ABSTRACT Today Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) represent a very promising solar technology... more ABSTRACT Today Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) represent a very promising solar technology, especially the semi-transparent ones, suitable for building integration. These components can likely represent an effective way to produce renewable energy while preserving the transparency of the building envelope, by using a wide amount of surfaces which at the moment are neglected, such as windows, skylights, shading devices, etc. This paper describes the first operating measurements carried out on a new LSC prototype, monitored at the Photovoltaic (PV) Test Facility of the Politecnico di Milano. The photoluminescent composition of the ENI dye used for the spectrum converter dispersed in the LSC includes an acene compound and a benzothiadiazole compound. The preliminary results show a better energy performance ratio for the LSC in comparison with standard PV modules, and are representative of the first phase of a research work aimed at industrializing an innovative building integrated component with a large dissemination potential.
Cognitive building is a pioneering topic to envision the future of our built environment. The con... more Cognitive building is a pioneering topic to envision the future of our built environment. The concept of "cognitive" steps towards a paradigm shift from the static concept of the building as a container of human activities is nearer to the modernist vision of "machine à habiter" of Le Corbusier, where the technological content adds the capability of learning from users' behavior and environmental variables to adapt itself to achieve main goals such as users comfort, energy-saving, flexible functionality, high durability, and good maintainability. The concept is based on digital frameworks and IoT networks towards the smart city concept.
This research aims at exploiting COBie to develop a lean methodology to rate existing assets usin... more This research aims at exploiting COBie to develop a lean methodology to rate existing assets using sustainability assessment protocols like LEED, BREEAM, DGNB and CESBA. The methodology includes an efficient information management process in a BIM-oriented framework. BIM processes are frequently considered too much expensive and effort consuming for being applied in the retrofit or in the management of existing buildings because they demand a lot of data. The proposed methodology is founded on the idea that a COBie collection of spreadsheets is a BIM model even if it does not have any 3D geometrical information, which are often very expensive to collect for existing buildings. The COBie model may be populated of data coming from different sources, like the analysis of existing documents, inexpensive visual survey, interviews with peoples living the asset, etc.. The COBie model is used to store both information to be used in sustainability rating and the (partial) results coming from calculations. The methodology is presented here with the help of a case study: the rating of an existing building in the north of Italy, currently used as a private gym, using the CESBA protocol. The existing documents, managed in a Document Management System, have been analyzed and then all the information needed for the CESBA protocol have been transferred to the COBie spreadsheet, being able to satisfy (in terms of data requirements) the 85% of the CESBA criteria. The innovation in this research does not lie in the computation of the sustainability score itself, but in the way in which data both used for and obtained from calculation are organized, stored and shared among the stakeholders. The COBie spreadsheets, as well as the mapping of the sustainability data contained in them, allows for the creation of an Asset Information Model (AIM), even if not geometrical, well integrated in a BIM process. This methodology for sustainability assessment is well fitted in the BIM Bronze approach by UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to create and manage existing assets data in a BIM environment. Moreover, thanks to its simple but robust data structure, COBie data can be easily imported in current Computer-Aided Facility Management software.
The paper investigates the use of surrogate models for probabilistic building performance simulat... more The paper investigates the use of surrogate models for probabilistic building performance simulation that can be used for multiple applications across life cycle phases. The workflow presented aims to highlight a possible continuity among design and operation phase practices, in order to contribute to the reduction of the gap between simulated and measured performance, considering in particular the uncertainties caused by users' behaviour. Design phase simulation work is generally affected by relevant temporal and economic constraints and, consequently, a successful approach should enhance current design practices and implement new features which have to be automated, to decrease additional modelling effort. The parametric data obtained in the initial design phase by means of a detailed model are used to train an Artificial Neural Network model. The results obtained by this model are the compared with the ones obtained with a Resistance-Capacitance model. The approach is automated and tested for robustness using Monte Carlo simulation technique. This technique is used to identify, already in the design phase, probabilistic performance boundaries. The case study chosen is the eLUX Lab building at the Smart Campus of University of Brescia, in which highly variable occupancy patterns are present.
The sustainability of the built environment largely depends on its energy and environmental perfo... more The sustainability of the built environment largely depends on its energy and environmental performances. The overall objective, across the different phases of the building life cycle is to improve building and system performances in terms of economics, comfort, environmental impact and durability. Several modelling methodologies have been developed in order to evaluate the energy performance of buildings. Generally, every modelling methodology responds effectively to some specific tasks, but there exists a lack of integration in particular with respect to the cross-disciplinary role of data. Given the multi-scale and multi-objective nature of the problem of optimization of the energy and environmental performances of the built environment, an appropriate synthesis and integration process in modelling methodologies has to be identified, addressing realistically the uncertainties inherently present in modelling strategies. Visualization and data analysis techniques are successfully used in a wide variety of applications, both in theoretical and applied domains, but questions remains about their robustness, efficiency and applicability to the problems introduced before. The paper aims to analyse critically these topics by means of case studies, showing a possible path to create a multi-scale methodology able to synthesize all the relevant aspects.
The sustainability of the built environment largely depends on its energy and environmental perfo... more The sustainability of the built environment largely depends on its energy and environmental performances. The overall objective, across the different phases of the building life cycle such as design phase, construction phase, commissioning phase, operation phase and eventually refurbishment phase, is to improve building and system performances in terms of economics, comfort, environmental impact and durability.
Numerical simulation tools and optimization methods are needed to properly evaluate all the key performance indicators simultaneously, unveiling the existing gaps and identifying possible synergies and strategies in the performance estimation and decision-making processes for the building life cycle.
Further, several modelling methodologies have been developed in order to evaluate the energy performance of buildings. Generally, every modelling methodology responds effectively to some specific tasks, but there exists a lack of integration in the overall optimization process.
Given the multi-scale and multi-objective nature of the problem of optimization of the energy and environmental performances of the built environment, subject to economic and comfort constraints, an appropriate synthesis and integration process in modelling methodologies has to be identified, addressing realistically the uncertainties inherently present in every modelling strategy.
Data analysis and optimization techniques are successfully used in a wide variety of applications. Although these techniques have proven to be successful in both theoretical and applied domains, questions remains about their applicability for the problems introduced before. These questions involve primarily the robustness and efficiency of solutions procedures and the ability to identify relevant properties and to deal with large quantities of data.
The paper aims to analyse critically these topics by means of case studies, showing a possible path to create an integrated methodology able to synthesize all the relevant aspects previously mentioned
ABSTRACT Today Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) represent a very promising solar technology... more ABSTRACT Today Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) represent a very promising solar technology, especially the semi-transparent ones, suitable for building integration. These components can likely represent an effective way to produce renewable energy while preserving the transparency of the building envelope, by using a wide amount of surfaces which at the moment are neglected, such as windows, skylights, shading devices, etc. This paper describes the first operating measurements carried out on a new LSC prototype, monitored at the Photovoltaic (PV) Test Facility of the Politecnico di Milano. The photoluminescent composition of the ENI dye used for the spectrum converter dispersed in the LSC includes an acene compound and a benzothiadiazole compound. The preliminary results show a better energy performance ratio for the LSC in comparison with standard PV modules, and are representative of the first phase of a research work aimed at industrializing an innovative building integrated component with a large dissemination potential.
ABSTRACT Today Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) represent a very promising solar technology... more ABSTRACT Today Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) represent a very promising solar technology, especially the semi-transparent ones, suitable for building integration. These components can likely represent an effective way to produce renewable energy while preserving the transparency of the building envelope, by using a wide amount of surfaces which at the moment are neglected, such as windows, skylights, shading devices, etc. This paper describes the first operating measurements carried out on a new LSC prototype, monitored at the Photovoltaic (PV) Test Facility of the Politecnico di Milano. The photoluminescent composition of the ENI dye used for the spectrum converter dispersed in the LSC includes an acene compound and a benzothiadiazole compound. The preliminary results show a better energy performance ratio for the LSC in comparison with standard PV modules, and are representative of the first phase of a research work aimed at industrializing an innovative building integrated component with a large dissemination potential.
Cognitive building is a pioneering topic to envision the future of our built environment. The con... more Cognitive building is a pioneering topic to envision the future of our built environment. The concept of "cognitive" steps towards a paradigm shift from the static concept of the building as a container of human activities is nearer to the modernist vision of "machine à habiter" of Le Corbusier, where the technological content adds the capability of learning from users' behavior and environmental variables to adapt itself to achieve main goals such as users comfort, energy-saving, flexible functionality, high durability, and good maintainability. The concept is based on digital frameworks and IoT networks towards the smart city concept.
This research aims at exploiting COBie to develop a lean methodology to rate existing assets usin... more This research aims at exploiting COBie to develop a lean methodology to rate existing assets using sustainability assessment protocols like LEED, BREEAM, DGNB and CESBA. The methodology includes an efficient information management process in a BIM-oriented framework. BIM processes are frequently considered too much expensive and effort consuming for being applied in the retrofit or in the management of existing buildings because they demand a lot of data. The proposed methodology is founded on the idea that a COBie collection of spreadsheets is a BIM model even if it does not have any 3D geometrical information, which are often very expensive to collect for existing buildings. The COBie model may be populated of data coming from different sources, like the analysis of existing documents, inexpensive visual survey, interviews with peoples living the asset, etc.. The COBie model is used to store both information to be used in sustainability rating and the (partial) results coming from calculations. The methodology is presented here with the help of a case study: the rating of an existing building in the north of Italy, currently used as a private gym, using the CESBA protocol. The existing documents, managed in a Document Management System, have been analyzed and then all the information needed for the CESBA protocol have been transferred to the COBie spreadsheet, being able to satisfy (in terms of data requirements) the 85% of the CESBA criteria. The innovation in this research does not lie in the computation of the sustainability score itself, but in the way in which data both used for and obtained from calculation are organized, stored and shared among the stakeholders. The COBie spreadsheets, as well as the mapping of the sustainability data contained in them, allows for the creation of an Asset Information Model (AIM), even if not geometrical, well integrated in a BIM process. This methodology for sustainability assessment is well fitted in the BIM Bronze approach by UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to create and manage existing assets data in a BIM environment. Moreover, thanks to its simple but robust data structure, COBie data can be easily imported in current Computer-Aided Facility Management software.
The paper investigates the use of surrogate models for probabilistic building performance simulat... more The paper investigates the use of surrogate models for probabilistic building performance simulation that can be used for multiple applications across life cycle phases. The workflow presented aims to highlight a possible continuity among design and operation phase practices, in order to contribute to the reduction of the gap between simulated and measured performance, considering in particular the uncertainties caused by users' behaviour. Design phase simulation work is generally affected by relevant temporal and economic constraints and, consequently, a successful approach should enhance current design practices and implement new features which have to be automated, to decrease additional modelling effort. The parametric data obtained in the initial design phase by means of a detailed model are used to train an Artificial Neural Network model. The results obtained by this model are the compared with the ones obtained with a Resistance-Capacitance model. The approach is automated and tested for robustness using Monte Carlo simulation technique. This technique is used to identify, already in the design phase, probabilistic performance boundaries. The case study chosen is the eLUX Lab building at the Smart Campus of University of Brescia, in which highly variable occupancy patterns are present.
The sustainability of the built environment largely depends on its energy and environmental perfo... more The sustainability of the built environment largely depends on its energy and environmental performances. The overall objective, across the different phases of the building life cycle is to improve building and system performances in terms of economics, comfort, environmental impact and durability. Several modelling methodologies have been developed in order to evaluate the energy performance of buildings. Generally, every modelling methodology responds effectively to some specific tasks, but there exists a lack of integration in particular with respect to the cross-disciplinary role of data. Given the multi-scale and multi-objective nature of the problem of optimization of the energy and environmental performances of the built environment, an appropriate synthesis and integration process in modelling methodologies has to be identified, addressing realistically the uncertainties inherently present in modelling strategies. Visualization and data analysis techniques are successfully used in a wide variety of applications, both in theoretical and applied domains, but questions remains about their robustness, efficiency and applicability to the problems introduced before. The paper aims to analyse critically these topics by means of case studies, showing a possible path to create a multi-scale methodology able to synthesize all the relevant aspects.
The sustainability of the built environment largely depends on its energy and environmental perfo... more The sustainability of the built environment largely depends on its energy and environmental performances. The overall objective, across the different phases of the building life cycle such as design phase, construction phase, commissioning phase, operation phase and eventually refurbishment phase, is to improve building and system performances in terms of economics, comfort, environmental impact and durability.
Numerical simulation tools and optimization methods are needed to properly evaluate all the key performance indicators simultaneously, unveiling the existing gaps and identifying possible synergies and strategies in the performance estimation and decision-making processes for the building life cycle.
Further, several modelling methodologies have been developed in order to evaluate the energy performance of buildings. Generally, every modelling methodology responds effectively to some specific tasks, but there exists a lack of integration in the overall optimization process.
Given the multi-scale and multi-objective nature of the problem of optimization of the energy and environmental performances of the built environment, subject to economic and comfort constraints, an appropriate synthesis and integration process in modelling methodologies has to be identified, addressing realistically the uncertainties inherently present in every modelling strategy.
Data analysis and optimization techniques are successfully used in a wide variety of applications. Although these techniques have proven to be successful in both theoretical and applied domains, questions remains about their applicability for the problems introduced before. These questions involve primarily the robustness and efficiency of solutions procedures and the ability to identify relevant properties and to deal with large quantities of data.
The paper aims to analyse critically these topics by means of case studies, showing a possible path to create an integrated methodology able to synthesize all the relevant aspects previously mentioned
ABSTRACT Today Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) represent a very promising solar technology... more ABSTRACT Today Luminescent Solar Concentrators (LSCs) represent a very promising solar technology, especially the semi-transparent ones, suitable for building integration. These components can likely represent an effective way to produce renewable energy while preserving the transparency of the building envelope, by using a wide amount of surfaces which at the moment are neglected, such as windows, skylights, shading devices, etc. This paper describes the first operating measurements carried out on a new LSC prototype, monitored at the Photovoltaic (PV) Test Facility of the Politecnico di Milano. The photoluminescent composition of the ENI dye used for the spectrum converter dispersed in the LSC includes an acene compound and a benzothiadiazole compound. The preliminary results show a better energy performance ratio for the LSC in comparison with standard PV modules, and are representative of the first phase of a research work aimed at industrializing an innovative building integrated component with a large dissemination potential.
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Several modelling methodologies have been developed in order to evaluate the energy performance of buildings. Generally, every modelling methodology responds effectively to some specific tasks, but there exists a lack of integration in particular with respect to the cross-disciplinary role of data. Given the multi-scale and multi-objective nature of the problem of optimization of the energy and environmental performances of the built environment, an appropriate synthesis and integration process in modelling methodologies has to be identified, addressing realistically the uncertainties inherently present in modelling strategies.
Visualization and data analysis techniques are successfully used in a wide variety of applications, both in theoretical and applied domains, but questions remains about their robustness, efficiency and applicability to the problems introduced before. The paper aims to analyse critically these topics by means of case studies, showing a possible path to create a multi-scale methodology able to synthesize all the relevant aspects.
Numerical simulation tools and optimization methods are needed to properly evaluate all the key performance indicators simultaneously, unveiling the existing gaps and identifying possible synergies and strategies in the performance estimation and decision-making processes for the building life cycle.
Further, several modelling methodologies have been developed in order to evaluate the energy performance of buildings. Generally, every modelling methodology responds effectively to some specific tasks, but there exists a lack of integration in the overall optimization process.
Given the multi-scale and multi-objective nature of the problem of optimization of the energy and environmental performances of the built environment, subject to economic and comfort constraints, an appropriate synthesis and integration process in modelling methodologies has to be identified, addressing realistically the uncertainties inherently present in every modelling strategy.
Data analysis and optimization techniques are successfully used in a wide variety of applications. Although these techniques have proven to be successful in both theoretical and applied domains, questions remains about their applicability for the problems introduced before. These questions involve primarily the robustness and efficiency of solutions procedures and the ability to identify relevant properties and to deal with large quantities of data.
The paper aims to analyse critically these topics by means of case studies, showing a possible path to create an integrated methodology able to synthesize all the relevant aspects previously mentioned
Several modelling methodologies have been developed in order to evaluate the energy performance of buildings. Generally, every modelling methodology responds effectively to some specific tasks, but there exists a lack of integration in particular with respect to the cross-disciplinary role of data. Given the multi-scale and multi-objective nature of the problem of optimization of the energy and environmental performances of the built environment, an appropriate synthesis and integration process in modelling methodologies has to be identified, addressing realistically the uncertainties inherently present in modelling strategies.
Visualization and data analysis techniques are successfully used in a wide variety of applications, both in theoretical and applied domains, but questions remains about their robustness, efficiency and applicability to the problems introduced before. The paper aims to analyse critically these topics by means of case studies, showing a possible path to create a multi-scale methodology able to synthesize all the relevant aspects.
Numerical simulation tools and optimization methods are needed to properly evaluate all the key performance indicators simultaneously, unveiling the existing gaps and identifying possible synergies and strategies in the performance estimation and decision-making processes for the building life cycle.
Further, several modelling methodologies have been developed in order to evaluate the energy performance of buildings. Generally, every modelling methodology responds effectively to some specific tasks, but there exists a lack of integration in the overall optimization process.
Given the multi-scale and multi-objective nature of the problem of optimization of the energy and environmental performances of the built environment, subject to economic and comfort constraints, an appropriate synthesis and integration process in modelling methodologies has to be identified, addressing realistically the uncertainties inherently present in every modelling strategy.
Data analysis and optimization techniques are successfully used in a wide variety of applications. Although these techniques have proven to be successful in both theoretical and applied domains, questions remains about their applicability for the problems introduced before. These questions involve primarily the robustness and efficiency of solutions procedures and the ability to identify relevant properties and to deal with large quantities of data.
The paper aims to analyse critically these topics by means of case studies, showing a possible path to create an integrated methodology able to synthesize all the relevant aspects previously mentioned