Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of Ar.Tec. (Scientific Society of Architectural Engineering)

Healthy living spaces in our built environment depend on the harmonious interdependence of nature within us (Building Biology) and nature surrounding us (Building Ecology). Achieving this goal requires a holistic, integrative and interdisciplinary planning approach. Not only traditional disciplines such as urban planning, architectural engineering, and landscaping must be involved, but the wisdom and knowledge of users, including future residents, also must be incorporated through participatory planning processes. In light of the present discussion and demand for sustainable, climate-neutral solutions, we recognize the necessity of moving towards climate-positive outcomes by shifting towards regenerative development and systems. Beyond goals of limiting CO2 emissions, reducing waste, and improving material flow circularity, we must increasingly view our built environment as an ecosystem in partnership with nature both within us and around us. This entails inviting nature with all its cycles, to be a guiding principle in all our planning activities and decisions. Our practice has long embraced these principles. Genious Loci: Reading the site, integrating topography/geology/morphology, experiencing history and energy of the space geomantically, healing disharmonies; Urban-rural ecosystem: Reconnecting city with region, integrating agro-urban biomass material flows in a circular manner, integrating water cycles as blue-green infrastructure, producing local food by permaculture; Bioclimatic city: Promoting outdoor comfort by blue-green infrastructures, stimulating natural ventilation and adiabatic cooling by reselection of nature in the city, designing resilient water shapes. Healthy city: Integrating the healing power of nature by means of biophilia, inviting vital elements of air, water, light and plants; City of short distances: Structuring the city as a decentralised network of sustainable neighbourhoods, promoting mixed uses in the neighbourhood (residential, commercial, working, services) for a ‘Walkable City’; Regenerative-postfossil city: Understanding the city as a smart grid of renewable energies and changing the individual mobility to a post-fossil structured mobility; Participative city: Inviting the wisdom and knowledge of users by partecipation planning processes, creating a communing feeling for We-Houses, We-Neighbourhoods, We-Cities.

The article is set within the experiences of Cagliari's DICAAR on the sustainable recovery of Sardinia's inland areas and deals with the definition of guidelines for the design and construction of a prototype for multifunctional spaces in rural area. The site chosen for the realization of the prototype is in the locality of Fustiolau, a disused quarry at the center of a process of landscape reintegration, in the historic region of Marmilla. In this specific case, the rural-kit project is aimed at accompanying agro-services, configuring itself as a didactic-experimental building for visiting the area's archaeological sites and for environmental education.The spatial articulation of the device is simple, a barycentric classroom intended to accommodate the primary uses, to which are juxtaposed, along the perimeter, accessory spaces obtained with prefabricated cells in the form of flexible plug-ins, which can be integrated with a variable distribution arrangement. The construction principles of the device are the repeatability of the module, the possibility of disassembly of the construction elements, dry construction, recycling of raw materials, and, above all, the reuse of the constituent elements and the possibility of integral reversibility. From these assumptions, the project is distinguished by simple building elements: the basement that manages the relationship with the ground; plug-ins, load-bearing cells made of recy-cled concrete, which form the building's load-bearing structure and define its metrics; the roof made of glulam and solid wood panels and covered with a metal sheet, a device for microclimatic regulation and renewable energy production. Digitization, sensing and advanced control will enable monitoring of the prototype's environ-mental performance for a multi-year duration during ordinary use to assess its efficiency and degree of overall sustainability.

The AEC sector is actively requiring innovative solutions to simplify, automate processes, and enhance communication among stakeholders. In the last few years, the rapid development of AI tools has demonstrated their huge potential for revolutionizing used practices, methodologies, and strategies in different construction practices. This research paper explores the possibilities of using chatbots to automate various validation processes within the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Specifically, chatbots can streamline the validation of design plans against building codes, facilitating prompt identification of code compliance issues. By augmenting the efficiency of this validation process, chatbots can enhance collaboration among architects, engineers, and construction professionals, leading to smoother project workflows and improved outcomes.A practical test has been conducted to generate programming codes for assessing the adequacy of building models in compliance with building codes, by analyzing the written text from the building codes using the intelligence of the Chatbots and generating a programming code, particularly crucial during the lengthy redesign process of buildings involving many routine tasks.The potential benefits include higher productivity, shorter project timelines, and fewer errors. However, concerns about data security and reliability are also acknowledged, and the issues related to the development of AI tools and their effects on the reliability of the results are discussed.This research aims to contribute valuable insights into the transformative role of AI tools in the design/construction industry, offering a balanced assessment of their capabilities and potential challenges.

The preservation and transmission of knowledge in the digital era is often entrusted to the world of Information and Communications Technology. The advantage of this transition is the increase in the amount of information available via the web, while the disadvantages are mostly represented by the difficulty in accessing to this information or the accuracy and quality of them. In this context, the task of the academic expertise is to gain an intrinsic knowledge of the topic through experience in the field for clarify the best practices in the digitisation process.In the following article we analyse the role of digital technologies in the valorisation of architectural heritage through an analysis of the indications at European level and initiatives in two distinct cultural contexts, Spain, and Italy.After a comparative analysis of the various superordinate indications, we will investigate the strategies, methodologies and applications used in the two countries to digitise and promote their rich historical and cultural heritage also leveraging the experience of professor Palmero-Iglesias, who has been running a digitization project with European funds since 2019, called PROMETHEUS, which connects the experiences and skills of Italian and Spanish figures and others, to point toward a better understanding of best practices in the digitization process of cultural heritage in order to obtain a holistic digital future that can preserve the authentic values established in the place of origin with the objective of contribute to create a methodology in the field of digitisation, facilitating knowledge sharing and the potential development of international synergies.

The stone industry in Italy represents an important reality in the manufacturing production landscape, generating a wide range of stone products, including slabs, blocks, and tiles. In Puglia, there is the Apricena district, known for its production of precious stones, distinguished by varieties such as Fiorito, Biancone, and Serpeggiante.However, the sector is facing several challenges, including international competition and production of waste. The waste comes from processing activities such as cutting, leading to the generation of slurry stone waste, also known as “marmettola.” Currently, there is no homogeneous legislation in Italy, often resulting in waste disposal in landfills. This underscores the need to improve the sustainability of production activities by exploring new solutions for the reuse of these stone wastes.In this context, the research aims to survey literature experiences pursuing the reuse of waste through the development of new materials and composite elements. The methodology involves screening contributions on various scientific databases such as Scopus, ScienceDirect, Espacenet, etc., using appropriate keywords. Contributions are then categorized by mechanical, chemical, and physical performances, as well as the application fields for these composite materials. This analysis will help in identifying the widest applications capable of effectively absorbing waste volumes.

The present work originates from the identification of the concept of resilience and its application to the construction industry. The city, like us, must be able to show resilience in order to respond to the increasingly urgent challenges of our time, such as climate change and pollution, which increasingly expose it to new fragilities.From an analysis of the existing literature, two trends emerge that could prove to be salvific within such a transitional path. On the one hand, it is worth noting the remarkable strides that are being made in the area of additive manufacturing, especially with regard to 4D printing, an advanced version of 3D printing, differing from its predecessor in its capabilities, such as the shape memory effect, which allows objects made with these techniques to change their conformation depending on the stimuli they receive. Another innovative technology that is well suited to the evolving needs of the construction industry are the so-called kinetic facades, consisting of systems, mechanically operated, that can change the spatial conformation of a facade, to allow better exploitation of solar radiation at different times of the day.The aim of this work is to integrate the potential of these two technologies through the design of a facade component produced with 4D technologies that can change its conformation based on external temperatures, with the purpose of modulating the passage of solar radiation inside the building.The process of elaborating the component will then be defined, initially through the production of PLA printed samples, with different combinations of the main printing parameters, to verify the efficiency of the shape memory mechanism and the influence of these parameters. From the results obtained from the experimental phase, it will then be possible to define a mathematical model suitable for simulating the behaviour of the material in different conformations, to design the most functional form for the desired purpose.

This study delves into the application of multi-criteria analysis to identify sustainable building envelopes for temporary housing, integrating economic, environmental, and social evaluations. In a historical context marked by increasingly severe housing crises and a growing number of individuals deprived of housing, this research aims to address a significant gap in the current academic landscape. Through a critical analysis of the limited existing research on the subject, the article highlights the urgency of developing housing solutions that not only meet immediate needs but also promote long-term sustainability. Multi-criteria analysis emerges as a key methodology for balancing economic, environmental, and social impacts, thereby contributing to the provision of resilient and ecological shelters in response to global housing emergencies. As societies grapple with these challenges, the study calls for a comprehensive and integrated approach to housing design that considers the multifaceted nature of sustainability and its crucial role in meeting the housing needs of vulnerable populations.The critical analysis of existing research reveals the necessity of developing shelter solutions that address not only immediate needs but are also designed to promote sustainability. It represents a methodology for balancing economic, environmental, and social impacts, thus providing an integrated framework for temporary housing design. Navigating through socio-economic and environmental complexities, multi-criteria analysis emerges as an indispensable tool for developing resilient and environmentally respectful solutions capable of meeting the needs of the most vulnerable populations. In this manner, this study proposes an innovative and evidence-based approach to addressing contemporary housing challenges and contributing to a more sustainable future for communities affected by housing emergencies.

The inefficiency affecting a significant part of our built heritage reveals the urgency of renovating existing buildings and the need for extensive and cost-effective interventions. To achieve a disruptive diffusion of renovations good practices, it is still necessary to increase end-users’ awareness and provide a framework for efficient workflows to the professionals involved in these processes (designers, contractors, manufacturers). In this scenario, digital technologies play a key role, since they enable the optimisation of the whole renovation process by saving time and costs, reducing the chances of mistakes, and fostering interoperability. One of the main applications of digital technologies in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector deals with the organisation of data into digital, informative models that can be useful for the management of many phases of the process, from planning to monitoring. The collection of data on existing buildings is the first crucial step in this workflow and current methodologies for their acquisition and processing still require expensive tools and complex, time-consuming procedures. Despite the growing research interest concerning the trade-off between accuracy and real feasibility of the acquisition and processing phases, an approach that takes into account both the affordability of survey practices and the suitability of acquired data for subsequent modelling steps is still needed. This study contributes to this aim by presenting some tests carried out within the European project ARV with the goal of defining and validating strategies based on digital procedures to support renovation processes. An experimental comparison among three different data acquisition and processing strategies has been conducted. The approach adopted considers, on the one hand, the limits and potential of the acquisition and processing procedures and tools, and, on the other hand, the requirements for digital modelling in BIM environment.

The new model of circular economy and digitalization promoted by the recent normative framework of the European Union opens new scenarios of integration between sustainable buildings and built heritage conservation that led to the emergence of a new transversal ethic of sustainability based on knowledge of materials and their circular use in construction with a leading role for the expertise of the scientific-disciplinary sector of Architectural Engineering. The building sustainability requirements and the widespread degradation of the built heritage, in many cases reduced to the state of dilapidated buildings or ruins, give to materials and building components an intrinsic value downgrading the need for the conservation of the building organism or what remains of it. Circular design offers the possibility of a reformulation of the connections between construction and the life of materials and building component that neither begins nor ends with their use in buildings or specific locations. On the contrary, the reuse of heritage materials and building components can transform the loss of construction into a potential gain in a continuous history of use, deconstruction, and reuse. The paper focuses on the study of the state-of-the-art on Materials Passports with the objectives of the development of Building Heritage Materials Passports (BHMPs) for the recovery of materials and building component belonging to dilapidated built heritage in the inner areas of the Basilicata region, the rediscovery of local buildings technologies and their recognition by communities as common goods and inexhaustible resources. By leveraging the sustainability of the ancient ways of building and inhabiting places, the paper promotes “care actions” of tangible and intangible building heritage with the involvement of communities in Living Labs able to strengthen the resilience to abrupt climate change, transforming needs into opportunities for sustainable development.

In the last decades, the effects of the climate crisis have become increasingly evident, as demonstrated by the growth in the number and intensity of extreme weather events recorded worldwide. The construction sector is one of the economic and production sectors that contributes most to worse this phenomenon, due to its environmental impact in terms of resource consumption, CO2 emissions, and waste generated by building construction and demolition processes. Globally, the construction sector produces approximately 40% of global CO2 emissions, and in only in Europe, construction and demolition waste accounts for about a third of total waste. It is therefore the responsibility of designers to explore new alternative approaches to the traditional way of designing, constructing, and managing buildings, in order to counteract trends and reduce the environmental impact of the construction sector. This study attempts to critically examine a new possible approach to building design and life cycle management through the principles of reversible design. Framed within the strategies of Design for Environment (DfE), reversible design aims to create artifacts designed to be easily assembled and disassembled, allowing for modifications of the construction over time, if the original requirements change, or allowing dismantling and material recovery at the end of the life cycle. Enabling adaptability over time, facilitating conditions for material reuse, and extending the building and its components’ life cycle are implementable strategies to achieve the decarbonization goals of the construction sector by 2050, as outlined in the most recent international climate agreements. For the methodological control of reversible design principles, the research intends to present their possible application to a case study: the design of a functional module for post-natural disaster housing emergency.

Nowadays it is well-known, also by the general public, that the uncontrolled use of non-renewable natural resources, the energy demand increase, and the pollutants emission into the atmosphere have a devastating impact on the environment, on human health, and the society in general. In this scenario, construction is a high concerning sector; hence, there is an urgent need to employ materials with low environmental impact for all those activities connected to the sector, such as construction or redevelopment of buildings, structures and infrastructures according to the required high-performance standards. Moreover, another problem is the generation of enormous quantities of wastes and by-products whose disposal often poses many difficulties, not considering that the usual landfilling causes an additional environmental burden. This study is a part of a doctoral research supported by a PNRR project aimed at the R&D of materials, products and systems for buildings energy improvement, through the valorisation and reuse of secondary raw materials. In particular, this work presents the state of the studies on wastes deriving from the cereal sector, analyzing how they can be reused for the production of more sustainable building materials intended for energy performance improvement as demanded by the current European and national regulations. Cereal wastes reuse, like most of those resulting from the agricultural sector, represents a valid opportunity for a greener construction, also promoting a sustainable approach from the circular economy perspective and in line with the Minimum Environmental Criteria. Therefore, valorisation and reuse of recycled materials in construction would not only reduce their environmental impact, but would also contribute to increase sustainability in construction, a sector that still presents many critical issues connected not only to the actual construction practices, but also to all those activities of production and management that characterize buildings.

The need to make contemporary buildings more sustainable, inclusive and safe has highlighted the possibilities offered by “green” materials. Among these, corrugated cardboard material stands out, given its possibility to be used within innovative prefabricated components for the building envelope, characterized by a low cost and a low environmental impact. ARCHICART technology is based on the patented PACOTEC panel, an innovative prefabricated corrugated cardboard panel for interior partition walls and envelope applications. The panel, designed to be dry-assembled on site, is made up of corrugated cardboard box-shaped profiles glued together and covered with a continuous double sheet corrugated cardboard. ARCHICART technology has previously been the subject of an experimental campaign focused on its mechanical and thermal performances assessment. This contribution reports the main objectives and phases of a new project, aimed at the attainment of European Technical Assessment (ETA) document, mandatory for the performances’ declaration of products for which there is no harmonized standard. Indeed, the novelty of the product require an in-depth study of the component performance over time through an experimental evaluation. So, particular attention must be paid to the durability of ARCHICART cardboard components. For this reason, an analysis of the state-of-the-art on the methodologies for accelerated aging tests on building components is herein reported. In the second part of the manuscript, a tailored aging protocol for ARCHICART panels is defined on the base of multi-year weather data files. The proposed protocol aims to mediate the need to accelerate the aging cycle, therefore increasing the severity of the degradation agents and their frequency over time, with the need to test the hygrothermal behavior of the components under real operating conditions. ds; justified between the margins and using the font/size specified below.

This study explores the fusion of green building practices and Building Information Modeling (BIM), with a focus on green roofs. It highlights the construction industry's shift towards sustainability, emphasizing green roofs as a crucial sustainable technology. Using the Dynamo Visual Programming Language in Autodesk Revit, the research automates the creation of parametric models to assess the thermal and structural properties of green roofs under varying moisture levels.Key findings indicate that the choice of substrate and drainage materials significantly impacts thermal resistance in dry conditions and stress the need to evaluate structural performance in both dry and saturated states. The research presents a methodological framework that includes material selection, integration of green roof components, and performance analysis. It examines various green roof materials, analyzing their thermal and physical properties in different moisture conditions.The study showcases how Dynamo in Revit can automate green roof analysis, enabling quick evaluations and informed design choices. This method supports modern eco-friendly design trends, improving building sustainability and performance. However, the research recognizes its limitations, such as a limited focus on specific green roof technologies and performance indicators, and its concentration on the design phase.Future research directions include exploring a broader range of green roof technologies, additional performance metrics, and expanding the scope to encompass construction and maintenance phases. Incorporating AI and machine learning, establishing standardized guidelines, and examining synergies with other sustainable strategies are also suggested. These advancements will enhance the integration of green buildings with BIM, furthering sustainable development in construction.

The window is an element of the building system that has always been a field of stylistic and technological experimentation. By virtue of belonging to the envelope, it assumes a non-secondary role in the formal composition of façades and affects levels of thermal, luminous, and acoustic comfort. Recently, the aim of environmental sustainability has encouraged the offer of more efficient solutions, also responding to the circular economy, for example by providing for the use of recycled materials. To intercept both the direction taken by the research sector and the direction that industrial production may take, the purpose of the study was to understand what the innovative features of the window will be in the near future; this was done by analysing published patent applications. The methodological approach required prior investigation of patent types and of the territorial extension of their protection. In order to detect current trends on a global scale, interest was directed to international patent applications (PCT - Patent Cooperation Treaty), which allow for the possible protection of the invention in the 157 Treaty countries and which are published in the PATENTSCOPE database of WIPO. In 2023, the chosen year of observation, 195 patent applications were published in the “window” category and 132 were included in the study, selected according to previously defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The classification was based on the sub-systems identified within the window element (Attachment to the structure; Frame, Sash; Glazing; Screen; Movement and maneuvering; Gasket) and categorised into three innovation areas (A1. Design, A2. Performance, A3. Sustainability), and related sub-areas. The study showed that the area of Sustainability is still lacking; while greater interest on the part of the researchers concerned the area of Performance, and in particular thermal/luminous comfort, with a significant focus on the integration of the smart component in windows.

Two main intervention categories emerge for the renewal of residential building stock: refurbishment and demolition and reconstruction. In the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) at the building scale, a common practice is to consider default lifespan values, regardless of the durability of the construction system and the average longevity observed within the geographical context. Consequently, this approach involves a significant risk of misinterpretation or partial evaluations of results in long-term assessments deriving from two main factors: (i) the overestimation of environmental impacts associated with heavyweight construction systems, which are characterised by higher embodied energy and carbon, despite their advantages in superior durability and low maintenance compared to lightweight alternatives; (ii) the tendency to overestimate the lifespan of existing buildings after refurbishment, particularly those that have already surpassed 60 years of service life.This paper presents a comparative LCA carried out between refurbishment and demolition and reconstruction of a case study, a 1960s multi-family residential building located in the suburbs of Bologna. In particular, two heavyweight and three lightweight construction systems are evaluated for the new Zero Energy Building (ZEB). The findings highlight a strong dependence between LCA results and building lifespan, significantly influencing the choice when comparing intervention strategies. The results show minor impacts for demolition and reconstruction scenarios compared to refurbishment scenarios after 30 years of analysis and lower impacts of lightweight construction systems in the same period, while in the medium to long term, over 60 years, heavyweight construction systems yield lesser impacts when accounting for their extended lifespan.

The present and future cities are key players in the ecological and energy transition towards a circular economy thanks to their resource, material and energy potential.The EU-funded ARV project with its six demonstration projects, aims to contribute to speedy and wide scale implementation of climate positive circular communities where people can thrive for generations to come. The intent of the ARV project is to develop and demonstrate a new paradigm of “integrated circular design”, by taking a multidisciplinary approach to (re)design buildings maximizing energy efficiency, minimizing life cycle greenhouse gas emissions and costs, optimizing occupant well-being, and ensuring high architectural quality.In Italy, the case study is the Destra Adige Piedicastello area, one of the oldest districts of the city of Trento. It was selected because it has the opportunity to become an incubator and demonstrator of a new way of thinking about local communities, oriented towards climate respect in a circular economy and energy self-sufficiency perspective, and through the development of solutions that can be rapidly replicated and exported to other districts and cities.To this end, it was decided to design an experimental demonstration timber building that systematizes innovative design, construction, and plant engineering solutions for a new culture for positive energy buildings (PEBs).The challenge was addressed employing methods of integrated and participatory design in a multistakeholder cooperation applying the principles of circular economy and focusing mainly on the use of local bio-based materials, the high energy efficiency with active/passive solutions, the effective integration of renewable energy sources and the off-site prefabrication of the building components.

The international Active House protocol is an assessment and design guidance tool for the realisation of so-called “active” buildings, able to ensure low energy consumption and at the same time contribute positively to human health, while respecting the environment through the use of renewable energy and sustainable materials. The protocol involves a self-checking procedure of the project, in which design and construction choices are planned in order to provide a general framework with respect to the expected Energy-Comfort-Environment performance. In this context, the purpose of the study is to identify whether in new buildings located in a mountainous environment with a Mediterranean climate and built in compliance with current Italian energy-saving regulations, there are any shortcomings regarding comfort, energy and respect for the environment. It is also intended to identify procedures and design actions necessary to achieve the compliance with the requirements of the protocol, as an implementation of what has already been carried out in common practice. These objectives were achieved by applying the protocol to a newly built school located in the municipality of Alfedena (AQ).

EU regulations encourage member countries to a rate of renovation, of the existing building stock, of no less than 3 percent per year. With respect to an Italian landscape strongly characterized by a building stock with reinforced concrete structure, now at the end of its life, this action is realized through a replacement approach. One of the most effective strategies for achieving the construction sector’s sustainability goals is to move toward a circular-type process, of the sector. This is achieved by maximizing the reuse of building components to be decommissioned, at the end of their life, through the method of “upcycling”, a design of the ‘new’ aimed at reusing materials from a demolition/reconstruction (C&D) process that avoids their disposal in landfills. This strategy makes it possible to reduce the environmental impact associated with both the disposal of waste materials resulting from the demolition of the building and the extraction of new raw materials, for new design. The study developed an integrated model, called the “Classifying Method”, which analyses three end-of-life building complex disposal scenarios: landfill, recycling and reuse. The objective of the method is to determine a “ranking” aimed at identifying the most virtuous scenario, both in terms of environmental impact and economic viability. On the subject of Ecological Transition, this study aims to propose a methodology as a concrete response to the following areas: Circular systemic approaches such as Open Building, Life Cycle Thinking, Design for Longevity, Design for Disassembly, Reversible Building Design, Zero Waste, Urban Mining, Upcycling, Recycling, Reuse; Optimization and advanced management of process (design, production, product, service, end-of-life, reuse/recycling), non-renewable resources and waste/waste, for the implementation of sustainable and traceable product life cycles and energy efficiency of the built environment.

In Italy, the marble industry is one of the most productive sectors in terms of quality and quantity of material exported. However, after the economic crisis of 2008 and the COVID19 pandemic, production and export numbers have experienced a significant reduction. This is particularly true for Sicily and the area of Custonaci (Trapani, TP). In this area numerous quarries had to temporarily halt mining operations due to the lack of demand from the market and the reluctance of most entrepreneurs to modify and improve their production lines. Nevertheless, the sector’s most pressing issue is the massive quantity of waste generated during cutting and processing. These wastes are left to pile up in the land next to the sawmills, even if, according to the current Italian legislation, they should be moved to dedicated landfills. Unfortunately, this operation rarely happens as its cost is prohibitively high. Moreover, the intensive extraction activity has a massive impact on the landscape. As a result, in the past few years, researchers have started to find alternative use to this by-product in a variety of industries including construction, fashion and agriculture. Marble quarry waste is already widely used in construction to manufacture aggregate for cementitious matrixes as well as artificial stone, where marble waste is used as mineral filler within a polymeric matrix. The new challenge is to combine marble waste with either a bio-based or a recyclable material, in order to reduce the use of virgin materials and to ensure a further reuse. This works proposes an overview of the state of the art in terms of current legislation, patents and products with marble waste and it paves the way to an experimentation with marble waste from Custonaci marble basin (namely Perlato and Perlatino di Sicilia) by mixing it with either a biodegradable polymer (PLA or PVA) or a recyclable polymer such as nylon, coming from dismissed fishing nets.

The Italian manufacturing sector is facing the challenge of transforming supply chains with a circular economy perspective, encompassing technological, organizational, and social aspects. In this regard, the scientific and technical communities are conducting research and experiments to enable the recycling of industrial waste, aiming to reduce the consumption of raw materials and environmental impacts. The Italian stone sector, which continues to hold the European primacy in the extraction and processing of natural stone, generates enormous quantities of waste such as “marmettola” (stone slurry/sludge) and “cocciame” (stone chips) each year. These are partially reused for certain low-value purposes, while the majority is disposed of in landfills, causing significant environmental impacts.In this context, the STONE project aims to propose innovative and eco-friendly materials and components that are Made in Italy, meeting the performance requirements for the design of indoor/outdoor living spaces and temporary housing solutions. Furthermore, a harmonized process for reusing waste from stone processing will be structured to manufacture eco-design products validated in the three reference geoclusters: Sicily, Tuscany and Apulia.

Building materials’ supply chain is undergoing a significant digital transformation, driven by technological advancements and the need for lean communication among clients, companies, subcontractors, and suppliers, leading to legal disputes, cost overruns, and delays in contract finalization. Moreover, innovative processes and tools must ensure performance quality of building technologies and materials, meeting the requirements of both clients and regulatory standards. In this context, the research seeks to explore the implementation of innovative approaches in the era of digital transition in construction. The goal is to provide comprehensive assistance to all parties involved in the life cycle of building design with several benefits, including remote consultation of technical specifications of materials and technologies, and physical and legal traceability facilitated by a distributed and immutable ledger.

The concept of biophilic design is based on a wide variety of experiences ranging from physical, sensory, metaphorical, morphological, and material to spiritual. Certain elements (such as air, daylight, plants, and landscapes) offer opportunities to develop design strategies with multiple benefits, particularly to enhance health and well-being, productivity, increase biodiversity, circularity, and resilience of the built environment. Investigating the human-nature relationship is, therefore, the task of biophilic design, which constitutes a new frontier in green building aiming to improve collective well-being in human environments and to restore, through the incorporation of greenery, a general sense of fulfillment to those who inhabit architecture. Moreover, through the use of passive and active design strategies, an optimal balance between living comfort, energy savings, and environmental respect can be achieved. This contribution aims to present the genesis of biophilic architecture, its principles, and how these are applied in design. To verify the results of this approach, a method for the multiparametric evaluation of the effects of design, based on the principles of biophilic architecture in terms of living comfort and environmental sustainability, is also proposed. Biophilic architecture not only responds to the immediate and practical needs of creating healthier and more engaging spaces but also aligns with broader environmental and societal goals. By fostering deeper connections between individuals and the natural environment, it encourages a more mindful and sustainable way of living and working. This approach has the potential to transform urban landscapes, making them more resilient to environmental challenges such as climate change and urban heat islands, while also enhancing the mental and physical health of the inhabitants.

Participating, in common usage, means taking part in a collective activity, intervening in a specific act or process. Participatory and shared planning involves the collaboration of various stakeholders in a community (citizens or social groups, administrators, technicians, etc.) who, through spaces and moments of discussion and elaboration, are involved in the conceptualization of a project that aims to translate into a proposal what emerges from the workshop activities. This article intends to present the experience of participatory and shared planning through the Metaplan method, carried out as part of the project called “The Possible City”. This experience originated from the proposal of students from the art high school in Calitri (AV), supported by school teachers, to rethink, through a redevelopment project, degraded places in their territory, transforming them into new urban spaces that are aggregative, functional and accessible to all, thanks to a participatory and shared process involving citizens. The phases of the process involved the school community of Calitri, the municipal administration, representatives of local associations, merchants and especially children, the elderly and people with disabilities, expanding forms of participation to entire the entire community through workshops, interviews and surveys aimed at understanding the history of the places, their function and community expectations. The Metaplan method, based on the visualization and organization of ideas in a structured manner, also lends itself to being enriched and perfected through the integration of new technologies, pedagogical approaches and inclusion strategies.

This work explores some methods for integrating Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen.A.I.) into Technical Architecture processes. After the problem contextualization in AEC sector, including opportunities for enhancement, the paper analyses critically the state of art about A.I. development in the restricted field of study.In general we assume that, present and future outcomes both, in research and practice, depend on the pervasive hardware advancement for calculation power, together with the software usability simplification, based on intuitive middleware levels, up to natural language interfaces.Specifically this contribution aims to investigate how Gen.A.I. can become a component of project and construction methodology, capable of more efficient results, by reducing the gap between creative solutions and their feasibility.First, a text-to-image case of study is presented, aimed – rather than to assess the implementation pipeline – to illustrate the ease of the process, even more by using free software widely available online: it shows that the impressive visual result originates from an innovative methodology, produced not only by statistical knowledge, but also by artificial generative abilities.Follows a critical discussion about the potential of this “new” technology: it concerns not only aesthetic composition and form-finding, that seem to monopolise the attention of the sector, but clearly it involves the whole building process, including technique and technology of architecture. To this aim, authors select and analyse some A.I. applications properly addressing objectives of the BIM method, namely enhancing technical control on design solution performance.Conclusions outline the relevant role of Scientific Community, called to guide the transformation of these processes, by addressing structured Technical Architecture knowledge models, instead of letting it being guided by the automatic algorithms.

The monitoring of a construction site is crucial to verify the progress and control its alignment with the defined project schedule phases. An efficient site monitoring ensures there are no delays that could result in losses in terms of efficiency, time, and costs. This study aims to propose an approach to optimize construction site monitoring with BIM models and the comparison between point clouds. The primary goal is to provide a framework for evaluating the progress of construction activities, thereby enhancing the overall project management. The approach is based on comparing point clouds from on-site acquired images and point clouds from BIM models corresponding to the phases defined in the project schedule. The comparison is achieved in terms of distances between points in two different clouds. Specifically, point clouds corresponding to identical and subsequent phases are compared to assess whether the construction site is behind or on schedule. This provides an effective tool for verifying the progress of activities. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated through its application to a specific case study involving a three-story reinforced concrete building with a project schedule divided into incremental phases. The comparison between point clouds extracted from on-site images and those generated by a representative BIM model of the building’s construction program affords an automatic analysis of work progress.

This study examines and integrates the principles of multi-objective optimization, space syntax, and graph analysis in the context of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications for architecture and construction, particularly automated space planning. The primary purpose of the study is to determine the efficacy of various advanced strategies for generating a wide range of design options. Building codes, customer requirements, and other architectural constraints must be addressed while developing optimal solutions. After selecting the parameters to deal with, the process aims to thoroughly study design possibilities while balancing features in competing positions.The process adopts space syntax and graph analysis to visually represent the functional connections between various spaces and users’ movements within the building. The analyses are carried out within the Grasshopper platform using the Wallacei and Termite Nest plug-ins. Wallacei employs multi-objective evolutionary optimization methods to tackle conflicting design issues, whereas Termite Nest develops design possibilities combining space syntax and graph analysis. This study aims to demonstrate the limitations and the potential of computerized architectural space planning by showing how these advanced algorithms can generate optimized design solutions that meet particular requirements.

Despite the recent surge in interest, off-site construction is by no means a new concept [1] Prefabrication began in the 16th century with British colonisation to meet the demand for rapid settlements using elements manufactured off-site and assembled on site. Modern prefabrication can be dated to the mid-19th century with the birth of industrial production, and the first major example of prefabrication was Sir Joseph Paxton's ‘Crystal Palace’, built in 1851. Since there has been continuous improvement in prefabricated construction, aided by the development of site lifting machinery. This article proposes to the reader a modern and intelligent vision of prefabrication, highlighting the great advantages of off-site construction (OSC), not only in terms of speed of commissioning, but also in terms of energy and structural advantages, as well as those related to a better environmental quality and the reduction of site “nuisances”. A “catalogue” of solutions has been studied and drawn up, applicable to the whole national territory, which responds to the above-mentioned requirements and is expressed in a “dynamic matrix” that allows operators in the sector to make targeted choices in cases of building renovation. The solutions developed can be easily replicated in non-housing situations and offer numerous advantages, such as the possibility of integrating the façade with other functions, speed of installation, dust and noise reduction, flexibility in the choice of modules and the possibility of carrying out the renovation while keeping the occupants in their homes during the work..

This study aimed to evaluate the real environmental impact of using recycled materials in construction, particularly within the context of prefabricated walls in the French construction industry. Our objective was to assess the feasibility and implications of incorporating recycled concrete into prefabricated wall systems, considering both environmental benefits and potential drawbacks.To achieve this objective, we conducted a comprehensive LCA comparing two scenarios: one utilizing traditional concrete fill and the other integrating recycled concrete. This analysis was carried out in the Parisian region, where a recycling facility is situated, ensuring the consideration of local factors such as transportation distances and recycling infrastructure.Innovatively, we overcame the challenge of accessing comprehensive life cycle inventory data by integrating FDES into the OpenLCA software platform. This approach democratized access to high-quality environmental data for construction materials, mitigating the financial barrier associated with proprietary databases like Ecoinvent.Our analysis revealed a nuanced interplay of trade-offs associated with using recycled concrete. While recycled materials exhibited lower carbon emissions, they also demonstrated a higher degree of soil acidification compared to traditional concrete. This juxtaposition underscored the complexity of sustainability considerations and emphasized the importance of comprehensive evaluations in material selection.By analyzing the real environmental impact of using recycled materials and evaluating their feasibility in a practical context, our study, underscores the significance of considering local contexts and recycling infrastructure, ultimately aiming to minimize environmental footprints and optimize project outcomes in the French construction industry.

Energy savings in buildings and the focus on efficiency in energy uses become key elements in trying to improve future living conditions. Starting from this point, low-enthalpy geothermal energy is an efficient renewable resource when coupled with a Geothermal Heat Pump (GHP). The study of geothermal heat exchangers through energy geostructures define its interest in terms of reducing consumption, environmental impacts and costs.This paper investigates the technological system of energy foundations, delving into the case of a geothermal exchanger integrated into foundation walls because they represent under-studied systems and because they are interesting from a performance and construction standpoint. The preliminary step was to evaluate the performances of different kind of foundation walls as geothermal exchanger coupled with a geothermal heat pump using dynamic modelling in the TRNSYS suite. The configuration under study was hypothesised by carrying out preliminary tests and varying the boundary conditions of the retaining walls. The final optimised configuration was subsequently applied and sized on two case studies for two common building types, such as an in-line building and a terraced building. The dimensioning of the geothermal system is based on residential buildings and near-Zero Energy standard. The simulation was performed in an Italian Mediterranean location to evaluate its performance, and then the consumption of these systems was extrapolated and compared to air source heat pumps.In conclusion, this technology could generate favourable impacts on energy consumption and emissions, proving to be suitable for both the construction of ex novo buildings and the energy refurbishment of existing ones.

Prefabrication is spreading in the Global North due to the necessity to build, in a short time, a large volume of new housing for an exponentially growing global population, while at the same time achieving high standards in terms of aesthetic, structural safety, and energy performance. Design for manufacturing and assembly is at the base of prefabrication. Among the variety of available prefab technologies, those based on lightweight steel profiles are particularly well suited for low and mid-rise housing. Although this technology is spreading, for it to be applied at a large-scale, it still requires to be optimized to reduce the amount of material and fabrication waste, lower fabrication time, and reduce costs. The optimization requires understanding and improvement of the mechanical behavior. It is worth considering that the structure's cost can reach up to 20% of the total expenditure and its associated embodied carbon can make up as much as 40% of the overall construction's embodied carbon. Therefore, favouring a composite system that can also facilitate achieving good energy performances with lower embodied carbon is paramount. In this framework, this paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary international research project aiming to optimize a housing system's mechanical and environmental performance for mass production. It presents the experimental objectives and results and the impacts that design decisions have made on the environmental footprint of the developed system. The presented interdisciplinary experimental approach, which is characteristic of architectural engineering, could be used in the future for the development of further innovative systems.

The concept of Circular Economy (CE) has undergone a significant evolution, extending beyond the traditional 3R paradigm (reduce, reuse, recycle) to embrace a more holistic perspective that incorporates additional aspects. Previous research indicates the profound impact of circularity on the economic as well as the environmental domains of sustainability. Despite numerous efforts to integrate circularity metrics with established environmental and economic evaluation methods, a comprehensive framework that cohesively synthesizes circularity with both economic and environmental in a single unified framework is notably missing. To address this gap, this paper introduces the Cost of Circularity Assessment Tool (CoCAT), an innovative and integrated framework. CoCAT incorporates the Whole Building Circularity Indicator (WBCI) along with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) to simultaneously evaluate the economic as well as the environmental feasibility of various circular solutions. WBCI serves as the key metric on which the rest of the analysis is developed. The effective integration of WBCI with LCA has previously been demonstrated, and this study extends the methodology to encompass LCC through a rigorous literature review and critical analysis. The paper methodically explains this unified framework, aligning CE-based methodologies for all three assessments within the CoCAT in line with the existing standards. Additionally, it provides guidance on conducting integrated inventory analysis, combined interpretation, and visual representation of results, with a focus on whole-building level assessment. The research reveals that such integration streamlines the assessment process, saving time and effort. CoCAT can be used by stakeholders, companies and LCA practitioners to identify trade-offs between increased circularity and its impacts on sustainability performance (environmental and economic) for informed decision-making.

A recent interest in implementing Nature-Based Solutions through Biophilic Design (BD) strategies has risen for the creation of comfortable indoor environments. Despite lab studies indicating benefits for work efficiency, the lack of preliminary design assessments has hindered their implementation. Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as an effective tool for data collection in highly realistic environments, addressing such limitations. While current research on BD has mainly emphasized the visual connection with nature, it is important to note that individual experiences are multisensorial. This paper presents an innovative design approach for the preliminary assessment of BD strategies in VR. A case study compares three office layouts (Indoor Green – IG; Outdoor Green – OG; Non-Biophilic - NB) and three acoustic scenarios (Office – O; Office + Traffic – O + T; Office + Nature – O + N) with 198 participants performing cognitive tasks for each acoustic condition, alongside surveys. Results of sense of presence, immersivity (visual), sensory congruency (acoustic), and cybersickness disorders indicate the effectiveness of VR in the preliminary evaluation of BD interventions (ecological validity). The outcomes of the cognitive test highlight a positive influence of audio-visual connections with nature on working memory, inhibition, and task-switching performance. The most supportive visual*acoustic condition is identified as Natural sound in the IG setting, while O + T in the NB environment proves to be the most disruptive. The findings reveal a significant impact of the acoustic environment on the soundscape assessment: the O + N scenario enhances both pleasantness and eventfulness compared to the O scenario. An interaction between audio-visual stimuli was observed regarding pleasantness, with IG being more effective in the O + N scenario, and OG in the O + T scenario.

The 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation. In this sense, greening strategies can help achieve this goal as well as improve the environmental, psychological, and social quality of cities. Nature Based Solutions (NBS) constitute one of the strategies that address both adaptation and mitigation of climate change. In the urban context, NBS are translated into Green Infrastructures (GI) i.e. greening of private and public land with trees and hedges, Green Roofs (GR) and Vertical Greenery System (VGS). The greening systems when applied on new buildings, for instance Bosco verticale (Stefano Boeri, 2009_2014) or Caixa Forum (Herzog & de Meuron, 2003_2008), just to mention the most famous ones, became one of those requirements which the design in based on; instead, when we deal with urban regeneration and building renovation/retrofitting design it is necessary to choose the greening strategy that accounts the constraints dictated by existing buildings related to geometry, load bearing structure, architectural and technological aspects. This study aims to evaluate the applicability of VGS on the existing building stock and their role in summer comfort, starting from the classification of building types used in the most recent architectural projects. The study provides a premise for the transfer of this technology as a useful strategy in greening interventions on the building stock.

The policy to mitigate climate change necessarily passes through the reduction of the carbon footprint of the construction sector, responsible for 40% of global emissions. With the aim of encouraging circular economy processes, the methodology developed considers a quantitative/qualitative approach aimed at optimising the benefits of applying module ‘D’ of the LCA Building, with reference to the UNI EN 15978 standard. The case study concerns the design of an urban regeneration intervention, in the city of Cordoba, Argentina, consisting of an aggregative system of modular typologies, with a steel structure. Concerning the quantitative thresholds, the disassembly incidences were considered, applying the most restrictive parameter among the international sustainability protocols, including the Italian CAM. As far as qualitative parameters are concerned, the PROGRESS (Provision for Greater Reuse of Steel Structures) method was applied, a tool developed to evaluate the reuse of structural steel components. The validation of the method involves the development of an improvement hypothesis using existing, decommissioned steel components, highlighting both the economic benefits and the environmental impact of the process, through the application of the A1-A3 Building LCA module.

This paper focuses on the shear behaviour of glass panels used in curtain walls, in particular those with an adhesive joint between the frame and the double glazing units, as described in the Patent No. 102020000025636, entitled “Continuous Facade System for Buildings”. The importance of this research lies in the need to understand the response of these panels to seismic and wind forces, particularly through experimental research. Whilst the use of curtain walls with glass panels is becoming more widespread in the building industry, their structural behaviour during seismic events remains poorly understood. Given the complex nature of these systems, a careful study is required, taking into account all relevant variables. Although these structures are designed to effectively resist wind-induced pressures and depressions, their dynamic behaviour during earthquakes may be complex and difficult to predict. During seismic events, the structural components of the façade can be subjected to various stresses induced by horizontal or vertical vibrations, resulting in increased internal stresses that cause damage and permanent deformations. Therefore, our objective is to study the response of these glass panels to shear forces, with the aim of understanding their structural behaviour with different construction solutions, such as monolithic and laminated tempered glass. The interest in assessing their shear performance also extends to exploring their potential application as transparent bracing walls, offering an alternative to conventional solutions such as reinforced concrete, solid masonry (reinforced or not) and similar methods. The present paper illustrates the results of in-plane shear tests on curtain wall panels assembled with structural adhesives. The frame is made of mahogany wood and the glass panels are made of laminated and non-laminated tempered glass. Overall, the experimental results highlighted how the use of adhesive bonding increases the stiffness of the resulting hybrid structural system allowing the application of transparent stiffening partitions in buildings.

This paper aims to compare different intervention scenarios for the regeneration of the existing building stock based on two opposite paradigms: deep renovation and demolition and reconstruction. In the second case, three different construction technologies for the structure of the new building were investigated, respecting the original volumetric and architectural characteristics: wood, reinforced concrete, and steel. The comparison between the different solutions sought to highlight the potential and criticalities of the two different approaches, with particular attention to aspects related to environmental sustainability. This investigation was carried out on a manor villa built at the beginning of the 1990s, belonging to the “Borgo Digani” complex located in Argelato (Bologna), selected as a pilot case by the European project “DRIVE 0”, financed within the Horizon 2020 programme, aiming at promoting the decarbonisation of the existing built heritage. The analysis was carried out by imposing certain fixed conditions for all scenarios: the external shape of the building, the thermal performance of the envelope walls (equal to 0.18 ± 0.02 W/m2K), and the use of the same thermal insulation material for energy efficiency. Analyses of the energy performance of the different technologies adopted and the different building envelope solutions selected were addressed with Edilclima software. The assessments of the environmental impact of the various interventions, on the other hand, were carried out through a simplified Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on the whole life cycle of the building, using One Click LCA software. The results of the analyses, expressed in terms of embodied energy and embodied carbon, showed how the final values are highly influenced by the imposed boundary conditions and how crucial it is to interpret critically the data resulting from the calculations carried out, which also consider the expected performance.

Building maintenance planning strategy has always been of capital importance to improve building asset life cycle, and Building Information modelling can improve the efficiency of maintenance processes. The research work under this paper performed a literature review addressing the H-BIM strategy for building maintenance management and planning. Heritage Building Information Modeling H-BIM, is the application of the BIM strategy to the existing building stock, with the aim of creating a method and tools for building information acquisition and management. Actual implementation of H-BIM based strategy for building maintenance management aims at planning and controlling technical maintenance operations, also addressing environmental sustainability. Sustainable building maintenance mainly refers to materials and product re-use. Therefore, in case of existing buildings without cultural value, building maintenance sustainability refers to the Design for Deconstruction problem and H-BIM can be used to improve End of Life sustainability. H-BIM contains all pieces of information available to minimize Construction and Demolition Waste while deconstructing and reusing the building materials in a circular economy perspective. Digital Twin is the virtual replica of a built asset, that can support analysis, control and simulation functions with the objective of creating a Decision Support System for maintenance management. The use of sensor systems distributed within the building will become essential tools in the maintenance process. The owner will always be updated about building functions efficiency, and related maintenance requirements and operations. Even the model of use of the building can be designed and controlled, addressing specific living experiences of the users, the Building-Enabled lifestyle management.

This research aims to investigate the feasibility and possible benefits of applying Reduced-Order Models (ROMs) to the Architecture, Engineering and Construction sector. The reduced-order model is a methodology for designing complex systems that exploit the synergy of interacting phenomena. Although it can significantly speed up design and run dynamic simulations, this technique is still not widely applied in the AEC field. Other industries often use them to optimize systems performance, create digital twins, and streamline multidisciplinary optimization methodology. The first section of this paper describes the proposed methodology, followed by the study of the advantages and limitations compared to traditional design systems, including an analysis of current research and applications. Instead of a prescriptive design based on the worst-case scenarios, this kind of simulation enables performance-based design with partial loads and dynamic behavior. This innovative approach makes it possible to support the designer during the conceptual phase and deal with the design problem more consciously to realize more sustainable and comfortable solutions. ROMs require low computational capacity and thus can handle real-time sensor data during operation and maintenance. A drawback is the difficulty of understand and model the physics underlying a specific system. The last section presents an operational workflow and the early stage of a test application that explores how physical-based ROM can support the designer in defining energy interventions on an existing building’s classroom. Thermal and energy behavior, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems and their interaction have been modeled. The final step consists in incorporating subsystems representing potential active and passive energy improvement interventions to understand how the system improves and minimizes energy consumption improving indoor environmental quality.

I believe that it is necessary for our discipline (Architectural Technology) to refer to the technology relevant to the construction sector, because the backbone of our research is the development of components or parts of components, as well as the theoretical-experimental evaluation of performance in a process of continuous optimization. This must translate into a freedom of thought and research that creates a very broad reservoir of knowledge from which the market can draw for the needs of the present or a more or less near future that we do not yet know. I focus my work on a concept of environmental sustainability based on the value of the performance and longevity of the product, but I am convinced that not all research has to follow current trends. Therefore, I thought it appropriate to try to highlight the specifics of technology and innovation with this article as food for thought for the development of research in our field.

The integration of 3D printing technology into earth construction presents an opportunity to reinvent earthen architecture and construction methods. This by revalorizing earth-based materials sourced from excavation works of major infrastructure projects. This article explores the durability aspects of 3D printed earth architecture, focusing on water resistance against drip impact and natural weathering. Additionally, it examines the efficacy of incorporating bacterial cellulose (BC) as an additive for enhanced water resistance. This suggests a correlation between printing parameters and water resistance. The study outlines material selection, prototyping techniques, and testing methodologies. Findings reveal that BC addition significantly improves erosion resistance, as demonstrated by drip test analyses. Moreover, observations from the weathering study highlight minimal degradation in BC-stabilized samples compared to unstabilized counterparts, which exhibited notable cracking. Finally, the impact of the implementation techniques has been explored, revealing a fragile behavior of printed samples compared to molded ones.This research contributes to a broader thesis centered “harnessing the advantages of cutting-edge construction technologies and eco-design methodologies to valorize excavated soil as construction wastes”.

In current climatic and social context, energy retrofit of existing buildings plays a really important role thanks to the considerable economic and CO2 savings connected to the lower building energy demand. This study fits perfectly into this context and aims to evaluate the effects of an energy and structural retrofit intervention on an existing building representative of the pre-1980s Italian period by means of a steel reticular exoskeleton. This exoskeleton was designed in order to improve the dynamic response of the existing structure and to realize a new high-performance double-skin unitized façade. The new façade, designed taking into account fundamental geometrical criteria, creates a floor-by-floor air volume, used as a greenhouse in winter and as a ventilated cavity during summer. Furthermore, the choice of low-emissivity performance glass for the wide glazed surfaces allows to reduce the heat losses during winter, reducing the overall energy demand. During summer, on the other hand, the activation of solar-controlled automated venetian blinds, combined with the control of natural ventilation, allows a significant reduction of the cooling demand. The transition from winter to summer mode is guaranteed thanks to a dedicated schedule that allows the control of solar radiation and natural ventilation from May to September. From a performance point of view, thanks to the control and optimization of the natural ventilation and incident solar radiation in the double skin cavity, the overall energy consumption of the existing building can be reduced by more than half. In conclusion, this study highlights how the proper design of an exoskeleton allows to both improve structural and energy behaviour; in particular, using the exoskeleton to create a glazed double skin façade, significant savings can be achieved, making existing buildings less energy-intensive.

Solar energy is the most available and easy to use of the renewables available for buildings. Retrofitting the building stock goes through a designed, non-emergency placement of solar panels. In some cases, rooftops are not the best option: for example, in residential buildings they are not equally available to all owners or in commercial centers they are cluttered with chillers, AHUs, and so on. In contrast, the integration of solar collectors into the vertical envelope raises some visual issues related to the image of the urban environment, which has to deal with dark, shiny surfaces that are, moreover, suboptimally oriented with respect to the sun’s rays and therefore inefficient. This paper focuses focused on the new design of a thermal insulation system that incorporates photovoltaic or thermal solar collectors and allows for dimensional flexibility, scalability, and custom finishes. Retracing the development of the optimal shape of thermal insulation cladding, devices that enable the application of photovoltaic strings or solar thermal panels are also illustrated and visual results in different contexts are proposed. The project result, originally named Filigrana and covered by an Italian patent, has been brought to the level of pre-feasibility by Dreamet S.r.l. (Modena, Italy) under the name “Aster”: it allows the free choice of color of cladding, the replacement of all or part of the solar collectors over time depending on their technological evolution, and, most importantly, it is designed to improve the orientation of solar collectors on the vertical walls of buildings. Shopping malls and warehouses may be the main target, but the system also allows for managing access to photovoltaic energy for each of the individual tenants, avoiding impromptu and random additions to facades and improving the passive thermal performance of the building envelope.

Research on digital production technologies for the building sector, although several decades behind other sectors, is beginning to become more and more systematic. The use of natural materials such as raw earth makes the sustainability of such processes even more pronounced than current building solutions. Despite this, many limitations still prevent the use of digital technologies employing raw earth for construction from becoming current. The article investigates the state of research on the topic, identifying the reasons for current limitations. It also describes the MUD-MADE research project that aims to overcome these limitations and make the use of digitally fabricated raw earth components for the building sector a reality. This project proposes a novel artificial intelligence-supported workflow for designing raw earth building components produced with digital manufacturing technology. The workflow can support the designer in a multi-objective optimization involving different performances (e.g., thermal, structural, acoustic) by saving material and maintaining feasibility. The workflow exploits parametric design to set a predefined visual script able to support the user. Indeed, the predefined script will allow the user to design a building component by selecting (or creating) different possible external shapes and infill geometries. The designer can include information about the local material and the available technology to digitally manufacture the component directly in the predefined code. In addition, the predefined script sets the boundary conditions and priorities for the expected performances. Moreover, performance priorities are defined by the user based on the requirements of the component to be achieved.Finally, artificial intelligence, exploiting the artificial neural network (ANN) will support the designer by automatically identifying the optimal configuration among the possible combinations of parameters and generative algorithms.

The construction industry is facing significant challenges in aligning with the circular economy principles, primarily due to the management of Construction and Demolition waste. Effectively addressing this issue is pivotal in minimizing the environmental impact of buildings at the end of their life cycle. An essential step towards this goal involves establishing a robust supply chain for the recovery and reuse of waste materials and avoiding those to be landfilled.In this research a literature review has been carried out to map and analyse the existing challenges which prevent the establishment/implementation of a recovery route for the facade materials and components. These challenges could be transformed in actionable opportunities to tackle the problem. The facade systems are characterised by a relatively short service life compared to other building layers, and they undergo frequent process of refurbishment and renovation. The result is a large waste stream associated with the facades layer. Several issues were found to have consequences among multiple categories, showing the complexity of the End-of-Life (EoL) stages of facade materials. The identified challenges and opportunities in the EoL scenario of the facades can be categorised into technical, economic, logistical, legislative, and cultural domains.Finally, the paper discusses ongoing trends and research stream in the field of facades and building sustainability, such as the benefits of the design for disassembly approach in creating systems and components with a higher recovery potential and the design for reuse/recovery of materials.

Mountain huts form a continuous network throughout the alps. Originally built as a support for scientific exploration, it continues to serve as a vital resource for mountain visitors, maintaining much of their original form. Over time, the motives driving people to visit huts diversified, encompassing sport activity, tourism and scientific research. This trend has led to an increasing number of people visiting the mountains. Concurrently, aggravating environmental changes in the Alps, with average temperatures rising almost twice as fast as the rest of the northern hemisphere, increase frequency of natural hazards, such as landslides or avalanches. These developments raise the risk for mountain visitors while threatening these delicate ecosystems and their built environment. Mainly built before 1980s, mountain huts need to adapt to these dynamic social and environmental changes. The characteristics of huts and their surroundings are different from urban settings, requiring a specific renovation framework that considers all these peculiarities. This article explores the state of the art of this architectural typology, investigating a cluster of 749 mountain huts owned by the Italian Alpine Club (CAI), studying their management methods and the most recent approaches on alpine huts renovation. This study aims to analyse the unique architectural typology of mountain huts with an interdisciplinary approach, considering the feasibility of technical aspects while accounting for environmental, economic, and social parameters. This will be the baseline to establish measurable criteria to aggregate existing alpine infrastructure and to finally create a comprehensive guideline for functional sustainable renovation and ultimately to increase the climate adaptation and resilience of the alpine built environment.

In recent decades, technological advancements in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence have facilitated the digitalization of various resources, systems, and processes across various industrial sectors. Progress in virtual modeling and data acquisition technology has contributed to the emergence and development of the Digital Twin, a virtual representation of a physical asset that utilizes technologies such as sensors, IoT, communication networks, and 3D models to collect real-time data useful for monitoring its performance throughout its lifecycle. This work aims to emphasize the importance of applying Digital Twin technology in the construction sector, which helps understand the evolutionary behaviors and performance of a structure over time and space. It considers how the elements (materials, systems, etc.) composing the structure degrade based on various environmental conditions and user occupancy patterns. Simultaneously, through analysis and monitoring of physical assets using the digital twin, it becomes possible to determine the optimal time to intervene and replace worn-out components or systems, thus ensuring the continuous functionality of the structure to maintain performance at optimal levels. In the coming years, technology will enable the integration of artificial intelligence into the construction sector. This will allow the analysis of performance, both pre- and post-construction, to anticipate evolving needs with a high degree of probability. This will be facilitated by the collection of statistical data and the comparison of performance behaviors from buildings that are typologically and morphologically similar.

Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) in the building sector, and in particular in the design phase, are becoming more and more widespread as these are used to identify the environmental indicators underlying the criteria of sustainability assessment protocols for buildings such as LEVEL(s), and environmental rating systems such as LEED, BREEAM, ITACA and Envision for infrastructure. In this context, the ARCADIA project (concluded in October 2023) had the main goals of creating a national Life Cycle Assessment database for selected supply chains and strengthening public administration skills in applying Life Cycle Costing in Green Public Procurement. This paper describes the LCA study phases conducted, according to the ISO 14040-44 methodology, by the working group of the steel building construction value chain and the relevant results and datasets implemented in the Italian LCA Database. The work focuses on assessing the environmental impacts of producing two main products for the steel building value chain, selected according to market needs. The methodology comprises a “cradle to gate” approach, grounded in the distinct attributes of the product systems, consequently, it can adequately aid in evaluating sustainability during decision-making for steel products by generating accurate Carbon Footprint assessments. The methodology yielded results in the range of 0.93 - 1.60 KgCO2eq/Kg, depending on case study features, and agreed with the impact value range in previous literature.

Can rural buildings be refurbished by exploiting natural waste from local productions? This research aims to achieve implementation and sufficiency objectives by focusing on existing building refurbishment, efficiency improvement, and local natural resources exploitation. The solution being explored is the use of bio-based building materials, which, if well-designed, can offer low or even positive environmental impacts. To avoid land use and ensure not to compete with the food and biofuel sectors, the research focuses on organic waste in a circular approach. The research investigates a replicable workflow for using local bio-based waste in rural refurbishment, from the quantification of waste to the evaluation as building components, to finally assess the impact of their application. The contribution analyzes the state of the art, highlighting the lack of an established methodology for using natural waste in construction. The final goal is to facilitate the integration of these materials into the local construction sector. A case study has been presented to consider a specific geography and government system, starting with examining the Valmalenco Mountain Valley in northern Italy and hypothesizing the refurbishment of the Gualtieri village as a pilot project. The research employed Life Cycle Assessment to investigate the sustainability of different refurbishment scenarios for the case study, employing the semi-static method to determine GWP. Two tiers of study ensued: a primary comparison of biogenic insulation materials based on performance, impact, and cost, and a secondary analysis of three technologies, both conventional and innovative. Finally, a comprehensive examination of impacts was conducted and contrasted with the CasaClima protocol’s national performance scale, yielding positive verification.

This paper proposes an innovative self-shading rain-screen cladding module. Various materials and geometries were explored, and the use of a reflective nanotechnology coating was also evaluated. Multidisciplinary research was conducted, which involved the technological definition of the construction details, the mechanical verification of the anchors, the energy optimisation of the panel shape through solar path evaluations, experimental measurements of the thermal performance during the summer period, and the comparison of construction costs. The main results showed that the aluminium-designed module with a flat surface and reflective coating is the best-performing alternative and provides 9 ℃ lower surface temperatures of the wall behind than a traditional white plastered wall.

This article introduces a construction method that provides solutions capable of promoting the load-bearing use of stone in new buildings. Considering the economic and environmental advantages of natural stone in an international context of seeking reasonable resource use and construction processes with a better environmental impact, this research aims to open new perspectives for the use of natural stone as a structural material in contemporary architecture. The underlying hypothesis of this research is that the use of stone in load-bearing systems, gradually abandoned during the 20th century, could regain significant interest if new design and engineering models were developed more extensively. The article presents the method applied to the design and fabrication of two prefabricated load-bearing freestone walls, which are part of an innovative construction method based on prefabricated masonry elements. After construction, the two prototypes were lifted and transported to a national natural stone exhibition, located 30 km from the manufacturing site, thus demonstrating the feasibility of the process.

With the rise of environmental concerns and the impact of information technologies, architecture is changing, and so are the methods of design. Thus, new approaches based on principles of information sharing, data, algorithms and collaboration are at the forefront of theoretical and practical architecture debates. This article presents a collaborative methodological approach to digital design, creating a system where the relationships between form, structure, and material are informed and interact dynamically. The approach proposed operates at the intersection of various disciplines, including mathematics, mechanics, physics, construction history, and computation. It relies on collaboration among diverse actors, enabling each to contribute their practical and constructive expertise in a comprehensive and integrated manner across multiple dimensions of the architectural project. Considering innovation as an intrinsic element within a continuous historical context, this research identifies in a past construction technique the potential for developing innovative systems. To revalue the connection between tradition and innovation, focusing on the links between form, technique and construction, we present an example application of the methodology for formfinding of a flat stone vault. This application is based on a topological interlocking system, which draws inspiration from a patent dating back to the 17th century. We detail the numerical design steps of the stone system as well as the prototyping phase based on the use of traditional stereotomy cutting methods. Finally, we present a prototype built during a workshop with students from École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris-Malaquais, in collaboration with Compagnons du Devoir et du Tour de France.

The design of the layout of logistics spaces represents a fundamental step for the organization and rationalization of industrial production procedures according to an approach that also places sustainability and resilience at the centre of interests within the context of a human-centric approach of the so-called Industry 5.0. The optimization of warehouse flows is strictly connected to the optimal use of space, necessary to guarantee the reduction of operational phases, ease of access and control, and the best efficiency and usability of the spaces. The research work presented in this article aims to define a generally applicable methodology for the design and adaptation of industrial plants, with particular reference to systems intended for warehouse logistics processes. The design guidelines that we want to define will integrate the spatial needs related to practice and business activity with the new research directions that look at digital innovation of companies and energy efficiency. Central to these assumptions is the definition of the structure of the layouts which can determine different performances for the same activities, as they transversally influence multiple aspects such as the health and well-being of workers, the management of spaces, times, energy consumption. The topics covered are the result of an initial research activity carried out at the Solis GreenLog S.r.l. logistics centre, a hub of the Solis S.p.A. group, an integrated temperature-controlled transit point that offers spaces and services for storage, processing, handling and distribution of the goods.