SUMMARYWorth aged buildings represent among the existing buildings a special case when it comes to their energy refurbishment. Current available technologies for building components, characterized by high level of thermal performances, unfortunately, are also characterized, not rarely, by limited compatibility with the architectural integrity of the building. In other words, the so-called Best Available Technologies that are effectively adopted to optimize the energy performances of buildings, in the case of aged buildings to which a certain artistic, historic and/or architectural merit is recognized (heritage houses) could, actually, determine such kind of conflicts and therefore leading to the selection of "noninvasive" but less performing building and plant elements.To check the effectiveness of these less performing technologies, we investigated the energy performance of two different refurbishment configurations of the building envelope of a heritage house: a "best available technology" scenario, in which interventions assumed consist of using the best available technology for energy saving; and an "allowed best technology" scenario, in which interventions assumed consist of using technologies that, although not the best available, are anyway "allowable" according to the cultural heritage preservation requisites and rules. A cost-based comparison between these configurations of the building envelope was also carried out.Results of this comparative analysis are reported in this paper. RIASSUNTOGli edifici di pregio rappresentano, tra quelli esistenti, un caso speciale quando ci si confronta con la riqualificazione energetica. Le tecnologie attualmente disponibili per i componenti edilizi, caratterizzate da un'elevata prestazione termica, sfortunatamente sono anche, non raramente, affette da una limitata compatibilità con l'integrità architettonica dell'edificio. In altre parole, le cosiddette migliori tecnologie disponibili (BAT) che sono efficacemente adottate per ottimizzare le prestazioni energetiche degli edifici, nel caso degli edifici storici, ai quali è riconosciuto un certo valore artistico, storico e/o architettonico (edifici di pregio o del patrimonio culturale), potrebbero in realtà tale tipo di conflitti e quindi condurre alla scelta di elementi di involucro e di impianto "non invasivi" ma meno performanti. Per controllare 'efficacia di queste meno performanti tecnologie, abbiamo investigato la prestazione energetica di due diverse configurazioni di riqualificazione energetica dell'involucro edilizio di un edificio storico: uno scenario "migliore tecnologia disponibile", in cui gli interventi ipotizzati consistono nell'impiego della migliore tecnologia disponibile per il risparmio energetico; e uno scenario "migliore tecnologia adottabile" , in cui gli interventi ipotizzati consistono nell'impiego di soluzioni tecnologiche che, sebbene non le migliori disponibili, sono comunque certamente adottabili secondo gli standard ed i regolamenti per la conservazione del patrimonio culturale degli edifici....

Abstract. The thermal insulation of buildings, intended as wrap feature which determines the dispersion of heat, the reference parameter is necessary to contain the thermal losses during the winter season. The transmittance of the opaque components, used as an indicator of the energy quality of a casing, together with the overall coefficient of dispersion, represents a proper descriptor of the behavior during the heating season.However, if a strong insulation in winter conditions brings only positive effects, the same cannot be said for the summer conditions. A high value of the insulation in the casing is convenient only when the gains free, either in the form of solar contribution that of endogenous heat, are controlled and restricted. From the national transposition of the 2002/91/CE legislation up to the 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings, performance values are set very restrictive transmittance of opaque surfaces that both of those transparent to the new buildings. The same does not happen for the thermophysical characteristics able to implement strategies for the control of solar radiation during the summer period, the fluctuations in external temperatures during the summer period.This article shows some experimental evidence of the effects on transmission rate and density of the opaque elements of the buildings carried out on a case study of a representative building of climate-Mediterranean summer: The study verify the results produced by increased insulation of the building envelope on energy performance of buildings during the summer through indicators such as temperature and energy consumption to maintain the same constant with respect to the prescribed values.

The reduction of electrical energy consumption in buildings is a subject of great interest in the international scientific community. In buildings with a lot of available natural light, designed with large glazed surfaces, the artificial lighting system is often oversized and cannot be divided into segments to meet lighting demands during daylight hours.This article presents an experimental study, conducted in a university lecture hall that has a glazed surface covering the whole wall at one end, which provides a level of internal illumination that is only sufficient for the area next to the window itself, even when the outside lighting conditions are very bright. It is therefore necessary to turn on the artificial lighting system.The mathematical approach used in this paper has been successfully applied by the authors in other fields of science [1-2].Using an automatic dimmer system, the calibration of which is based on experimental measurements, the lighting is arranged in such a way as to illuminate the most disadvantaged areas of the room, and then to extend itself gradually to the whole of the room, over the period of time that the lecture hall is in use.

The use of bioclimatic principles can reduce energy demands and CO2 emissions in the building sector [1-. Costs are one of the most important barriers to a widespread adoption of the green architecture technologies [4-. The aim of this study is to compare the energy and economic performances of two buildings: a real residential bioclimatic building located in Cinisi (a small town near Palermo, Sicily) and an imaginary residential building supposed having the same geographical location, cubature, shape and orientation as the bioclimatic building but built by conventional building materials. The tools used for this study were TRNSYS and HOMER

Building occupants are important factor in giving information on indoor conditions such as comfort, productivity, building performance and occupants ́ health. Even that, being their appraisal mainly based on subjective judgments, it is difficult to set up a standard and objective method for this purpose. The present work aimed to describe, analyze and compare the most common tests on this topic, in order to highlight critical, failings and strengths.