The paper analyzes the perspective of a solution for the mutual interaction of a Photovoltaic (PV) generator and a Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) in the context of a residential building. The idea is to analyze the operating performance of a system that permits the maximum self-consumption of the energy generated by a small-size PV system installed on the same building: this kind of systems could be useful for further penetration of renewable energy in a complex energy context. The problem is analyzed basing on the data of an experimental analysis of a real case, in the town of Pisa, Italy. A typical house equipped with a GSHP and a PV plant of similar size (about 3.7 kW of peak power) is monitored during a year of operation in order to test the feasibility of the technical solution for a more general application. The data concerns both the operation of the two systems and the interaction with the electric grid. The possible utilization of this solution in the perspective of promotion of self-consumption policies and of Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) is discussed and analyzed showing that the level of interaction with the electrical grid is quite high

The thermal environment in educational buildings is crucial to improve students’ health and productivity, as they spend a considerable amount of time in classrooms. Due to the complexity of educational buildings, research performed has been heterogeneous and standards for thermal comfort are based on office studies with adults. Moreover, they rely on single dose-response models that do not account for interactions with other environmental factors, or students’ individual preferences and needs. A literature study was performed on thermal comfort in educational buildings comprising of 143 field studies, to identify all possible confounding parameters involved in thermal perception. Educational stage, climate zone, model adopted to investigate comfort, and operation mode were then selected as confounding parameters and discussed to delineate the priorities for future research. Results showed that children often present with different thermal sensations than adults, which should be considered in the design of energy-efficient and comfortable educational environments. Furthermore, the use of different models to analyse comfort can influence field studies’ outcomes and should be carefully investigated. It is concluded that future studies should focus on a more rational evaluation of thermal comfort, also considering the effect that local discomfort can have on the perception of an environment. Moreover, it is important to carefully assess possible relationships between HVAC systems, building envelope, and thermal comfort, including their effect on energy consumption. Since several studies showed that the perception of the environment does not concern thermal comfort only, but it involves the aspects of indoor air, acoustic, and visual quality, their effect on the health and performance of the students should be assessed. This paper provides a way forward for researchers, which should aim to have an integrated approach through considering the positive effects of indoor exposure while considering possible individual differences.

Today, the effects of the indoor environment on occupants’ health and comfort represent a very important topic and requires a holistic approach in which the four main environmental factors (thermal comfort, air quality, acoustics, and lighting) should be simultaneously assessed. The present paper shows the results of a literature survey that aimed to collect the indicators for the evaluation of occupants’ health and comfort in indoor environmental quality evaluations. A broad number of papers that propose the indicators of a specific environmental factor is available in the scientific literature, but a review that collects the indicators of all four factors is lacking. In this review paper, the difference between indicators for the evaluation of risk for human health and for comfort evaluation is clarified. For each environmental factor, the risk for human health indicators are proposed with the relative threshold values, and the human comfort indicators are grouped into categories according to the number of parameters included, or the specific field of application for which they are proposed. Furthermore, the differences between human health and comfort indicators are highlighted.

The Italian greenhouse vegetable industry is an important sector that requires thermal energy as much as 0.74 Mtoe, derived\ud mostly from fossil fuels, which corresponds to 2 MtCO2 emissions. The Energy Strategy 2020 of the European Commission calls\ud for increased use of renewable resources in the energy system, thus pushing the technology of wood biomass system for space\ud heating of the greenhouses, since this resource is considered as ‘greenhouse gas’ (GHG) neutral when converted to\ud heat, excluding the GHG generation during harvesting, transportation, and pre-processing of raw materials.\ud Taking into account the different climatic areas in the Italian peninsula, power energy load was estimated to be between 30 Wm-2\ud (in southern regions) and more than 175 Wm-2 (in northern regions), while the energy consumption was estimated in the range\ud from 21 to 546 kWhthm-2year-1 according to different internal air temperatures. Moreover, the CO2 enrichment in greenhouses\ud from the exhaust gas of a biomass heating system can bring benefits for greenhouse plant production, along with optimal\ud management strategies to reduce fuel consumption.\ud Unfortunately, CO2 enrichment from the exhaust gas of biomass boilers is still challenging and expensive, considering that wood\ud biomass boilers generate a higher volume of particulate matters (PM) and ash emissions than other fossil fuels. However, wet\ud scrubbers and other recent flue gas conditioning devices could help to reduce costs and make this process more feasible.\ud Thus, a techno-economic assessment is highly recommended to ascertain the economic feasibility of wood biomass boilers for\ud the greenhouse industry.\ud Finally, some economic considerations are provided to make cost-effective use of the solid biomass in relation to the economic incentives by the National Decree of 28 December 2012, so-called “White Certifies”

Abstract:The energy audit for a building is a procedure designed mainly to obtain adequate knowledge of the energy consumption profile, identify, and quantify opportunities for energy savings by a cost-benefit analysis and report, clearly and comprehensively, about the obtained results. If the audit is referred to a building with a significant historical and artistic value, a compatibility evaluation of the energy saving interventions with the architectural features should also be developed. In this paper, analysing the case study of a historical building used as public offices in Pisa (Italy), the authors describe how it is possible to conduct an energy audit activity (especially dedicated to the lighting system) and they show how, for this type of buildings, it is possible to obtain significant energy savings with a refurbishment of the lighting system. A total number of seven interventions on indoor and outdoor lighting sub-systems were analysed in the paper. They are characterised by absolute compatibility with the historical and artistic value of the building and they show short payback times, variable between 4 and 34 months, allowing a reduction of the electrical energy consumption for the artificial indoor and outdoor lighting variable from 1.1 MWh/year to 39.0 MWh/year. The followed methodology and the evaluation results described in the paper, although based on a case study, can be extended to numerous historical buildings used as public offices, a recurring situation in the centres of Italian historical cities.