Simulation and experimental methods for improving energy efficiency, environmental performance and resilience of single and clustered groups of buildings

Energy consumption in the building sector is responsible for 36% of the energy use worldwide (corresponding to 39% of the total energy-related CO2 emissions), while at the European level the building sector accounts for a share of the total energy consumption comprised between 25% and 40% (corresponding to about 35% of the overall CO2 emissions throughout Europe). Concerning the Italian context, instead, such figures stand at about 40% and 17.5% for the energy consumption and for the CO2 emissions, respectively. In light of this, much attention has been paid, at global, European and single countries (national) levels on the important aspects regarding the reduction of energy consumption and the related decrease of greenhouse gases emissions in order to improve the environmental performance and the resilience of the building sector, both by the political and legislative bodies and by the scientific community. Despite the effort spent in putting into effect such actions, in recent years, the energy consumption in the building sector has experienced an increase, particularly in Italy. That is why more exertion in advancing the current measures and finding new innovative strategies to improve energy efficiency and resilience of buildings are of paramount importance. The research work carried out during the PhD course, and presented in this doctoral thesis, arises precisely from this context and from the desire to contribute to the question. To this end, strategies and solutions aimed at improving the energy efficiency, environmental performance and resilience of buildings, were assessed in detail by means of both experimental and modeling approaches. Accordingly, a number of case studies were designed and conducted to estimate how the adoption of some proposed interventions could impact the energy consumption, the indoor thermal comfort and contribute to the reduction of the CO2 emissions of buildings. In doing this, two important aspects influencing the afore-mentioned strategies and solutions were also considered, namely, the effect of the climatic conditions characterizing the considered sites and the spatial scale at which they are applied, from the single building to a wider group of them, and how such perspective may influence the surrounding areas. The outcomes of the carried-out work put in evidence how accurate planning, construction and management of buildings, according to the peculiarities of the sites in which they are located, can contribute to reduce the energy and environmental burden of the building sector and at the same time help in the enhancement of urban resilience. Proper solution sets can, in fact, enable the building resilience against the outdoor stresses and simultaneously guarantee a regenerative indoor environment.