TAGLIAFICO L. A.

The present investigation addresses the issue of thermal insulation of building walls. In particular, the case of a wall subjected to Mediterranean climatic conditions, typical for the city of Genoa (Italy), is taken into account. A comparison between a polyurethane and a PCM layer with a thickness of 4 cm is proposed. The analysis is developed...

A magnetic structure intended for use in a room-temperature rotary active magnetic regenerator (AMR) is presented, under construction at the University of Genoa. Given the overall size of the regenerator and the thickness of the gap, the magnet design is optimized to produce the highest possible magnetic field difference between two adjacent...

Green roofs, also known as vegetated roofs or living roofs, have gained increasing attention in recent years due to their potential to address various environmental challenges in urban areas. These innovative roofing systems offer a promising solution to mitigate urban heat island effects, manage stormwater runoff, reduce energy consumption,...

Magnetic refrigeration is an emerging technology that exploits a particular feature of some materials, called "magneto caloric effect" to obtain a cooling effect. In recent years, several research groups have deepened studies on this innovative cooling method, showing its potential mainly through the development of various prototypes. The...

The present paper presents a methodology to effectively address the evaluation of building energy retrofitting projects in a highly uncertain context. Buildings are modelled in terms of archetypes which are characterized by specific features, e.g., U-values, heating plant typology, surface to volume ratio, etc. By using the Monte Carlo...

To improve the integration of thermal renewables in buildings, the utilization of thermal storage is of fundamental importance. The timing mismatch between thermal energy generation (e.g., for domestic hot water) and utilization is usually a limiting factor in the spread of thermal renewables, such as solar thermal panels. Traditionally water...

Magnetic refrigeration is becoming increasingly relevant as a means to achieve sustainability in refrigeration, thanks to its durability, efficiency, and low environmental impact. This paper regards the design of a new rotary magnetic refrigerator feasible for domestic use at room temperature. An interdisciplinary approach was necessary to...

: The study aims to define a methodology to evaluate the optimal insulation thickness with reference to the annual energy balance, including both heating and cooling seasons, for different climatic zones, based on three real case studies. The reduction of the heating needs due to the insulation of walls in places with cold climates is a...

The plant in the Sport Palace "Carmine Romanzi" (Palacus, University of Genoa) consists of a Solar Assisted Heat Pump (SAHP) which integrates the two existing gas burners in the production of Domestic Hot Water (DHW) and Space Heating (SH). To manage the large number of control and measurement points along the installation, a data acquisition...

Thermal insulation is a well-known strategy to increase energy efficiency of buildings. This paper considers two archetypes of an apartment block typology largely diffused in the Italian building stock and evaluates the energy savings resulting from the application of three insulation materials: polyurethane foam, rock wool and resin bonded...

The electrification of the road transport sector is seen as a necessary component to the urban decarbonization. A scenario analysis of electric cars deployment is developed by employing the Long-range Energy Alternative Planning platform to build a bottom-up model to evaluate the contribution to the energy transition in the long term. The...

The share of renewables in the electric power generation is rapidly increasing and shifting the buildings heating demand to electricity represents a sustainable solution to decrease the fossil fuel dependency. In this paper, the maximum share of heating demand that can be switched to electricity by using heat pumps, according to the power...

This paper investigates a strategy for energy saving in the Italian residential sector that includes in the assessment the embodied energy related to the efficiency measures. Simulations are run in three main cities (Milan, Rome and Naples) covering different climate zones. The purpose is, firstly, to estimate the baseline of the buildings...