italian Journal of Engineering Science 2019, 63, 136 -142.

AMA Style

Maurizio DeTommaso, Antonio Gagliano, Francesco Nocera. The Effectiveness of Cool and Green Roofs as Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategies: A Case Study. TECNICA ITALIANA-Italian Journal of Engineering Science. 2019; 63 (2-4):136-142.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Maurizio DeTommaso; Antonio Gagliano; Francesco Nocera. 2019. "The Effectiveness of Cool and Green Roofs as Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategies: A Case Study." TECNICA ITALIANA-Italian Journal of Engineering Science 63, no. 2-4: 136-142.

Journal article
Published: 28 June 2019 in Entropy
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The paper addresses an important long-standing question in regards to the energy efficiency renovation of existing buildings, in this case hotels, towards nearly zero-energy (nZEBs) status. The renovation of existing hotels to achieve a nearly zero-energy (nZEBs) performance is one of the forefront goals of EU’s energy policy for 2050. The achievement of nZEBs target for hotels is necessary not only to comply with changing regulations and legislations, but also to foster competitiveness to secure new funding. Indeed, the nZEB hotel status allows for the reduction of operating costs and the increase of energy security, meeting the market and guests’ expectations. Actually, there is not a set national value of nZEBs for hotels to be attained, despite the fact that hotels are among the most energy-intensive buildings. This paper presents the case study of the energy retrofit of an existing historical hotel located in southern Italy (Syracuse) in order to achieve nZEBs status. Starting from the energy audit, the paper proposes a step-by-step approach to nZEBs performance, with a perspective on the costs, in order to identify the most effective energy solutions. Such an approach allows useful insights regarding energy and economic–financial strategies for achieving nZEBs standards to highlighted. Moreover, the results of this paper provide, to stakeholders, useful information for quantifying the technical convenience and economic profitability to reach an nZEBs target in order to prevent the expenses necessary by future energy retrofit programs.

ACS Style

Francesco Nocera; Salvatore Giuffrida; Maria Rosa Trovato; Antonio Gagliano. Energy and New Economic Approach for Nearly Zero Energy Hotels. Entropy 2019, 21, 639 .

AMA Style

Francesco Nocera, Salvatore Giuffrida, Maria Rosa Trovato, Antonio Gagliano. Energy and New Economic Approach for Nearly Zero Energy Hotels. Entropy. 2019; 21 (7):639.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Francesco Nocera; Salvatore Giuffrida; Maria Rosa Trovato; Antonio Gagliano. 2019. "Energy and New Economic Approach for Nearly Zero Energy Hotels." Entropy 21, no. 7: 639.

Journal article
Published: 30 April 2019 in Renewable Energy
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The installation of solar collectors applied or integrated into the building envelope may represent an interesting opportunity to increase the fraction of the building energy demands supplied through solar energy. In particular, building solar thermal facades (BSTFs) could be very useful in high-rise buildings, which do not have sufficient spaces where to install a solar plant. This paper aims to evaluate the energy performances of building solar thermal facades (BSTFs), constructed with two distinct types of solar collectors, flat plate (FPC) and evacuated solar collectors (ETC), through transient simulations, carried out with TRNSYS software, under different climate conditions. Moreover, an economic and LCA analysis on the two types of examined BSTFs were developed. Additionally, this study presents a preliminary investigation on a prototype of ventilated building solar thermal facade (v-BSTF) built in Ragusa. The results of such analysis highlight that BSTFs can represent suitable systems for the DHW production with great environmental and economic conveniences due to the short energy and CO2 payback times.

ACS Style

Antonio Gagliano; Stefano Aneli; Francesco Nocera. Analysis of the performance of a building solar thermal facade (BSTF) for domestic hot water production. Renewable Energy 2019, 142, 511 -526.

AMA Style

Antonio Gagliano, Stefano Aneli, Francesco Nocera. Analysis of the performance of a building solar thermal facade (BSTF) for domestic hot water production. Renewable Energy. 2019; 142 ():511-526.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Antonio Gagliano; Stefano Aneli; Francesco Nocera. 2019. "Analysis of the performance of a building solar thermal facade (BSTF) for domestic hot water production." Renewable Energy 142, no. : 511-526.

Journal article
Published: 16 October 2018 in Sustainability
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In school buildings, natural light has considerable physiological benefits, and increases energy efficiency while reducing the operational energy consumption of buildings. It is thus crucial to maximize the amount of daylight, as well as to improve its quality, in educational premises. In Italy and other European countries, many historic buildings are reused as school buildings, changing their original function. This process of adaptive reusing is one method for conserving heritage buildings, however sometimes this process sacrifices the quality of daylight and well being of pupils. It has therefore become apparent that it is difficult to reconcile the cultural value of historic buildings with comfort standards. This study aimed to investigate the natural lighting performance of a school located in an historic building, and proposes different technological solutions to improve the visual comfort in classrooms whilst also respecting the cultural value of built heritage. Daylight performance was carried out in a representative classroom in the ‘Caserma Gaetano Abela’, an historical building located in Siracusa (Italy). A daylight model built in Radiance was first validated against an illuminance measurement campaign, and was then used to run detailed dynamic simulations. Climate Based Daylight Modelling (CBDM) metrics were used to show the achievable improvements in visual comfort conditions by means of proposed retrofit interventions. These interventions may also be used in other areas of southern Europe with similar climatic and constructive/distributive characteristics of architectural heritage.

ACS Style

Francesco Nocera; Alessandro Lo Faro; Vincenzo Costanzo; Chiara Raciti. Daylight Performance of Classrooms in a Mediterranean School Heritage Building. Sustainability 2018, 10, 3705 .

AMA Style

Francesco Nocera, Alessandro Lo Faro, Vincenzo Costanzo, Chiara Raciti. Daylight Performance of Classrooms in a Mediterranean School Heritage Building. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (10):3705.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Francesco Nocera; Alessandro Lo Faro; Vincenzo Costanzo; Chiara Raciti. 2018. "Daylight Performance of Classrooms in a Mediterranean School Heritage Building." Sustainability 10, no. 10: 3705.

Journal article
Published: 15 October 2018 in Land
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In recent years, the scientific interest for the economic and landscape impact of wind farms has increased. This paper presents a useful GIS tool that allows for helping policymakers and investors to identify promising areas for wind power generation as well as landscape impact and financial and economic sustainability of wind farms. The results of the research carried out for exploring the potential for wind energy in two territorial contexts of Sicily region are presented with the particular look at the possibilities of economic developing, stakeholders’ opportunities and obstacles in the policy, legal, and regulatory framework.

ACS Style

Salvatore Giuffrida; Filippo Gagliano; Francesco Nocera; Maria Rosa Trovato. Landscape Assessment and Economic Accounting in Wind Farm Programming: Two Cases in Sicily. Land 2018, 7, 120 .

AMA Style

Salvatore Giuffrida, Filippo Gagliano, Francesco Nocera, Maria Rosa Trovato. Landscape Assessment and Economic Accounting in Wind Farm Programming: Two Cases in Sicily. Land. 2018; 7 (4):120.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Salvatore Giuffrida; Filippo Gagliano; Francesco Nocera; Maria Rosa Trovato. 2018. "Landscape Assessment and Economic Accounting in Wind Farm Programming: Two Cases in Sicily." Land 7, no. 4: 120.

Journal article
Published: 30 September 2018 in Mathematical Modelling of Engineering Problems
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ACS Style

Francesco Nocera; Antonio Gagliano; Maurizio DeTommaso. Energy performance of cross-laminated timber panel (X-Lam) buildings: A case study. Mathematical Modelling of Engineering Problems 2018, 5, 175 -182.

AMA Style

Francesco Nocera, Antonio Gagliano, Maurizio DeTommaso. Energy performance of cross-laminated timber panel (X-Lam) buildings: A case study. Mathematical Modelling of Engineering Problems. 2018; 5 (3):175-182.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Francesco Nocera; Antonio Gagliano; Maurizio DeTommaso. 2018. "Energy performance of cross-laminated timber panel (X-Lam) buildings: A case study." Mathematical Modelling of Engineering Problems 5, no. 3: 175-182.

Research article
Published: 23 September 2018 in Energy & Environment
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Currently, the need to address the issues arising from the uncontrolled growth of photovoltaic installations, such as intermittence and unpredictability of the generation that cause loss of balance in the grid, becomes unavoidable. Promising solutions for minimizing grid injection are the combination of photovoltaic generation with electricity energy storage and load management, the latter commonly known as Demand Side Management. These strategies together with incentives for self-consumption or energy independence from the network will allow facilitating the integration of the always-increasing generation of renewable energy. In Europe, the usage of residential energy grid-interactive energy storage systems for buffering of surplus photovoltaic generation is becoming a field of growing interest and market activity, as a consequence of the less attractive photovoltaic feed-in-tariffs in the near future and incentives to promote self-consumption. This study aims to evaluate the energy exchange with the grid and the rate of self-consumption of combined photovoltaic–electricity energy storage systems dedicated to residential and small commercial prosumers. More specifically, several combinations of sizes of photovoltaic plant, annual household consumptions and electricity energy storage capacity were evaluated. This analysis aims to identify which arrangement among photovoltaic power, electricity consumption and battery capacity allows reaching the highest ratio of self-sufficiency and consequently minimizing the energy exchanged with the grid. Moreover, the financial analysis of the photovoltaic–electricity energy storage system has been performed for verifying the economic viability of the photovoltaic–electricity energy storage systems under the Italian current market and economic circumstances.

ACS Style

Antonio Gagliano; Francesco Nocera; Giuseppe Tina. Performances and economic analysis of small photovoltaic–electricity energy storage system for residential applications. Energy & Environment 2018, 31, 155 -175.

AMA Style

Antonio Gagliano, Francesco Nocera, Giuseppe Tina. Performances and economic analysis of small photovoltaic–electricity energy storage system for residential applications. Energy & Environment. 2018; 31 (1):155-175.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Antonio Gagliano; Francesco Nocera; Giuseppe Tina. 2018. "Performances and economic analysis of small photovoltaic–electricity energy storage system for residential applications." Energy & Environment 31, no. 1: 155-175.