Coloured BIPV installations require an accurate balance between aesthetic and energy aspects. This study explores the integration of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) modules into building envelopes to enhance energy efficiency while maintaining aesthetic appeal. To achieve this goal, a real-scale mock-up was realized within the INFINITE project at the PV Integration Lab of Eurac Research to investigate the influence of aesthetic features (mainly given by different colors) on the energy performance of BIPV modules. Supported by an extensive monitoring campaign, this work delves into the performance of BIPV modules of five colors and finishes in both indoor and real exposure conditions. These modules serve as the outer layer of a prefabricated rain screen facade for building retrofitting. The study highlights that darker colors exhibit higher efficiency under standard test conditions but are also correlated with higher operating temperatures. Consequently, the differences in energy efficiency among the colors, observed during indoor tests, are significantly reduced when analyzing the energy produced under real exposure conditions. This observation underscores the intricate balance between maximizing energy generation and mitigating thermal stress on BIPV modules, while preserving aesthetic features. By providing empirical evidence of color-specific performance characteristics, this work offers insightful results for colored BIPV research and customized product optimization.

In this paper, the economic competitiveness for deep retrofit actions between the industrialised off-site and the traditional on-site approaches are discussed by using a comparative Life Cycle Costing (LCC) analysis. This assessment was based on a deep analysis of all renovation-related cost and timing processes, from design to operation and maintenance phases. The study was based on three retrofit scenarios for an existing building in Italy undergoing a deep renovation. The Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) was developed starting from real costs and a list of bills collected by the design team and the industrialised technologies developers. Afterwards, the LCC modelling was performed for all scenarios. The results show that the two deep retrofit approaches (traditional and industrialised) are comparable in terms of investment costs, even if a gap of around -7% and +16% still exists. This highlights a potential for technological optimisation. Moreover, the operation and maintenance phase has shown to be key to transforming the expected higher quality of the industrialised components into a prolonged life expectance, hence highly impacting the whole cumulated Net Present Value. Finally, the analysis of the End of Life (EoL) phase in case of possible reusing of some dismantled components in the industrialised scenario resulted in contributing in a relevant way to increase the final value of such an approach.

Creep behavior of Cross-Laminated-Timber (CLT) beams with a finite-thickness layer of flexible adhesives is investigated. Creep tests were carried out for all component materials as well as for the composite structure itself. Three-point bending creep tests were performed for spruce planks and for CLT beams, and uniaxial compression creep tests were performed for two flexible polyurethane adhesives: Sika^® PS and Sika^® PMM. All materials are characterized with the use of the three-element Generalized Maxwell Model. The results of creep tests for component materials were used in elaboration of the Finite Element (FE) model. The problem of linear theory of viscoelasticity was solved numerically with the use of the Abaqus software. Obtained results of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) are compared with experimental results.

The building sector is responsible for a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions, raw material usage, and waste generation, driving the need for new circular design strategies. Among these, Design for Disassembly (DfD) promotes the reuse, repair, and recycling of building components. However, existing quantitative DfD assessment methodologies generally require extensive preliminary studies, which limit their practical use. This article presents a new quantitative DfD assessment methodology developed within the EU-funded INFINITE project, which aims to provide designers with a simple yet robust tool to evaluate the detachability potential of building integrated systems without requiring prior environmental studies. This methodology has been designed to evaluate specific DfD scores for maintenance, reuse, and recycling, using the mass and lifespan of products or systems as weighting factors. The tool was tested and validated on several systems developed during the INFINITE project. In the specific case of the Building Integrated Solar Thermal (BIST) system, it successfully identified key design improvements—such as enhanced accessibility for maintenance operations and optimized component connections. Industrial partners reported high usability and recognized the tool as a valuable decision-support instrument during early development phases. Nevertheless, the assessment methodology also revealed some limitations related to the assessment of the specific components and end-of-life scenarios, and to the absence of a holistic evaluation of trade-offs between mass-based score and environmental impacts.

The goal of the interdisciplinary study presented in this paper was to identify opportunities for innovative applications of mycelium in construction, including housing construction. This solution is gaining significance due to its sustainability and eco-friendliness. Mycelium can be seen as an innovative alternative to traditional building materials, and can be transformed into permanent structures using mycotecture. In 2023, within the framework of cooperation between researchers from the Warsaw University of Technology and experts from the Łukasiewicz Research Network Institute, an experimental study was conducted and produced interesting results. The study is at the testing stage. The interdisciplinary research team grew to include researchers from the Cracow University of Technology, Eurac Research from Italy and InnoRenew CoE from Slovenia. The methodology of research on mycotecture is a comprehensive process that begins with defining research goals and analyzing the literature. After analyzing existing cases and drawing conclusions, research experiments are designed, which include both laboratory tests and field tests. Field tests of the material produced during the study was linked with the participation of students from the Warsaw University of Technology, who built the Future Pavilion also known as the “We Stand For” initiative, where a prototype mycelium brick was used in the pavilion’s structure.

The built environment in the EU accounts for 40% of the total energy consumption and 36% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. To address the inefficiency of existing buildings, renovation could reduce their total energy consumption by 5–6% and lower carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 5%. A retrofit solution for existing buildings involves the use of lightweight prefabricated systems, some of which include integrated HVAC components that are able to enhance their functionality. Indeed, such prefabricated facade elements with integrated HVAC systems can represent a minimally invasive method for reducing the energy consumption of an existing building. To assess the potential of this approach, a full-scale mock-up of a prefabricated timber facade with integrated HVAC system was tested at the Facade System Interactions Lab (FSIL) of Eurac Research, Bolzano. The experimental data were used to develop a calibrated and validated 3D finite element model in COMSOL Multiphysics. The validated model was used to evaluate the facade’s thermal performance under standard heating conditions through a proposed equivalent thermal transmittance indicator (U_eq). Results show that the active facade achieves 0.07 W m⁻² K⁻¹, compared to 0.21 W m⁻² K⁻¹ for the passive facade with identical materials but without active components.