bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Material demand and material efficiency for sustainable development in the European Union countries: A stochastic frontier analysis
Authors: Alataş Sedat , Hiçyılmaz Burcu , Karakaya Etem
Published: June 2023

Materials are of great importance as they are fundamentally integrated into many different critical topics, including green transition, technological progress, industrial emissions, and supply chains. Therefore, the amount of materials we demand and employ in the production process or how efficiently we use them become highly crucial. In this paper, we study the emerging role of materials with a special focus on the key role of material efficiency (ME) in climate mitigation. To this end, we empirically investigate the main determinant of material demand and evaluate the ME performance in the European Union (EU) countries over the period of 1995–2019 based on a four‐component Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) panel data approach that separates unobserved country effects from persistent and transient inefficiency. We obtain the following outcomes. First, material demand function estimates reveal that economic growth and energy consumption are the main drivers of domestic material consumption, highlighting the need for promoting sustainable energy and economic growth. Second, although the SFA‐based ME scores significantly vary across countries, transient inefficiency is the main source of overall inefficiency for most countries, suggesting that there is considerable potential for improvement in ME. While Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, and Slovenia improve their ME performance over time, the ME score of some other countries, such as Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Spain, and the Slovak Republic reveal an opposite outcome. Third, the results show that material intensity is not always a good proxy for ME.
Fabrication of Patchy Silica Microspheres with Tailor‐Made Patch Functionality using Photo‐Iniferter Reversible‐Addition‐Fragmentation Chain‐Transfer (PI‐RAFT) Polymerization
Authors: Akarsu Pinar , Reinicke Stefan , Lehnen Anne‐Catherine , Bekir Marek , Böker Alexander , Hartlieb Matthias , Reifarth Martin
Published: June 2023

Their inherent directional information renders patchy particles interesting building blocks for advanced applications in materials science. In this study, a feasible method to fabricate patchy silicon dioxide microspheres is demonstrated, which they are able to equip with tailor‐made polymeric materials as patches. Their fabrication method relies on a solid‐state supported microcontact printing (µCP) routine optimized for the transfer of functional groups to capillary‐active substrates, which is used to introduce amino functionalities as patches to a monolayer of particles. Acting as anchor groups for polymerization, photo‐iniferter reversible addition‐fragmentation chain‐transfer (RAFT) is used to graft polymer from the patch areas. Accordingly, particles with poly(N‐acryloyl morpholine), poly(N‐isopropyl acrylamide), and poly(n‐butyl acrylate) are prepared as representative acrylic acid‐derived functional patch materials. To facilitate their handling in water, a passivation strategy of the particles for aqueous systems is introduced. The protocol introduced here, therefore, promises a vast degree of freedom in engineering the surface properties of highly functional patchy particles. This feature is unmatched by other techniques to fabricate anisotropic colloids. The method, thus, can be considered a platform technology, culminating in the fabrication of particles that possess locally precisely formed patches on particles at a low µm scale with a high material functionality.
Cancer Immunotherapy Based on Cell Membrane‐Coated Nanocomposites Augmenting cGAS/STING Activation by Efferocytosis Blockade
Authors: Chen Zhian , Li Zhenhao , Huang Huilin , Shen Guodong , Ren Yingxin , Mao Xinyuan , Wang Lingzhi , Li Zhenyuan , Wang Weisheng , Li Guoxin , Zhao Bingxia , Guo Weihong , Hu Yanfeng
Published: June 2023

Innate immunity triggered by the cGAS/STING pathway has the potential to improve cancer immunotherapy. Previously, the authors reported that double‐stranded DNA (dsDNA) released by dying tumor cells can trigger the cGAS/STING pathway. However, owing to efferocytosis, dying tumor cells are engulfed and cleared before the damaged dsDNA is released; hence, immunologic tolerance and immune escape occur. Herein, a cancer‐cell‐membrane biomimetic nanocomposites that exhibit tumor‐immunotherapeutic effects are synthesized by augmenting the cGAS/STING pathway and suppressing efferocytosis. Once internalized by cancer cells, a combined chemo/chemodynamic therapy would be triggered, which damages their nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Furthermore, the releasing Annexin A5 protein could inhibit efferocytosis effect and promote immunostimulatory secondary necrosis by preventing phosphatidylserine exposure, resulting in the burst release of dsDNA. These dsDNA fragments, as molecular patterns to immunogenic damage, escape from the cancer cells, activate the cGAS/STING pathway, enhance cross‐presentation inside dendritic cells, and promote M1‐polarization of tumor‐associated macrophages. In vivo experiments suggest that the proposed nanocomposite could recruit cytotoxic T‐cells and facilitate long‐term immunological memory. Moreover, when combined with immune‐checkpoint blockades, it could augment the immune response. Therefore, this novel biomimetic nanocomposite is a promising strategy for generating adaptive antitumor immune responses.
Experimental Revelation of Surface and Bulk Lattices in Faceted Cu2O Crystals
Authors: Chen Bo‐Hao , Kumar Gautam , Wei Yu‐Jung , Ma Hsueh‐Heng , Kao Jui‐Cheng , Chou Po‐Jung , Chuang Yu‐Chun , Chen I‐Chia , Chou Jyh‐Pin , Lo Yu‐Chieh , Huang Michael H.
Published: June 2023

Semiconductor crystals have generally shown facet‐dependent electrical, photocatalytic, and optical properties. These phenomena have been proposed to result from the presence of a surface layer with bond‐level deviations. To provide experimental evidence of this structural feature, synchrotron X‐ray sources are used to obtain X‐ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of polyhedral cuprous oxide crystals. Cu2O rhombic dodecahedra display two distinct cell constants from peak splitting. Peak disappearance during slow Cu2O reduction to Cu with ammonia borane differentiates bulk and surface layer lattices. Cubes and octahedra also show two peak components, while diffraction peaks of cuboctahedra are comprised of three components. Temperature‐varying lattice changes in the bulk and surface regions also show shape dependence. From transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, slight plane spacing deviations in surface and inner crystal regions are measured. Image processing provides visualization of the surface layer with depths of about 1.5–4 nm giving dashed lattice points instead of dots from atomic position deviations. Close TEM examination reveals considerable variation in lattice spot size and shape for different particle morphologies, explaining why facet‐dependent properties are emerged. Raman spectrum reflects the large bulk and surface lattice difference in rhombic dodecahedra. Surface lattice difference can change the particle bandgap.
High‐Throughput Computational Screening of All‐MXene Metal–Semiconductor Junctions for Schottky‐Barrier‐Free Contacts with Weak Fermi‐Level Pinning
Authors: Yan Jie , Cao Dan , Li Meng , Luo Qingyuan , Chen Xiaoshuang , Su liqin , Shu Haibo
Published: June 2023

Van der Waals (vdW) metal–semiconductor junctions (MSJs) exhibit huge potential to reduce the contact resistance and suppress the Fermi‐level pinning (FLP) for improving the device performance, but they are limited by optional (2D) metals with a wide range of work functions. Here a new class of vdW MSJs entirely composed of atomically thin MXenes is reported. Using high‐throughput first‐principles calculations, highly stable 80 metals and 13 semiconductors are screened from 2256 MXene structures. The selected MXenes cover a broad range of work functions (1.8–7.4 eV) and bandgaps (0.8–3 eV), providing a versatile material platform for constructing all‐MXene vdW MSJs. The contact type of 1040 all‐MXene vdW MSJs based on Schottky barrier heights (SBHs) is identified. Unlike conventional 2D vdW MSJs, the formation of all‐MXene vdW MSJs leads to interfacial polarization, which is responsible for the FLP and deviation of SBHs from the prediction of Schottky–Mott rule. Based on a set of screening criteria, six Schottky‐barrier‐free MSJs with weak FLP and high carrier tunneling probability (>50%) are identified. This work offers a new way to realize vdW contacts for the development of high‐performance electronic and optoelectronic devices.
Bioinspired Macroporous Materials of MXene Nanosheets: Ice‐Templated Assembly and Multifunctional Applications
Authors: Li Meng , Dai Xuangeng , Wang Mengning , Bai Hao
Published: June 2023

Biological macroporous materials, such as stems of the plants and bone of the animals, possess outstanding properties for powerful guarantee of creatures’ survival through the well‐aligned architecture constructed from limited components. Transition metal carbides or nitrides (MXenes), as novel 2D assemblies, have attracted numerous attentions in various applications due to their unique properties. Therefore, mimicking the bioinspired architecture with MXenes will boost the development of human‐made materials with unparalleled properties. Freeze casting has been widely applied to fabricate bioinspired MXene‐based materials and achieve the assembly of MXene nanosheets into 3D forms. This process solves the inherent restacking problems of MXenes, simultaneously preserving the unique properties of MXenes with a physical process. Here, the ice‐templated assembly of MXene in terms of the freezing processes and their potential mechanisms is summarized. In addition, applications of MXene‐based materials in electromagnetic interference shielding and absorption, energy storage and conversion, as well as piezoresistive pressure sensors are also reviewed. Finally, the current challenges and bottlenecks of ice‐templated assembly of MXene are further discussed to guide the development of bioinspired MXene‐based materials.
Unsupervised Analysis of Optical Imaging Data for the Discovery of Reactivity Patterns in Metal Alloy
Authors: Li Rui , Makogon Aleksei , Galochkina Tatiana , Lemineur Jean‐François , Kanoufi Frédéric , Shkirskiy Viacheslav
Published: June 2023

Operando wide‐field optical microscopy imaging yields a wealth of information about the reactivity of metal interfaces, yet the data are often unstructured and challenging to process. In this study, the power of unsupervised machine learning (ML) algorithms is harnessed to analyze chemical reactivity images obtained dynamically by reflectivity microscopy in combination with ex situ scanning electron microscopy to identify and cluster the chemical reactivity of particles in Al alloy. The ML analysis uncovers three distinct clusters of reactivity from unlabeled datasets. A detailed examination of representative reactivity patterns confirms the chemical communication of generated OH− fluxes within particles, as supported by statistical analysis of size distribution and finite element modelling (FEM). The ML procedures also reveal statistically significant patterns of reactivity under dynamic conditions, such as pH acidification. The results align well with a numerical model of chemical communication, underscoring the synergy between data‐driven ML and physics‐driven FEM approaches.
Organic Upgrading through Photoelectrochemical Reactions: Toward Higher Profits
Authors: Liu Tae‐Kyung , Jang Gyu Yong , Kim Sungsoon , Zhang Kan , Zheng Xiaolin , Park Jong Hyeok
Published: June 2023

Aqueous photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells have long been considered a promising technology to convert solar energy into hydrogen. However, the solar‐to‐H2 (STH) efficiency and cost‐effectiveness of PEC water splitting are significantly limited by sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics and the low economic value of the produced O2, hindering the practical commercialization of PEC cells. Recently, organic upgrading PEC reactions, especially for alternative OERs, have received tremendous attention, which improves not only the STH efficiency but also the economic effectiveness of the overall reaction. In this review, PEC reaction fundamentals and reactant‐product cost analysis of organic upgrading reactions are briefly reviewed, recent advances made in organic upgrading reactions, which are categorized by their reactant substrates, such as methanol, ethanol, glycol, glycerol, and complex hydrocarbons, are then summarized and discussed. Finally, the current status, further outlooks, and challenges toward industrial applications are discussed.
Development of Greener and Stable Inkjet‐Printable Perovskite Precursor Inks for All‐Printed Annealing‐Free Perovskite Solar Mini‐Modules Manufacturing
Authors: Chalkias D. A. , Mourtzikou A. , Katsagounos G. , Kalarakis A. N. , Stathatos E.
Published: June 2023

Inkjet‐printing is considered an emerging manufacturing process for developing perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with low material wastes and high production throughput. Up‐to‐now, all case studies on inkjet‐printed PSCs are based on the exploitation of toxic solvents and/or high‐molarity perovskite precursor inks that are known to enable the development of high‐efficiency photovoltaics (PVs). The present study provides a new insight for developing lower‐toxicity, high performance and stable (for more than 2 months) inkjet‐printable perovskite precursor inks for fully ambient air processed PSCs. Using an ink composed of a green low vapor pressure noncoordinating solvent and only 0.8 m of perovskite precursors, the feasibility of fabricating high‐quality and with minimum coffee‐ring defects, annealing‐free perovskite absorbent layers under ambient atmosphere is demonstrated. Noteworthily, the PSCs fabricated using the industry‐compatible carbon‐based hole transport material free architecture and the proposed ink present an efficiency >13% that is considered on the performance records for the under‐consideration PV architecture employing an inkjet‐printed active layer. Outstanding is also found the stability of the devices under the conditions determined by the ISOS‐D‐1 protocol (T95 = 1000 h). Finally, the perspective of upscaling PSCs to the mini‐module level (100 cm2 aperture area) is demonstrated, with the upscaling losses to be as low as 8.3%rel dec−1 per upscaled active area.
When will a changing climate outpace adaptive evolution?
Authors: Martin Ryan A. , da Silva Carmen R. B. , Moore Michael P. , Diamond Sarah E.
Published: June 2023

Decades of research have illuminated the underlying ingredients that determine the scope of evolutionary responses to climate change. The field of evolutionary biology therefore stands ready to take what it has learned about influences upon the rate of adaptive evolution—such as population demography, generation time, and standing genetic variation—and apply it to assess if and how populations can evolve fast enough to “keep pace” with climate change. Here, our review highlights what the field of evolutionary biology can contribute and what it still needs to learn to provide more mechanistic predictions of the winners and losers of climate change. We begin by developing broad predictions for contemporary evolution to climate change based on theory. We then discuss methods for assessing climate‐driven contemporary evolution, including quantitative genetic studies, experimental evolution, and space‐for‐time substitutions. After providing this mechanism‐focused overview of both the evidence for evolutionary responses to climate change and more specifically, evolving to keep pace with climate change, we next consider the factors that limit actual evolutionary responses. In this context, we consider the dual role of phenotypic plasticity in facilitating but also impeding evolutionary change. Finally, we detail how a deeper consideration of evolutionary constraints can improve forecasts of responses to climate change and therefore also inform conservation and management decisions.

This article is categorized under:

Climate, Ecology, and Conservation > Observed Ecological Changes

Climate, Ecology, and Conservation > Extinction Risk

Assessing Impacts of Climate Change > Evaluating Future Impacts of Climate Change
Recent advances in ultra‐trace determination of uranium in natural water using total reflection X‐ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectrometry
Authors: Sanyal Kaushik , Dhara Sangita
Published: June 2023

This review article describes some of the recent advances in ultra‐trace determination of uranium in various natural water bodies such as drinking water, underground water, seawater, etc. using total reflection x‐ray florescence (TXRF) spectrometry. Uranium is one of the most hazardous element having chemical as well as radio‐toxicity. However, due to its low concentration in water samples, direct determination is seldom possible in samples with high salt content. Various sample preconcentration and selective extraction techniques for uranium such as solvent extraction, dispersive liquid–liquid micro extraction, solid phase extraction, and membrane based preconcentration methods are summarized in this article. TXRF is a very versatile micro‐analytical technique with detection limits in picogram range and having multielemental analysis capability. TXRF determination of uranium using U Lα as the analytical line has many analytical challenges and difficulties, mainly due to the severe interference with Rb and Br, both are commonly available in natural water samples. This article highlights some of these challenges, along with the advantages and disadvantages of the different sample preparation techniques used so far for uranium determination in natural water samples by TXRF.
How Do Atmospheric Tidal Loading Displacements Vary Temporally as well as Across Different Weather Models?
Authors: Balidakis Kyriakos , Sulzbach Roman , Dobslaw Henryk , Dill Robert
Published: June 2023

We assess the impact of varying the mass anomaly sources on the calculation of atmospheric tidal displacement harmonics. Atmospheric mass anomalies are obtained from five state-of-the-art numerical weather models (NWM): DWD’s ICON-Global, ECMWF’s IFS, JMA’s JRA55, ECMWF’s ERA5, and NASA’s MERRA2. To evaluate how the atmospheric tides’ representation in the different models displaces Earth’s crust, we calculate mass harmonics based on a fixed time span (2019.0–2022.0). To evaluate how temporally variable atmospheric tide manifestations are, we also applied a square-root-information filter on displacements spanning seven decades of ERA5. In addition, the variable harmonic atmospheric forcing is used to excite harmonic sea-surface variations employing the barotropic model TiME. The results from the analysis of the five numerical weather models as well as the monthly updated states of ERA5 harmonics are compared. We find that inter-model differences are larger than temporal harmonic modulations for all waves beating at frequencies higher than 1 cpd. We have confirmed that significant modulations are not an artefact in NWM but rather a true effect, and accounting for them might become of relevance for space geodesy at some point as soon as observations increase in spatio-temporal density and accuracy. The global RMS of radial displacements is 0.07 mm (SNR of 16.2 dB) for the “epoch” ensemble and 0.10 mm (SNR of 8.9 dB) for the “NWM” ensemble. We find discrepancies as large as 0.28 mm between harmonics from MERRA2 and early ERA5 batches, which we attribute to data sparsity in the in situ data assimilated into the NWM during the earlier years of the atmospheric reanalysis.
Digital Construction and Management the Public’s Infrastructures
Authors: Orsini Giuseppe , Piras Giuseppe
Published: June 2023

The purpose of the present paper “Digital construction and management the public’s infrastructures” is to propose an interconnected development approach, in the management of public infrastructure asset, that through of digital modeling (BIM*) and interoperability provides tools to support decision-making processes. In detail, this work analyzes the innovative process of developing digital tools for the institutional tasks of supervision and support for the management of land transport infrastructure in the Italian national system. Therefore, trough of one assumed a georeferenced network of “digital twins” have been valued the scenarios obtainable whit the digitalization of the public works and of the territory’s surveys. The principles for managing information flows for Italian’s public transport infrastructures have been developed in accordance with national legislation and the reference UNI standards. The assumed flow is on the exchange of data between the managing subjects with the owners’ authorities and surveillance bodies, taking as pivot element the Index public work (IOP) code attributed to each public work. Finally, a conceptual model has been proposed for the energy analysis of the road section and the identification of the best areas to create the “green islands” to produce renewable energy, for the management of infrastructure and for the recharging of electric vehicles.
A Digital Information Model for Coastal Maintenance and Waterfront Recovery
Authors: Ciampa Francesca
Published: June 2023

In the context of the global climate crisis and the resulting catastrophic flooding phenomena, the contribution looks at an innovative digital model for the coastal recovery, attentive to the protection of waterfronts and their stakeholders. By intervening in the relationship between transformation and conservation of built environment, it is necessary to establish governance support tools capable of foreseeing emergency scenarios to protect the population. The research looks at the port areas of coastal cities as a contemporary and collective public space in which to test the collaborative digital model proposed for waterfronts recovery and maintenance. The need-based methodological process used the human life protection, exposed to flooding danger, as the input of a design process. Through a survey and modeling phase, the waterfront breaks down into environmental and technological systems, specifying the extent of the failure. The waterfront digitization allows providing the governance with a sensor alert tool that gives the monitoring of the behavior and the state of the waterfront elements’ degradation. This information is simplified and given back to the users who both made responsible for the maintenance culture of the places they use and alerted to the possible danger they are exposed. The case is Atrani, where an internal flooding, caused by the estuary overflowing, degenerated in the entire coastal system up to the sea. The results provide a digital model capable of exploring and optimizing the coastal built environment to increase the governance capacity and the waterfront performance.
Digital Twin Models Supporting Cognitive Buildings for Ambient Assisted Living
Authors: Corneli Alessandra , Binni Leonardo , Naticchia Berardo , Vaccarini Massimo
Published: June 2023

The rapid and global aging of population is outlining the need for environments that can provide support for these individuals during their daily activities. The challenge of an aging society is being addressed through the incorporation of new technologies into the home environment, which is nothing less than Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). To date, some of the AAL solutions exploit AI models to recognize the elderly’s behaviors through data collected by sensors. In recent times, Digital Twins (DTs) at building level have begun to appear on the construction domain. These are still under development but through the integration of users into assessments, they improve efficiency, prevention, and prediction of likely events through real-time AI computing. The integration of DT and AAL defines cognitive buildings which aim to learn at scale, reason with a purpose, and co-operate with users in a natural way. This research aims to develop DT models to achieve scenario awareness to provide support to elderly people living alone and suffering from cognitive disorders. The proposed multi-agent architecture is based on a five-layer system that autonomously develops high-level knowledge to detect anomalies in the home environment scenarios and therefore support the user. Bayesian networks (BNs) are exploited to perform high-level deductive reasoning on low-level multi-modal information, thus recognizing senseless or dangerous behaviors, environmental disruptions, changes in behavioral patterns, and serious medical events. Bi-directional user-system interaction provides user support by leveraging Speech-To-Text and Text-To-Speech AI agents. Three main functions were tested: real-time data integration, anomaly detection, and two-way interaction.
Less Automation More Information: A Learning Tool for a Post-occupancy Operation and Evaluation
Authors: Tonelli Chiara , Cardone Barbara , D’Autilia Roberto , Nardi Giuliana
Published: June 2023

Climate change and the pandemic generated an urgent need to have an efficient urban habitat that includes technological innovations to deal with the ecological and digital transitions. Italy counts about 14 million buildings, 12 of which are houses, responsible for more than 40% of final energy consumption, most of which is ascribable to users’ behavior and lifestyle. The increase in buildings’ energy performance is strongly related to a smart management of the demand and self-consumption, as well as a more effective and active involvement of the occupants: it is, therefore, pivotal to come up with user-friendly tools to measure and monitor the performance of the buildings and users’ habits. Tools to encourage the choices toward the environment’s comfort, rather than automation technologies, allowing the occupants and information systems to move in the direction of ecological transition. The aim is to create an aware “energy citizenship” for people living in efficient buildings. The proposal is a system that uses IoT technology and provides a global evaluation of the state of the house, from which can be extracted suggestions for better and virtuous behavior. The overall ecological footprint is measured based on five “cycles”: energy; environment; water; waste production; food. Collected data create an urban database that, along with big data, constitutes a set of boundary conditions that are crossed with single units’ data. The measures related to single units can be applied to a wider network in order to create a smart city, involving dwellers in a serious game on their homes’ performance. The proposal is part of the research on post-evaluation occupancy, in the belief that even the best model-houses perform worse in use, rather than the predictions expected on paper.
A Prosumer Approach for Feeding the Digital Twin. Testing the MUST Application in the Old Harbour Waterfront of Genoa
Authors: Viola Serena , Novellino Antonio , Zinno Alberto , Di Ludovico Marco
Published: June 2023

Supporting the settlement systems’ life cycle management through synchronisation of the real world with a virtual platform constitutes the horizon for the MUST team research (Maintenance Urban Sharing Tools) with the Departments of Architecture (DiARC) and Structures for engineering and architecture (DiSt) of the University of Naples, Stress Scarl and ETT SpA. Living digital simulation models are based on information analysis and constant data supply. The research identifies the involvement of the settlement systems users through creating collaborative information flows, one of the driving factors of the digital revolution. The paper introduces the connotative aspects of the MUST application (Smau Innovation Award 2019, Campania Start-Up 2020 funded project) to identify the building and urban system loss of functionality. With the support of an experiment conducted in the waterfront area of the old harbour of Genoa, the paper identifies strengths and weaknesses in using the MUST application to support and streamline the Digital Twin that ETT S.p.A. is implementing with the DSH2030 (Digital Sustainable Harbor 2030) project. A prosumer perspective is the foundation of this research focusing on the sense of responsibility of communities towards the built environment and on the willingness of individuals to invest in care actions. The paper returns the research results achieved to date with an open and public model design, equipped with different interfaces to meet the diverse needs of the groups involved, allowing expert citizens to interact and report in progress feedback.
The Living Lab for Autonomous Driving as Applied Research of MaaS Models in the Smart City: The Case Study of MASA—Modena Automotive Smart Area
Authors: Leali Francesco , Pasquale Francesco
Published: June 2023

The revolution of digital technology in the field of mobility generates a complex environment where information technology, vehicle engineering and urban planning cooperate in the design of sustainable cities.
Quality-Based Design for Environmentally Conscious Architecture
Authors: Roura Helena Coch , Garrido Torres Pablo
Published: June 2023

The discussion is focused on the view that technological innovation, in order to move toward a green transition, must take advantage of the opportunities and focus on quality-based design rather than quantity-based design. It is argued that true technological innovation requires a major mental shift. It is not about making processes better and more efficient, but about rethinking them outright. Three strategies are proposed at the urban and building level that support this higher quality as a way to go toward a sustainable approach as stated in the Brundtland report. The strategies proposed to reduce the amount of resources required to satisfy citizens’ demands are based on a more in-depth study of their real needs. Innovative design and technological solutions could lead us to a healthier and more environmentally friendly life.
Soft Technologies for the Circular Transition: Practical Experimentation of the Product “Material Passport”
Authors: Caroli Tecla
Published: June 2023

The change of mind regarding waste conceived as resource is possible if the transition toward circularity is actualized. Design and build in a reversible perspective allow to enable circular strategies on a constructive system at the end of its service life. These strategies and solutions toward reversibility are defined Hard and Soft Technologies. If the first ones are the reversible constructive technics used on different elements of the building; the second ones consist in the operative aspects, regarding to tools and methods that allow the realization of reversible processes, projects and products. Specifically, the MP is a Soft Technology that facilitates the second use of a constructive systems that has residual performances once disassembled. As tool, the Material Passport collects the technical and operative information about the product, tracing the resources employed, maintaining their value over time and reducing the grade of uncertain about the circular potentiality of disassembled elements. The paper demonstrates the importance of Soft Technologies for the development of Hard Technologies and reports the outcomes of a practical experimentation developed. The application consists in the development of the Material Passport of a product of the manufacturing company Cel Components and in the definition of reversible practices for the generation of the circular transition of the company. The MP is processed within the BIM model of a company-produced panel, used for façade, false ceiling, internal partition or flooring systems, to elaborate a framework for the data entry. The application provides a user-friendly framework for designers and manufacturers.
Imagining a Carbon Neutral University
Authors: Violano Antonella , Cannaviello Monica
Published: June 2023

Universities are the main centers where the drivers of innovation for sustainability and decarbonization of the built heritage are investigated and developed. But are existing university buildings sustainable? If zero carbon buildings are to be our goal in 2050 (EU Green Deal), what is the current carbon footprint of these buildings? How can we enhance post-occupancy evaluation and drive technological and energy retrofits for participatory environmental design? This is the focus of the research carried out within the MedEcoSuRe (Mediterranean University as Catalyst for Eco-Sustainable Renovation) Project, funded by the European Union under the ENI CBC MED Program, which analyses and compares a number of sustainability assessment methods for existing university buildings (Green Metric, Stars, GRI, …) in order to develop the most effective indicators, not only to highlight the really virtuous buildings, but also to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the university building stock and to implement the most appropriate redevelopment strategies. According to the Renovation Wave Strategy, these approaches are aimed at improving not only the energy performance of buildings but will also improve the quality of life of people living in and using university buildings. The research considered multiple aspects concerning not only the environmental and functional performance of buildings, but also the direct satisfaction of users (providing a safe, healthy and comfortable environment for students, teachers and staff) and the strategies to manage energy, water, green and material resources during the operational phase (Xue et al. in Sustainability 12(1):294, 2020). The evaluation of environmental and functional performance of educational buildings should ensure that the effectiveness of buildings is maximized not just in terms of occupancy costs but also with respect to user satisfaction (Ekekezie et al. in Int J Progressive Res Sci Eng 2(8/202):388–397, 2021).
Towards Climate Neutrality: Progressing Key Actions for Positive Energy Districts Implementation
Authors: Romano Rosa , Andreucci Maria Beatrice , Giancola Emanuela
Published: June 2023

Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) represent an emerging urban transition paradigm, an advanced framework to effectively attain decarbonization targets, as well as a holistic approach to foster more resilient and livable cities. However, implementing PEDs is challenging, demanding substantial planning, design, and operations changes. Mainstreaming PEDs calls for innovative legal, institutional, business, and organizational frameworks, as well as an active involvement of the main actors (i.e., cities, municipalities, communities, investors, industry players, and service providers), to co-design and jointly progress ambitious agendas, multiscale plans, flexible instruments, and adaptive structures. Benefitting from the authors’ cooperation within the Horizon 2020 project, Cooperation in Science and Technology COST Action ‘Positive Energy Districts European Network’ (PED-EU-NET in PED-EU-NET | COST ACTION CA19126, 2020), the proposed contribution addresses relevant issues and opportunities characterizing the development of PEDs in Europe, relating attention to effective implementation, context-specificity, replicability, and upscaling. Among the results achieved in the first year of the COST research activities, the authors present an understanding of the PEDs policy landscape in Europe, and a catalogue of the key lessons learned from PEDs in progress. In detail, some comprehensive and interrelated aspects (stakeholder-oriented strategies and technological and system innovation) that have emerged towards enabling conditions for upscaling PEDs structure are analyzed. Through the investigation of existing framework conditions, barriers, and enablers of piloting projects, as well as emerging impacts at international level, the authors provide original insights, and formulate key recommendations for take-up and advancement towards climate neutrality, making a timely and original input to enhanced scholarly understanding of PEDs.
Territorial Energy Potential for Energy Community and Climate Mitigation Actions: Experimentation on Pilot Cases in Rome
Authors: Marrone Paola , Montella Ilaria
Published: June 2023

One of the conditions toward mitigation and a zero-emission economy is to plan the transition to a sustainable urban energy system. The dimensional and typological variety of urban pattern, and the functional contribution of inhabitants, represent an important potential to reduce energy consumption and climate-changing gases. Despite this evidence, many studies focused on the energy transition have given limited attention to issues of scale, space, and context in urban settings and how they can shape different energy systems. This article deals with renewable energy communities in the urban context and, by presenting some results of research that, through pilot cases in Rome, aims to test mitigation and adaptation solutions in proximity spaces. In particular, it investigates how the different forms of already built urban fabrics, together with social and environmental resources, can influence the form and implementation of the decentralized energy system and vice versa.
Toward a New Humanism of Technological Innovation in Design of the Built Environment
Authors: Paris Spartaco
Published: June 2023

This paper offers a reflection on the dialectical relationship between technological innovation and the culture of design for the built environment, hypothesizing a scenario in which the outdated interpretation of the merely instrumental role of technology may be plausibly recognized and overcome. Because it is increasingly complex, sophisticated, and pervasive in the life of and in the space inhabited by people, technology requires a renewed, humanistic approach in order to be governed, selected, and used, for the purpose of improving people’s fragile living conditions on the planet. On the other hand, people are, in and of themselves, characterized by continuous exploration and invention to extend their abilities through technique, and given the uncertain future facing us, technique will once again be our friend, renewing a relationship that may be called one of philotechny rather than of pure fideism—or of anachronistic antagonism—toward technique. Although starting from a specific, low level of technology, the construction sector is absorbing the extraordinary, accelerated advances of the technologies belonging to the digital sphere; this may help guide the construction industry toward a new form of production, and at the same time, it may transform the designer’s tasks, roles, and responsibilities. The designer of the future that faces us will have to be able to operate collaboratively within a system of vast competences, which will be mediated by the potency and accessibility of new tools and methods belonging to the digital technologies.
Digital Twins for Climate-Neutral and Resilient Cities. State of the Art and Future Development as Tools to Support Urban Decision-Making
Authors: Ricciardi Guglielmo , Callegari Guido
Published: June 2023

The increased effects of climate change in the built environment require a rapid and effective response to adapt urban settlements to the main impacts related to heatwave, extreme precipitation, sea-level rise, and so on. At the same time, there is not much time to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change and limit the mean temperature of the planet within the 1.5 °C imposed by the Paris Agreement. In this perspective, cities around the world have a key role toward carbon neutral and resilient targets. In parallel in the last years, we are witnessing the impacts of a big amount of data and information available at the city scale. There are many data coming from different databases that can be processed and managed to support the urban climate action planned and designed by decision-makers and urban practitioners, for example, to assess the carbon emission of the building sector or to simulate the effects of extreme precipitation or urban heat island and consequence behavior of the built environment. In this scenario, in the last years, among many different digital enable technologies available in the Industry 4.0 ambit, it has gained more attention in the field of urban planning and urban design the digital twin concept that could synthesize in a digital representation of the real-world data and information flow that could exchange from the physical side to digital representation and vice versa. The aim of the paper is to analyze the urban digital twin developed in last years in Europe to evaluate if and how they consider the climate change issue, in order to understand the state of the art, the applications developed for climate change and which is the level of experimentation in order to study and develop guidelines to build urban digital twin as a support tool for a climate-neutral and resilient city.
A BIM-Based Approach to Energy Analysis of Existing Buildings in the Italian Context
Authors: Morini Marco , Caffari Francesca , Calabrese Nicolandrea , Centi Giulia
Published: June 2023

In the important challenge set at the EU level of doubling the annual energy renovation rate of buildings by 2030, building information modelling (BIM) represents a remarkable opportunity for its many advantages, in all stages of the process. For example, BIM allows for the creation of accurate models of buildings at both current and refurbished state that can also be imported in software for specialized analyses such as the energy performance study and, at the same time, constitute digital, easily searchable, and updatable databases of all sorts of information about a building. However, several barriers still hinder the full use of BIMs for energy analyses, such as issues in interoperability among software and lack of technical knowledge of professionals. The research, whose methodology and objectives are introduced in this paper, moves from these considerations and can be divided into two main phases. The first one (“from BIM to energy analysis”) focused on the identification of interoperability issues between BIM authoring and Italian certified energy analysis software, starting from the application on case studies. The aim is to draft recommendations, targeted at the professionals in the sector, for the definition of building as-is models, optimized to make the importation in energy analysis software as seamless as possible. In the second part (“from energy analysis to BIM”), a series of parameters, to be included firstly in the form of custom property sets, were individuated to populate those models with the main results of the energy analysis. The objective of these actions is to support and, at the same time, valorize the work of the professionals carrying out energy audits while highlighting the potential of BIM for greater knowledge and digitization of the building stock.
Sustainable Reuse Indicators for Ecclesiastic Built Heritage Regeneration
Authors: Pinto Maria Rita , Bosone Martina , Ciampa Francesca
Published: June 2023

In the context of anthropogenic impacts on pollution and global warming scenarios, reject from the construction sector accounts for 36% of European waste. This waste percentage includes disused and abandoned buildings that have lost the value of their function over time. In order to reduce the ecological footprint they generate, the paper rethinks Recovery in its circular meaning to put these buildings back into a normal circuit of usability, improving the creation of resilient urban habitats. In particular, decommissioned ecclesiastical buildings constitute a huge quantity and significant quality heritage, as by cultural, perceptive, morphological and material values. The sustainable reuse of this heritage must act on its double impacting value: the tangible one linked to the material culture of the buildings and the intangible one, linked to the identity values of sediment instances. Through a comparison desk research of more than 140 cases of reuse on a European scale, the contribution arrives at a system of indicators that allow evaluating the reuse sustainable compatibility of these buildings, able to promote prosperity, inclusiveness and social equity. These indicators make it possible to assess the appropriateness of design actions aimed at mediating between the conservation of the built heritage and the transformative needs of contemporary instances. The results provide scenarios tool of sustainable recovery, capable of transforming waste into a resource, extending the life cycle of the ecclesiastical heritage and thus mitigating its environmental impact, as well as the cost related to the loss of cultural values and identity for the community.
Adaptive Building Technologies for Building Envelopes Under Climate Change Conditions
Authors: Milardi Martino
Published: June 2023

Following the widespread recognition of the urgency of environmental and energy issues, cities, now under the influence of the pandemic crisis, are called to cope with them through adaptation strategies to future scenarios that are constantly changing. At the same time, the implementation of adaptive building envelopes seems to be a promising alternative to achieve higher quality levels in the built environment, especially to counter and mitigate climate change, in line with EU directives. Adaptive envelopes can modify physical or chemical characteristics, exploiting environmental stimuli such as solar heat, temperature, airspeed, or atmospheric humidity. In this scenario, the experimental research in progress wants to define a new adaptive model by using innovative materials. It can be applied to curtain wall systems, intended as an element vulnerable to the effects of extreme events in a Mediterranean climate and more stressed by external energy flows. In this work, the author presents some parts of the research results, in which a necessary phase involved the reasoned recognition of adaptive materials for extreme applications or materials that can respond actively to possible external stresses. Research efforts are focused on the choice of the most suitable material to define the levels of environmental adaptability of the model, its constructability, and technological characterization. Finally, the performance verification of the adaptive model will be carried out at the TCLab section of the BFL of the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria to develop prototypical lines that can facilitate the new approach to high environmental quality adaptive envelopes.