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Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Margani
University of Catania, Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture

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Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Energy Retrofits
0 Renovation
0 Bioclimatic design
0 Sustainable and zero-energy building technology
0 Retrofitting

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Retrofitting

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Journal article
Published: 09 December 2020 in Sustainability
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In Italy, as in many other European countries, a large part of the real estate was built before the issue of restrictive regulations regarding seismic resistance and energy efficiency. Consequently, most existing buildings show inadequate structural and energy performance. However, although a combined renovation is highly recommended, and despite relevant tax incentives which are currently available, the building retrofit market is still struggling to take off. In fact, the lack of information and/or awareness of the involved parties and the consequent difficulty for condominiums to approve the retrofit works are often insuperable obstacles. A Decision Support System (DSS) may help in evaluating and comparing different combined renovation scenarios, thus promoting the regeneration of the building stock. This study presents a new methodology for the selection of the optimal building renovation scenario through a DSS, which is conceived as a tool to allow a quick, simple and effective identification of the best retrofit strategy, based on a priority scale (e.g., costs and duration of intervention, disruption to the occupants, environmental sustainability, energy savings, thermal comfort, structural safety). For this purpose, the DSS calculates suitable performance indices and relative costs. Finally, the system proposes a ranking of the best combined retrofit scenarios. This research study is still ongoing and next steps will deal with the calibration of the proposed methodology.

ACS Style

Antonio Artino; Riccardo Caponetto; Gianpiero Evola; Giuseppe Margani; Edoardo Marino; Emanuele Murgano. Decision Support System for the Sustainable Seismic and Energy Renovation of Buildings: Methodological Layout. Sustainability 2020, 12, 10273 .

AMA Style

Antonio Artino, Riccardo Caponetto, Gianpiero Evola, Giuseppe Margani, Edoardo Marino, Emanuele Murgano. Decision Support System for the Sustainable Seismic and Energy Renovation of Buildings: Methodological Layout. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (24):10273.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Antonio Artino; Riccardo Caponetto; Gianpiero Evola; Giuseppe Margani; Edoardo Marino; Emanuele Murgano. 2020. "Decision Support System for the Sustainable Seismic and Energy Renovation of Buildings: Methodological Layout." Sustainability 12, no. 24: 10273.

Journal article
Published: 13 June 2020 in Sustainability
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In seismic European countries most of the residential building stock is highly energy-intensive and earthquake-prone because it was built before the enforcement of the most recent energy and seismic codes. Furthermore, this stock often shows a low architectural quality due to poor maintenance and/or construction and design deficiencies: for all these reasons, it needs deep renovation, but the use of common energy and seismic upgrading techniques is often unsustainable in terms of costs, work duration, and occupants’ disturbance. Therefore, new integrated, affordable, fast, and low-disruptive renovation actions are strongly needed. This study proposes an innovative energy, seismic, and architectural renovation solution for reinforced concrete (RC) framed buildings, based on the addition of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels to the outer walls, in combination with wooden-framed panels. The two panels integrate insulation and cladding materials in order to improve the energy performance and the architectural image of the renovated building. Moreover, the CLT panels are connected to the existing RC frame through innovative seismic energy dissipation devices. In case of an earthquake, these devices in combination with the CLT panels reduce the drift demand of the building, preventing or reducing structural damages and consequent repair costs. In particular, this paper investigates the technical feasibility, the energy efficiency, and the architectural enhancement of the proposed retrofitting system. To this purpose, dynamic thermal simulations were conducted on a typical multi-story residential building from the 1960s, located in Catania, Italy. The results indicated that this retrofitting technique considerably improved the energy performance of the selected building, with a reduction of the global energy demand up to nearly 60%. The presented study is part of a larger research project aimed at also investigating, in a further stage, the seismic performance achievable by the above-mentioned renovation solution.

ACS Style

Giuseppe Margani; Gianpiero Evola; Carola Tardo; Edoardo Michele Marino. Energy, Seismic, and Architectural Renovation of RC Framed Buildings with Prefabricated Timber Panels. Sustainability 2020, 12, 4845 .

AMA Style

Giuseppe Margani, Gianpiero Evola, Carola Tardo, Edoardo Michele Marino. Energy, Seismic, and Architectural Renovation of RC Framed Buildings with Prefabricated Timber Panels. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (12):4845.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Giuseppe Margani; Gianpiero Evola; Carola Tardo; Edoardo Michele Marino. 2020. "Energy, Seismic, and Architectural Renovation of RC Framed Buildings with Prefabricated Timber Panels." Sustainability 12, no. 12: 4845.

Journal article
Published: 19 July 2019 in Sustainability
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All around the world, a huge amount of buildings have been built before the enforcement of specific codes for seismic resistance and energy efficiency. Particularly in Italy, over 74% of residential buildings were constructed before 1980, when only 25% of the territory was classified as seismic, and nearly 86% were built before 1991, when the first restrictive regulation on energy efficiency was issued. This means that most buildings need both seismic and energy renovation actions to improve their sustainability level. The proposed combined retrofit strategy for reinforced concrete framed buildings is based on the replacement of the external layer of double-leaf infill walls, made of hollow bricks, with high-performing AAC blocks: this solution can be implemented by operating mainly from the outside of the building, thus reducing occupants’ disruption during retrofitting. The generally neglected structural contribution of masonry infill panels is here considered using a recently developed macro-element modeling approach. The results suggest that, from a structural viewpoint, the proposed intervention involves the highest improvement at the damage limitation limit state, while lower upgrades are recorded at life safety limit state and near-collapse limit state. In regards to the energy issues, the energy demand can be reduced by 10% and 4% for heating and cooling, respectively, just by replacing the outer layer of blocks; further savings can be achieved through the application of a supplementary insulation layer.

ACS Style

Antonio Artino; Gianpiero Evola; Giuseppe Margani; Edoardo Marino. Seismic and Energy Retrofit of Apartment Buildings through Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) Blocks Infill Walls. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3939 .

AMA Style

Antonio Artino, Gianpiero Evola, Giuseppe Margani, Edoardo Marino. Seismic and Energy Retrofit of Apartment Buildings through Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) Blocks Infill Walls. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (14):3939.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Antonio Artino; Gianpiero Evola; Giuseppe Margani; Edoardo Marino. 2019. "Seismic and Energy Retrofit of Apartment Buildings through Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) Blocks Infill Walls." Sustainability 11, no. 14: 3939.

Journal article
Published: 26 October 2018 in Journal of Roman Archaeology
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The Terme dell’Indirizzo (to give them their Italian name) stand near the centre of modern Catania (access today is from Piazza Currò) on Sicily's E coast (fig. 1). They are not a new discovery: the ancient structure remains as a standing building. It is not just the best-preserved Roman bath-building in Sicily; it is among the best-preserved examples of its type anywhere in the empire, the original roofs of nearly every surviving room being, remarkably, intact. Despite this, the structure is little known, mainly because it has been publicly accessible only on sporadic occasions. Our purpose is to make the baths better known by presenting a modern survey of the standing structure, with new information above all on the building's geometry and construction techniques, and by setting it in the context of bath-buildings in Sicily and the wider empire.

ACS Style

Mariangela Liuzzo; Giuseppe Margani; R. J. A. Wilson. The Indirizzo Roman baths at Catania. Journal of Roman Archaeology 2018, 31, 193 -221.

AMA Style

Mariangela Liuzzo, Giuseppe Margani, R. J. A. Wilson. The Indirizzo Roman baths at Catania. Journal of Roman Archaeology. 2018; 31 ():193-221.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mariangela Liuzzo; Giuseppe Margani; R. J. A. Wilson. 2018. "The Indirizzo Roman baths at Catania." Journal of Roman Archaeology 31, no. : 193-221.

Conference paper
Published: 07 July 2018 in Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing
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The present work describes a methodology aimed at identifying the theoretical shape of a dome, as conceived by the architect. To this purpose, a novel analysis procedure has been specifically developed to verify the correspondence between the real shape, obtained by a survey, and the geometric one, derived by architectural treatises, when possible. Actually, the common practice of analysing just one profile of a dome is not sufficient to characterize its entire surface since domes often display asymmetries and deformations; this implies that the selected profile may not always be representative of the entire surface. On the contrary, with the best-fit 3D surface analysis here proposed, it is possible to check the overall dome geometry. In fact, the iterative best-fit process enables to determine the axis and the inner profile of the geometric dome, within a fixed accuracy. The study consisted in two phases: (i) data collection by high precision survey with 3D laser scanning technology; and (ii) data analysis, according to both a geometric and analytic procedure. The results obtained by the two procedures were compared in terms of accuracy and computing speed. This dual methodology was applied to the dome of Catania’s Cathedral, built after the 1693 earthquake and completed in 1802.

ACS Style

Laura Floriano; Mariangela Liuzzo; Giuseppe Margani. Best-Fit Analysis for the Geometry Characterization of Domes. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing 2018, 690 -700.

AMA Style

Laura Floriano, Mariangela Liuzzo, Giuseppe Margani. Best-Fit Analysis for the Geometry Characterization of Domes. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing. 2018; ():690-700.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Laura Floriano; Mariangela Liuzzo; Giuseppe Margani. 2018. "Best-Fit Analysis for the Geometry Characterization of Domes." Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing , no. : 690-700.

Review
Published: 14 May 2018 in Sustainability
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Most European cities are characterized by very large areas, often formed by buildings of low quality, from a series of perspectives (architectural, technological, materials, technical systems, etc.). The possibility of renovating them is strategic to improve both the quality of life and to the possibility of economic recovery for building companies. In the last decades, the attention of the scientific community has been addressed to the energy renovation, thanks to the strong activities of the European Community in this field. However, since a relevant part of the EC territory is at risk of earthquake, the possibility to combine both energy and seismic renovation actions may be strategic for many countries. In particular, Italy and Romania are linked by a common social tradition that springs from the Roman Empire. Nowadays, this link is stronger, thanks to common interests in social, cultural and business fields. Therefore, the investigation of possible synergies for seismic and energy renovation strategies may be really interesting for both countries. In this paper, after an overview of regulations and common practices for buildings with reinforced concrete structures, in both states, some key combined renovation interventions will be described and discussed, as well as advantages and perspectives of integrated renovation approaches. The outcomes of this work are to show the way to transform existing energy-consuming and seismic-prone buildings into energy-efficient and seismic-resistant ones.

ACS Style

Emil-Sever Georgescu; Mihaela Stela Georgescu; Zina Macri; Edoardo Michele Marino; Giuseppe Margani; Vasile Meita; Radu Pana; Santi Maria Cascone; Horia Petran; Pier Paolo Rossi; Vincenzo Sapienza; Marius Voica. Seismic and Energy Renovation: A Review of the Code Requirements and Solutions in Italy and Romania. Sustainability 2018, 10, 1561 .

AMA Style

Emil-Sever Georgescu, Mihaela Stela Georgescu, Zina Macri, Edoardo Michele Marino, Giuseppe Margani, Vasile Meita, Radu Pana, Santi Maria Cascone, Horia Petran, Pier Paolo Rossi, Vincenzo Sapienza, Marius Voica. Seismic and Energy Renovation: A Review of the Code Requirements and Solutions in Italy and Romania. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (5):1561.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Emil-Sever Georgescu; Mihaela Stela Georgescu; Zina Macri; Edoardo Michele Marino; Giuseppe Margani; Vasile Meita; Radu Pana; Santi Maria Cascone; Horia Petran; Pier Paolo Rossi; Vincenzo Sapienza; Marius Voica. 2018. "Seismic and Energy Renovation: A Review of the Code Requirements and Solutions in Italy and Romania." Sustainability 10, no. 5: 1561.

Journal article
Published: 01 March 2018 in Measurement
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ACS Style

Anna Gueli; V. Garro; M. Liuzzo; Giuseppe Margani; S. Pasquale; G. Politi; Giuseppe Stella. Effects of moisture on historical buildings TL ages. Measurement 2018, 118, 289 -297.

AMA Style

Anna Gueli, V. Garro, M. Liuzzo, Giuseppe Margani, S. Pasquale, G. Politi, Giuseppe Stella. Effects of moisture on historical buildings TL ages. Measurement. 2018; 118 ():289-297.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anna Gueli; V. Garro; M. Liuzzo; Giuseppe Margani; S. Pasquale; G. Politi; Giuseppe Stella. 2018. "Effects of moisture on historical buildings TL ages." Measurement 118, no. : 289-297.

Journal article
Published: 19 January 2018 in Sustainability
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One of the main challenges of the twenty-first century is to increase the sustainability level of our cities. However, a town, to be considered sustainable, must, above all, be safe, particularly against natural hazards, which in Europe are mostly related to climate changes (e.g., hurricanes, floods, storms, and landslides) and seismic events (earthquakes). Unfortunately, sustainability is still not a prerogative of most European cities, especially those placed in seismic countries such as Italy, where at least 50% of the residential stock is earthquake-prone, while over 80% of the same stock is highly energy-consuming and carbon dioxide-emitting, thus contributing to trigger hazards related to climate changes. In this context, renovation actions, which combine both energy and seismic issues are strongly needed. Nevertheless, several technical, organizational and financial barriers considerably limit the real possibility to extensively undertake this kind of renovation. This study analyzes such barriers, with particular reference to the Italian scenario, suggesting and discussing possible solutions and underlining the advantages of increasing energy and seismic performances at the same time. The proposed solutions may be effectively extended to many other countries with similar socio-economic scenarios.

ACS Style

Paolo La Greca; Giuseppe Margani. Seismic and Energy Renovation Measures for Sustainable Cities: A Critical Analysis of the Italian Scenario. Sustainability 2018, 10, 254 .

AMA Style

Paolo La Greca, Giuseppe Margani. Seismic and Energy Renovation Measures for Sustainable Cities: A Critical Analysis of the Italian Scenario. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (1):254.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paolo La Greca; Giuseppe Margani. 2018. "Seismic and Energy Renovation Measures for Sustainable Cities: A Critical Analysis of the Italian Scenario." Sustainability 10, no. 1: 254.

Journal article
Published: 03 July 2017 in Buildings
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Around 30% of the European building stock was built before 1950, when no regulations about energy efficiency were in force. Since only a small part of them has been renovated by now, the energy performance of this building stock is on average quite poor, resulting in a significant impact on the energy balance of European countries, as confirmed by data published by ISTAT (Italian National Statistical Institute). However, energy retrofit in historic edifices is a quite demanding issue as any intervention must take into account the need to preserve existing building materials and appearances while also allowing reversibility and low invasiveness. As an example, in these buildings it is not possible to apply an ETICS (External Thermal Insulation Composite System), since this would alter the historic and architectural value of the façade. On the other hand, internal insulation would have the drawback of reducing the net useful floor area, which also implies a loss of economic value. Moreover, internal insulation may induce overheating risks and mold formation. In this paper, all these issues are investigated with reference to an existing historic building located in southern Italy, showing that a retrofit strategy aimed at energy savings and cost-effectiveness is still possible if suitable materials and solutions are adopted.

ACS Style

Simona Cirami; Gianpiero Evola; Antonio Gagliano; Giuseppe Margani. Thermal and Economic Analysis of Renovation Strategies for a Historic Building in Mediterranean Area. Buildings 2017, 7, 60 .

AMA Style

Simona Cirami, Gianpiero Evola, Antonio Gagliano, Giuseppe Margani. Thermal and Economic Analysis of Renovation Strategies for a Historic Building in Mediterranean Area. Buildings. 2017; 7 (4):60.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Simona Cirami; Gianpiero Evola; Antonio Gagliano; Giuseppe Margani. 2017. "Thermal and Economic Analysis of Renovation Strategies for a Historic Building in Mediterranean Area." Buildings 7, no. 4: 60.

Journal article
Published: 01 March 2017 in Energy and Buildings
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ACS Style

A. Gagliano; M. Liuzzo; Giuseppe Margani; W. Pettinato. Thermo-hygrometric behaviour of Roman thermal buildings: the “Indirizzo” Baths of Catania (Sicily). Energy and Buildings 2017, 138, 704 -715.

AMA Style

A. Gagliano, M. Liuzzo, Giuseppe Margani, W. Pettinato. Thermo-hygrometric behaviour of Roman thermal buildings: the “Indirizzo” Baths of Catania (Sicily). Energy and Buildings. 2017; 138 ():704-715.

Chicago/Turabian Style

A. Gagliano; M. Liuzzo; Giuseppe Margani; W. Pettinato. 2017. "Thermo-hygrometric behaviour of Roman thermal buildings: the “Indirizzo” Baths of Catania (Sicily)." Energy and Buildings 138, no. : 704-715.

Journal article
Published: 01 October 2016 in Energy and Buildings
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ACS Style

G. Evola; G. Margani. Renovation of apartment blocks with BIPV: Energy and economic evaluation in temperate climate. Energy and Buildings 2016, 130, 794 -810.

AMA Style

G. Evola, G. Margani. Renovation of apartment blocks with BIPV: Energy and economic evaluation in temperate climate. Energy and Buildings. 2016; 130 ():794-810.

Chicago/Turabian Style

G. Evola; G. Margani. 2016. "Renovation of apartment blocks with BIPV: Energy and economic evaluation in temperate climate." Energy and Buildings 130, no. : 794-810.

Original articles
Published: 07 March 2014 in International Journal of Architectural Heritage
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Located in the historical center of Catania, Italy, in the Civita district, the Bonajuto Chapel is one of the oldest and best-conserved buildings of the city, which has survived the numerous earthquakes that struck eastern Sicily during the medieval and the modern ages, such as those particularly devastating in 1169 and 1693. However, both the date of this small monument, as well as its original use, still remain uncertain, as literary and documentary evidence are scarce and fragmentary. Most historians, analyzing prevalently the stylistic and constructive aspects, interpreted the chapel as a place of worship and assigned its construction to a rather long period of the early Middle Ages, from the 5th or 6th centuries ad to the 8th or 9th centuries ad—the phase during which the island was under the Byzantine domination. The excavations carried out in 1930 to 1939 and the last restoration works (in 2003) have not provided explicit chronological data. Its age determination is considered essential for a better knowledge of the real influence of this domination on the architecture of the Island. Therefore, a multidisciplinary and accurate analysis of the building using the existing bibliography has been carried out also in order to understand the functional and morphological transformations of the chapel during its long life. The thermoluminescence absolute dating methodology applied to some brickwork elements of the construction, has placed the monument chronology in a period of time that is notably shorter than that previously noted here. These new data, with the study of the architectural structure, have made a significant step forward in the knowledge of the chapel history.

ACS Style

A. M. Gueli; Giuseppe Margani; Giuseppe Stella; S. O. Troja. Historical Survey and Chronology of Bonajuto Chapel in Catania, Italy. International Journal of Architectural Heritage 2014, 9, 485 -496.

AMA Style

A. M. Gueli, Giuseppe Margani, Giuseppe Stella, S. O. Troja. Historical Survey and Chronology of Bonajuto Chapel in Catania, Italy. International Journal of Architectural Heritage. 2014; 9 (4):485-496.

Chicago/Turabian Style

A. M. Gueli; Giuseppe Margani; Giuseppe Stella; S. O. Troja. 2014. "Historical Survey and Chronology of Bonajuto Chapel in Catania, Italy." International Journal of Architectural Heritage 9, no. 4: 485-496.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2014 in Energy and Buildings
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ACS Style

G. Evola; G. Margani; L. Marletta. Cost-effective design solutions for low-rise residential Net ZEBs in Mediterranean climate. Energy and Buildings 2014, 68, 7 -18.

AMA Style

G. Evola, G. Margani, L. Marletta. Cost-effective design solutions for low-rise residential Net ZEBs in Mediterranean climate. Energy and Buildings. 2014; 68 ():7-18.

Chicago/Turabian Style

G. Evola; G. Margani; L. Marletta. 2014. "Cost-effective design solutions for low-rise residential Net ZEBs in Mediterranean climate." Energy and Buildings 68, no. : 7-18.

Journal article
Published: 01 March 2013 in Renewable Energy and Power Quality Journal
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ACS Style

G. Caruso; G. Evola; G. Margani; L. Marletta. Design standards for residential N-ZEBs in mild Mediterranean climate. Renewable Energy and Power Quality Journal 2013, 513 -518.

AMA Style

G. Caruso, G. Evola, G. Margani, L. Marletta. Design standards for residential N-ZEBs in mild Mediterranean climate. Renewable Energy and Power Quality Journal. 2013; ():513-518.

Chicago/Turabian Style

G. Caruso; G. Evola; G. Margani; L. Marletta. 2013. "Design standards for residential N-ZEBs in mild Mediterranean climate." Renewable Energy and Power Quality Journal , no. : 513-518.

Journal article
Published: 06 June 2011 in Energy and Buildings
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In the cold climate of continental Europe the correction of thermal bridges in buildings is a mandatory issue, as in these areas they produce not only heat losses but frequently also condensation and mould growth. In mild Mediterranean climate thermal bridges also cause an increase in energy consumption, but usually do not present condensation effects. In Italy, the current regulations for new buildings only recommend but do not impose the thermal bridge correction, which usually needs extra costs during construction and refurbishment phases. This paper presents a study on the effects of thermal bridges for two building types (terraced houses and semi-detached houses) and three current envelope solutions in Italian climate, which may be considered representative of mild Mediterranean climate. The buildings are characterised by reinforced concrete frameworks and clay block walls; the thermal performance of the envelopes complies with Italian regulations for new constructions. In a first step the impact of thermal bridges on both heating and cooling energy demand is studied; then the economic convenience of correcting such thermal bridges is assessed by calculating the discounted payback period referred to the additional costs of construction and refurbishment.

ACS Style

G. Evola; G. Margani; L. Marletta. Energy and cost evaluation of thermal bridge correction in Mediterranean climate. Energy and Buildings 2011, 43, 2385 -2393.

AMA Style

G. Evola, G. Margani, L. Marletta. Energy and cost evaluation of thermal bridge correction in Mediterranean climate. Energy and Buildings. 2011; 43 (9):2385-2393.

Chicago/Turabian Style

G. Evola; G. Margani; L. Marletta. 2011. "Energy and cost evaluation of thermal bridge correction in Mediterranean climate." Energy and Buildings 43, no. 9: 2385-2393.