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He was the winner of the 2012 CAPUTO Prize awarded by the ATI Lazio for the best scientific paper on energy and environment issues for the document published in Applied Thermal Engineering "A RATIONAL THERMODYNAMIC USE OF LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS IN A WASTE INCINERATOR PLANT".
ATI "Italian Thermotechnic Association", Lazio section
Researcher (RTDb, art. 24 subsection 3 lettera B, law 240/2010) in Environmental Techical Physic (ING-IND/11). Teaching activity: Numerical Design of Thermal Systems, in the Magistral degree course in Mechanical Engineering and Heat Transfer Complements, in the Magistral degree course in Energy Engineering. Responsible in Research Activities for several national and foreign institutions, partecipation to national research activities, in particular PON projects (National Operative Programma Research and Competitiveness) : PON3PE_00050_2 “Domus”, PON04a2_E - SINER-GREEN - RES NOVAE, PON01_02061, PON01_01366 and regional projects: POR Calabria FESR 2014/2020 e 2007/2013. He has been a speaker at national and international congresses concerning the sector of Environmental Technical Physics and author/coauthor of over 100 scientific papers, of which 45 on Scopus indexed journals. He is effective member of the national association AICARR "Italian Air Conditioning, Heating and Cooling" since 2005, member of the Italian Thermotechnical Association (ATI) as full member since 07/15/2006, member of the IBPSA association, "International Buildings Performance Simulation Association ”. Research fields: Thermal analysis of building components in climatic chamber; Passive systems in buildings; Measurement of climatic quantities; Net and Near Zero Energy Buildings;Energy requalification of existing buildings; Innovative technologies in buildings.
Project Goal: The project research aim to evaluating different passive systems to be implemented in the building envelope to reduce the energy consumption for yearly air-conditioning.
Current Stage: In Progrees, Special Issue for Energies
Project Goal: ore Information can be found in the following Link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/processes/special_issues/Renewable_Energy_Environmental_Engineering
Current Stage: In progress, Special Issue for Processing
Project Goal: In Europe the building sector has a strong influence on the energetic consumptions and the consequent environmental pollution. Therefore, in order to respect the energy savings directives, designers look toward more sustainable buildings made by a massive employment of wooden materials. Wood, in fact, is performant from the structural point of view, it’s recyclable, reusable and naturally renewable. Moreover, it is characterized by excellent thermal properties and allows for the implementation of more sustainable dry-walls structures. However, social and cultural aspects impede the spread of multifloor wooden structures, especially in the seismic areas, due to the idea of a fragile and unreliable materials if compared with traditional and massive buildings made by concrete frames and brick walls. In this paper, the energy performances of a multifloor wooden nZEB designed in order to respect the several constraints requested in seismic areas, are presented. The building is located in South Italy, where the highest seismic risk and the particular climatic context make the design phase particularly complicated. An appropriate compromise between heating and cooling demands, in fact, has to be identified to limit the annual energy consumptions. The obtained results highlight that it is possible to adopt particular design choices in order to achieve wooden multifloor building with the nZEB label and with an excellent behaviour during seismic events.
Current Stage: Building Energy Performances optimized for Mediterranean Areas
Crystalline silicon photovoltaics are a cardinal and well-consolidated technology for the achievement of energy efficiency goals, being installed worldwide for the production of clean electrical energy. However, their performance is strongly penalized by the thermal drift, mostly in periods of high solar radiation where solar cells reach considerably high temperatures. To limit this aspect, the employment of cooling systems appears a promising and viable solution. For this purpose, four different cooling systems, working on the photovoltaic (PV) panel back surface, were proposed and investigated in an experimental set-up located at the University of Calabria (Italy). Hourly electrical output power and efficiency were provided accounting for different meteorological conditions in several months of the experimental campaign. The results demonstrated that a simple spray cooling technique can provide an absolute increment of electrical efficiency of up to 1.6% and an average percentage increment of daily energy of up to 8% in hot months. More complex systems, based on ventilation or combining spray cooling and ventilation, were demonstrated not to be a viable option for PV performance improvement.
Piero Bevilacqua; Stefania Perrella; Daniela Cirone; Roberto Bruno; Natale Arcuri. Efficiency Improvement of Photovoltaic Modules via Back Surface Cooling. Energies 2021, 14, 895 .
AMA StylePiero Bevilacqua, Stefania Perrella, Daniela Cirone, Roberto Bruno, Natale Arcuri. Efficiency Improvement of Photovoltaic Modules via Back Surface Cooling. Energies. 2021; 14 (4):895.
Chicago/Turabian StylePiero Bevilacqua; Stefania Perrella; Daniela Cirone; Roberto Bruno; Natale Arcuri. 2021. "Efficiency Improvement of Photovoltaic Modules via Back Surface Cooling." Energies 14, no. 4: 895.
The refurbishment of existing buildings represents a priority target to reduce global energy consumption. An interesting solution is represented by multilayer systems made by insulating panels mounted on a suitable frame to form non-ventilated air-gaps with the existing envelopes. This solution is attractive because it allows for renewal and energy requalification of building façades by interventions addressed exclusively to the external surfaces, without interfering with occupants. However, it produces an increase of the building volume that could be in contrast with local construction regulations. In this context, the application of reflective (low-ε) thermal insulation panels inside the air–gap seems appropriate to reduce the system thickness without penalizing the thermal transmittance of the renovated envelope. However, addressed investigations conducted on the combined convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients inside enclosures equipped with low-ε materials, are lacking. In this paper, an experimental campaign conducted in a climatic chamber by the heat flux meter method on three different samples of commercial reflective panels inside a non-ventilated air–gap has shown, for the same sample thickness, an increase of the air–gap thermal resistance up to seven times. In order to evaluate the performances on a real scale, the experimental results were employed to tune a model developed in the COMSOL environment to determine the attainable global heat transfer coefficient in real scale air cavities. The results showed that thermo-reflective panels can produce the same effect of at least 6 cm of traditional insulating materials by avoiding additional space. Moreover, useful design information concerning the attainable thermal resistance growth related to the air–gap thickness and the thermo-reflective panel emissivity, were introduced. Results showed that by setting the vertical wall height, an optimal air–gap thickness that allows for minimizing the global heat transfer coefficient, can be identified, however, this is mainly when the emissivity coefficient of the panel surfaces is lower than 0.5. Furthermore, by setting the optimal thickness, the increase of the transferred thermal flux by quadruplicating the wall height is moderate being slightly greater than 16%. By monetizing the saved volume growth, the multilayer system equipped with thermo-reflective panels is economically profitable, especially with the insulating panel cost increase and in zones where the average building value is high.
Roberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Vittorio Ferraro; Natale Arcuri. Reflective thermal insulation in non-ventilated air-gaps: experimental and theoretical evaluations on the global heat transfer coefficient. Energy and Buildings 2021, 236, 110769 .
AMA StyleRoberto Bruno, Piero Bevilacqua, Vittorio Ferraro, Natale Arcuri. Reflective thermal insulation in non-ventilated air-gaps: experimental and theoretical evaluations on the global heat transfer coefficient. Energy and Buildings. 2021; 236 ():110769.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Vittorio Ferraro; Natale Arcuri. 2021. "Reflective thermal insulation in non-ventilated air-gaps: experimental and theoretical evaluations on the global heat transfer coefficient." Energy and Buildings 236, no. : 110769.
A novel procedure to determine the environmental quality of boilers based on the combustion entropy degradation, the pollutants emission and the device efficiency is proposed. The entropy generation due to the chemical reaction was determined and then the irreversibilities on the external environment were first quantified. Successively, the entropy generation numbers of the combustion reactions were combined with the heat transfer process entropy generation of the boilers to consider the actual functioning conditions, in order to quantify the environmental damages by introducing an Environment Quality Index (EQI). A parametric study varying the heat exchanger efficiency, fluid flow rates and temperatures, for different fuel typologies, was performed to assess the environmental impact. Solar hydrogen was considered for its importance as future renewable energy carrier. The results showed that the highest EQI was produced by the natural gas, but if heat exchanger parameters are defined opportunely, the score gap with other fluids can be recovered. For hydrogen and coal decreasing the flue gases temperature or by increasing the flue gases mass flow rate can strongly improve the EQI index, whereas the gap recovery for Diesel is rather difficult.
Giovanni Nicoletti; Roberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Natale Arcuri; Gerardo Nicoletti. A Second Law Analysis to Determine the Environmental Impact of Boilers Supplied by Different Fuels. Processes 2021, 9, 113 .
AMA StyleGiovanni Nicoletti, Roberto Bruno, Piero Bevilacqua, Natale Arcuri, Gerardo Nicoletti. A Second Law Analysis to Determine the Environmental Impact of Boilers Supplied by Different Fuels. Processes. 2021; 9 (1):113.
Chicago/Turabian StyleGiovanni Nicoletti; Roberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Natale Arcuri; Gerardo Nicoletti. 2021. "A Second Law Analysis to Determine the Environmental Impact of Boilers Supplied by Different Fuels." Processes 9, no. 1: 113.
The spread of near-Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB) involves the employment of high performant air-conditioning plants where renewable sources can be integrated easily. In this context, heat pumps appear as a promising solution given their ability to exploit aerothermal, hydrothermal and geothermal sources and to supply both heating and cooling loads with the same device. In order to evaluate the energy performances in transient conditions, the actual winter (COP) and summer (EER) performance indexes, in the function of the sources’ temperatures and the capacity ratio (CR), have to be available. Nevertheless, heat pump manufactures often provide the trend of the performance indexes in the function of the temperatures of the sources specifically for nominal conditions, whereas the dependence of the performance indexes in the function of CR, that takes into account the part-load operation, is almost always not provided. Alternatively, specific technical standards suggest the use of a correction factor to modify nominal COP and EER for the attainment of the real performance indexes. In this paper, by using data from an experimental set-up equipped with air-water heat pumps, these correlations were tested and tuned. Winter results showed that correction factors suggested by standards have to be modified in the presence of a storage system. In summer, instead, a new correlation was developed to find a function between nominal and actual EERs in the function of CR by exploiting a similar approach employed for the COP calculation.
Roberto Bruno; Francesco Nicoletti; Giorgio Cuconati; Stefania Perrella; Daniela Cirone. Performance Indexes of an Air-Water Heat Pump Versus the Capacity Ratio: Analysis by Means of Experimental Data. Energies 2020, 13, 3391 .
AMA StyleRoberto Bruno, Francesco Nicoletti, Giorgio Cuconati, Stefania Perrella, Daniela Cirone. Performance Indexes of an Air-Water Heat Pump Versus the Capacity Ratio: Analysis by Means of Experimental Data. Energies. 2020; 13 (13):3391.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoberto Bruno; Francesco Nicoletti; Giorgio Cuconati; Stefania Perrella; Daniela Cirone. 2020. "Performance Indexes of an Air-Water Heat Pump Versus the Capacity Ratio: Analysis by Means of Experimental Data." Energies 13, no. 13: 3391.
The use of passive solutions for building envelopes represents an important step toward the achievement of more efficient and zero-energy building targets. Trombe walls are an interesting and viable option for the reduction of building energy requirements for heating, especially in cold climates. This study presents the experimental analysis of an innovative Trombe wall configuration, named a thermo-diode Trombe wall, which was specifically designed to improve the energy efficiency by providing a proper level of insulation for the building envelope. Such a design is essential in cold climates to limit the thermal losses whilst increasing solar heat gains to the heated spaces. An experimental campaign was conducted from December to March that involved monitoring the external climatic conditions and the main thermal parameters to assess the thermal performance of the proposed solution. The results demonstrated that in the presence of solar radiation, the thermo-diode Trombe wall was able to generate significant natural convection inside the air cavity, with temperatures higher than 35 °C in the upper section, by providing consistent heat gains for the indoor environment, even on cold days and for hours after the end of the daylight. The efficiency, relative to the incident solar radiation, reached 15.3% during a well-insolated winter day.
Jerzy Szyszka; Piero Bevilacqua; Roberto Bruno. An Innovative Trombe Wall for Winter Use: The Thermo-Diode Trombe Wall. Energies 2020, 13, 2188 .
AMA StyleJerzy Szyszka, Piero Bevilacqua, Roberto Bruno. An Innovative Trombe Wall for Winter Use: The Thermo-Diode Trombe Wall. Energies. 2020; 13 (9):2188.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJerzy Szyszka; Piero Bevilacqua; Roberto Bruno. 2020. "An Innovative Trombe Wall for Winter Use: The Thermo-Diode Trombe Wall." Energies 13, no. 9: 2188.
Cost-optimal analysis was pointed out in the 2010/31 European Directive as a tool to evaluate the achievable building energy performance levels as a function of the corresponding costs. These analyses can be carried out by a financial projection for private investors and a macroeconomic approach to establish the minimal energy performance levels. Consequently, the financial projection provides different results that could stimulate private investors toward other cost-optimal solutions that do not match the minimal energy performance levels. For this purpose, both the projections were analyzed in the BEopt environment, developed by NREL, on a multistory building located in two contrasting climatic zones of the Mediterranean area, one cold and the other warm, highlighting the differences. The cost-optimal solutions were identified by a parametric study involving measures that affect thermal losses and solar gains, whereas the air-conditioning plant was left unchanged in order to include a fraction of renewable energy in the coverage of the building demands. Results showed that both the projections produced the same cost-optimal solutions, however, the latter matches the building designed to fulfill the minimal energy performance levels only in the cold climate. Conversely, noticeable deviations were detected in the warm location, therefore minimal energy performance levels should be revised, with preference for less insulated opaque surfaces and better performing glazing systems. Moreover, the macroeconomic scenario returns a more limited distance between the minimal energy performance levels and the cost-optimal solutions, therefore, it is far from the real economic frame sustained by private investors.
Roberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Cristina Carpino; Natale Arcuri. The Cost-Optimal Analysis of a Multistory Building in the Mediterranean Area: Financial and Macroeconomic Projections. Energies 2020, 13, 1243 .
AMA StyleRoberto Bruno, Piero Bevilacqua, Cristina Carpino, Natale Arcuri. The Cost-Optimal Analysis of a Multistory Building in the Mediterranean Area: Financial and Macroeconomic Projections. Energies. 2020; 13 (5):1243.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Cristina Carpino; Natale Arcuri. 2020. "The Cost-Optimal Analysis of a Multistory Building in the Mediterranean Area: Financial and Macroeconomic Projections." Energies 13, no. 5: 1243.
Green roofs appear to be an appealing solution for sustainable constructions because they could produce different advantages for the building, especially at an energy level. Nevertheless, usually dynamic models adopted for the simulation of the green roof performances require the knowledge of several parameters, which are often difficult to estimate, in order to properly define the thermal exchanges with the external environment. In this paper, in order to overcome this limitation, dynamic hourly simulations were performed by means of TRNSYS software, employing experimental climatic data and the monitored temperatures in an experimental green roof. In order to contemplate the overall effect of the vegetated roof, the temperature at interface with the structural roof was provided as the boundary condition in the building model. Simulation results have shown that, at annual level in the considered climatic context, a non-insulated green roof provides the best results due to the significant reduction of the cooling energy demand, with annual savings of 34.9% in continuous operation and of 34.7% in intermittent operation. The effect of the green roof was also detected in the second to last floor of the investigated building. The results further highlighted the capability of the green roof to consistently improve the indoor thermal comfort in both winter and summer season.
Piero Bevilacqua; Roberto Bruno; Natale Arcuri. Green roofs in a Mediterranean climate: energy performances based on in-situ experimental data. Renewable Energy 2020, 152, 1414 -1430.
AMA StylePiero Bevilacqua, Roberto Bruno, Natale Arcuri. Green roofs in a Mediterranean climate: energy performances based on in-situ experimental data. Renewable Energy. 2020; 152 ():1414-1430.
Chicago/Turabian StylePiero Bevilacqua; Roberto Bruno; Natale Arcuri. 2020. "Green roofs in a Mediterranean climate: energy performances based on in-situ experimental data." Renewable Energy 152, no. : 1414-1430.
Photovoltaic represents the most consolidated technology for the production of clean and renewable energy. Even though several new type of cells have been proposed, the first generation crystalline silicon is still the most used worldwide due to the reliability in long-term efficiency and yields. A main limitation is the strong dependency of the electric efficiency on the operative temperature, that markedly decreases with high solar radiation. Cooling systems can be an efficient solution, helping to contain the temperature rise. In this paper, the long-term performances of three different cooling technologies, based on spray cooling and forced ventilation, acting on the back surface of photovoltaic modules were assessed. In sunny days the cooling systems were able to reduce the back temperature by up to 26.4 °C. The analysis also verified the uniformity of temperature distribution. The good performances of the spray cooling system were sanctioned by the efficiency that in August reached 14.3% compared to the 12.7% of the reference module. The monthly increment in electric energy for the most performant system ranged from 1.4% in December to 8.6% in June. For the whole analysed period, the greatest increment of 6.1% in energy yield was determined.
Piero Bevilacqua; Roberto Bruno; Natale Arcuri. Comparing the performances of different cooling strategies to increase photovoltaic electric performance in different meteorological conditions. Energy 2020, 195, 116950 .
AMA StylePiero Bevilacqua, Roberto Bruno, Natale Arcuri. Comparing the performances of different cooling strategies to increase photovoltaic electric performance in different meteorological conditions. Energy. 2020; 195 ():116950.
Chicago/Turabian StylePiero Bevilacqua; Roberto Bruno; Natale Arcuri. 2020. "Comparing the performances of different cooling strategies to increase photovoltaic electric performance in different meteorological conditions." Energy 195, no. : 116950.
Buildings portion in global energy consumption is 40%, and in the building envelope, the roof is a crucial point for improving indoor temperature, especially in the last and second last floors. Studies show that green roofs can be applied to moderate roof temperature and affect the indoor temperature in summer and winter. However, the performance of green roofs depends on several parameters such as climate, irrigation, layer materials, and thickness. In this context, the present research deals with a comprehensive experimental analysis of different thermal impacts of green roofs in summer and winter in a Mediterranean climate. Measurements carried out in one year in three different types of green roofs with different thicknesses, layers, and with and without the insulation layer. The analysis determined the possible period that indoor cooling or heating might be required with and without green roofs and demonstrated the positive impact of green roofs in moderating the roof temperature and temperature fluctuations, which in summer was remarkable. In conclusion, since in the Mediterranean climate, the thermal differences between green roofs and conventional roofs in summer are much higher than winter, it seems that the green roof without an insulation layer would show better performance.
Mario Maiolo; Behrouz Pirouz; Roberto Bruno; Stefania Anna Palermo; Natale Arcuri; Patrizia Piro. The Role of the Extensive Green Roofs on Decreasing Building Energy Consumption in the Mediterranean Climate. Sustainability 2020, 12, 359 .
AMA StyleMario Maiolo, Behrouz Pirouz, Roberto Bruno, Stefania Anna Palermo, Natale Arcuri, Patrizia Piro. The Role of the Extensive Green Roofs on Decreasing Building Energy Consumption in the Mediterranean Climate. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (1):359.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMario Maiolo; Behrouz Pirouz; Roberto Bruno; Stefania Anna Palermo; Natale Arcuri; Patrizia Piro. 2020. "The Role of the Extensive Green Roofs on Decreasing Building Energy Consumption in the Mediterranean Climate." Sustainability 12, no. 1: 359.
Roberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Vittorio Ferraro; Natale Arcuri. Second Law Analysis for the Optimization of Plate Heat Exchangers. Mathematical Modelling of Engineering Problems 2019, 6, 475 -482.
AMA StyleRoberto Bruno, Piero Bevilacqua, Vittorio Ferraro, Natale Arcuri. Second Law Analysis for the Optimization of Plate Heat Exchangers. Mathematical Modelling of Engineering Problems. 2019; 6 (4):475-482.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Vittorio Ferraro; Natale Arcuri. 2019. "Second Law Analysis for the Optimization of Plate Heat Exchangers." Mathematical Modelling of Engineering Problems 6, no. 4: 475-482.
Efficient low consumption buildings require the building envelope to be scrupulously designed from an early stage. Passive solar technologies, such as the Trombe wall, can contribute to the reduction of the heating energy demand and, if properly operated, they can also impact the summer behaviour of the building. The use of such a solution has been limited, especially in warm climates, as severe problems of indoor overheating can occur even beyond the cooling period. Through the dynamic simulation software DesignBuilder, the authors investigated the energy performance of two different residential buildings equipped with a Trombe wall in different climatic contexts. The authors proposed the adoption of proper ventilation strategies to further reduce cooling needs. The validity and effectiveness of the proposed solutions was verified in warm climates where the Trombe reduced heating requirements by up to 71.7% and decreased the cooling energy demand by 36.1 %. In a cold climate, heating savings were 18.2% with a cooling energy reduction of 42.4%. The study highlighted the fundamental importance of the definition of proper ventilation strategies based on climatic parameters to prevent drawbacks in intermediate seasons, with an evident limitation of the system performance.
Piero Bevilacqua; Federica Benevento; Roberto Bruno; Natale Arcuri. Are Trombe walls suitable passive systems for the reduction of the yearly building energy requirements? Energy 2019, 185, 554 -566.
AMA StylePiero Bevilacqua, Federica Benevento, Roberto Bruno, Natale Arcuri. Are Trombe walls suitable passive systems for the reduction of the yearly building energy requirements? Energy. 2019; 185 ():554-566.
Chicago/Turabian StylePiero Bevilacqua; Federica Benevento; Roberto Bruno; Natale Arcuri. 2019. "Are Trombe walls suitable passive systems for the reduction of the yearly building energy requirements?" Energy 185, no. : 554-566.
Roberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Vittorio Ferraro; Natale Arcuri. Entropy Generation Minimization for the Design of Plate Heat Exchangers. TECNICA ITALIANA-Italian Journal of Engineering Science 2019, 63, 270 -276.
AMA StyleRoberto Bruno, Piero Bevilacqua, Vittorio Ferraro, Natale Arcuri. Entropy Generation Minimization for the Design of Plate Heat Exchangers. TECNICA ITALIANA-Italian Journal of Engineering Science. 2019; 63 (2-4):270-276.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Vittorio Ferraro; Natale Arcuri. 2019. "Entropy Generation Minimization for the Design of Plate Heat Exchangers." TECNICA ITALIANA-Italian Journal of Engineering Science 63, no. 2-4: 270-276.
Vittorio Ferraro; Piero Bevilacqua; Roberto Bruno; Natale Arcuri. Energy Savings in Greenhouses through the Use of Heat Recovery Systems. TECNICA ITALIANA-Italian Journal of Engineering Science 2019, 63, 467 -473.
AMA StyleVittorio Ferraro, Piero Bevilacqua, Roberto Bruno, Natale Arcuri. Energy Savings in Greenhouses through the Use of Heat Recovery Systems. TECNICA ITALIANA-Italian Journal of Engineering Science. 2019; 63 (2-4):467-473.
Chicago/Turabian StyleVittorio Ferraro; Piero Bevilacqua; Roberto Bruno; Natale Arcuri. 2019. "Energy Savings in Greenhouses through the Use of Heat Recovery Systems." TECNICA ITALIANA-Italian Journal of Engineering Science 63, no. 2-4: 467-473.
Regarding the buildings energy performances, the EN ISO 52016-1 introduced a new hourly calculation method to evaluate sensible and latent energy demands. Despite it representing a more reliable approach, in several countries it cannot yet be used because national extensions have to be provided at a local level for the correct application of calculation methodologies. Therefore, the quasi-steady procedure of the same EN ISO 52016-1, which uses the concept of the utilization factors for energy gains and heat transfer, has to be adopted. The latter represents a simplified method more appealed for designers due to the contained required input data and the reduced computational efforts, however provides noticeable deviances in the cooling period, especially in buildings located in warm climates equipped with large glazed surfaces. Therefore, in order to attain reliable results, a calibration of the summer quasi-steady models was carried out, by means of the results provided by the TRNSYS software, referring different configurations of two buildings located in different points of the Mediterranean area. By using the “black box” approach, simulations have allowed determination the “equivalent” energies to the steady-state conditions and a new correlation for the calculation of the gain utilization factor. The latter, in combination with a modification of the solar radiation transmitted through glazed surfaces, determined accurate cooling energy requirements. In order to validate the calibrated procedure, the comparison between monthly cooling demands and TRNSYS results was carried out, observing deviances lower than 5%.
Roberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Natale Arcuri. Assessing cooling energy demands with the EN ISO 52016-1 quasi-steady approach in the Mediterranean area. Journal of Building Engineering 2019, 24, 100740 .
AMA StyleRoberto Bruno, Piero Bevilacqua, Natale Arcuri. Assessing cooling energy demands with the EN ISO 52016-1 quasi-steady approach in the Mediterranean area. Journal of Building Engineering. 2019; 24 ():100740.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Natale Arcuri. 2019. "Assessing cooling energy demands with the EN ISO 52016-1 quasi-steady approach in the Mediterranean area." Journal of Building Engineering 24, no. : 100740.
In order to respect the energy savings directives, worldwide designers look toward more sustainable buildings, especially with tower configurations to reduce the footprint in urban environments. The implementation of multi-storey buildings with a massive employment of wooden materials represents a feasible solution; however, in Mediterranean areas the seismic risk renders the design process very challenging. Consequently, designers often prefer hybrid structures where a reinforced concrete core guarantees structural safety whereas the wooden elements used for the building envelope confer efficient energy performances. Furthermore, in warm climates the attainment of the near Zero Energy Building (nZEB) is a difficult target because in the presence of insulated envelopes the cooling requirements could negatively affect the building energy consumption. In this paper, the energy performance of an innovative multi-storey wooden nZEB expressly designed to meet the requirements of the Mediterranean areas, are presented. In particular, the structural safety was attained by combining a timber frame with a precise layout of cross laminated timber (CLT) panels. Once the structural behaviour was verified, a parametric analysis developed in TRNSYS allowed determination of the best building-plant configuration for the achievement of the nZEB target.
Roberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Teresa Cuconati; Natale Arcuri. Energy evaluations of an innovative multi-storey wooden near Zero Energy Building designed for Mediterranean areas. Applied Energy 2019, 238, 929 -941.
AMA StyleRoberto Bruno, Piero Bevilacqua, Teresa Cuconati, Natale Arcuri. Energy evaluations of an innovative multi-storey wooden near Zero Energy Building designed for Mediterranean areas. Applied Energy. 2019; 238 ():929-941.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Teresa Cuconati; Natale Arcuri. 2019. "Energy evaluations of an innovative multi-storey wooden near Zero Energy Building designed for Mediterranean areas." Applied Energy 238, no. : 929-941.
Thermal transmittances of opaque and transparent surfaces (U-values) is an influential parameter for the evaluation of the thermal losses through the building envelope. Usually, it is determined by measurements in climatic chamber using the hot-box or the thermo-flux meter methods, following the procedures described in international standards. Alternatively, U-value can be calculated analytically if the layers thermal resistances are known. To this purpose, in this paper the preliminary results obtained by an innovative facility for the calculation of the thermal properties of materials by means of the thermo-flux meter method, in prevalent mono-dimensional thermal flux conditions, are presented. Compared to traditional climatic chambers, the main facility features concern the reduced size, the transportability for in-situ measurements and hydronic circuits to supply radiant panels for the internal air temperature control, establishing a prevalent radiant exchange to attain uniform temperature on the specimen surfaces. Moreover, in order to establish a noticeable temperature difference across the tested sample, required to achieve reliable measurements by thermo-flux meter, a thermo-cryostat for the warm side and a small chiller for the cold one are employed. The supplied and absorbed thermal energies are measured by energy flowmeters. A comparison with the certified thermal conductivity provided by manufactures for some materials typically employed in the building sector has provided satisfactory correspondences.
Roberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Giorgio Cuconati; Natale Arcuri. An innovative compact facility for the measurement of the thermal properties of building materials: first experimental results. Applied Thermal Engineering 2018, 143, 947 -954.
AMA StyleRoberto Bruno, Piero Bevilacqua, Giorgio Cuconati, Natale Arcuri. An innovative compact facility for the measurement of the thermal properties of building materials: first experimental results. Applied Thermal Engineering. 2018; 143 ():947-954.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoberto Bruno; Piero Bevilacqua; Giorgio Cuconati; Natale Arcuri. 2018. "An innovative compact facility for the measurement of the thermal properties of building materials: first experimental results." Applied Thermal Engineering 143, no. : 947-954.
The spread of renewable energy technologies in the building sector has produced the new figure of “prosumer”, able to consume and produce energy simultaneously. In this context, a correct management of the energy fluxes is required to increase user remuneration. All of this, paired with the use of the emergent IoT technologies, allowed the realization of a Smart Ecosystem devoted to make effective the process of producing, storing and consuming energy. Considering PV generators, the self-produced electricity surplus has to be transferred with advantageous conditions, alternatively it has to be stored. Air-conditioning plants employing heat pumps represent a useful option for the rational management of renewable electricity because the same system can be used as an alternative to “electric storage”, cheaper and more reliable than traditional batteries. Heat pumps can be exploited to produce thermal or cooling energy and store it in a suitable tank, though the building does not require them, and to conciliate the time shift between energy demand and offer. In presence of a saturated storage tank, the same building could be used as a further thermal accumulator by exploiting radiant emission systems to activate its thermal mass, by means of either overheating or undercooling strategies. The combination of these solutions allows for noticeable energy and economic savings and a rational use of renewable sources. However, a smart control system is required to make all the various involved devices communicating and coordinating among each other. A smart air conditioning system and the correspondent control strategies adopted for its management, based on the employment of PV driven heat pumps with thermal storage connected to a radiant emission system, is introduced.
Roberto Bruno; Natale Arcuri; Giorgio Cuconati. A Smart Air-Conditioning Plant for Efficient Energy Buildings. Smart Sensors, Measurement and Instrumentation 2018, 251 -274.
AMA StyleRoberto Bruno, Natale Arcuri, Giorgio Cuconati. A Smart Air-Conditioning Plant for Efficient Energy Buildings. Smart Sensors, Measurement and Instrumentation. 2018; ():251-274.
Chicago/Turabian StyleRoberto Bruno; Natale Arcuri; Giorgio Cuconati. 2018. "A Smart Air-Conditioning Plant for Efficient Energy Buildings." Smart Sensors, Measurement and Instrumentation , no. : 251-274.