Energetic and Structural Retrofit of Existing RC Buildings through Precast Concrete Panels: Proposal of a New Technology and Explorative Performance Simulation

Abstract

The paper presents the proposal of a retrofit system for reinforced concrete (RC) existing buildings consisting in the use of precast concrete panels designed for improving both structural and energetic performances. In particular, the proposed system is conceived, on one hand, for improving the energetic efficiency by ensuring high-performance thermal insulation and, on the other hand, for ManuscriptClick here to access/download;Manuscript;Manuscript_REV01.docx improving the capacity of structural elements under gravity and seismic loads. Firstly, the paper presents a detailed description of the proposed technology, which has been tested and assessed on a real-scale prototype. After, the efficiency of the technique has been explored by means of numerical simulations for both energetic and structural performances. Although no experimental tests are available, the response of numerical simulations and analyses on a real building case returns interesting insights, highlighting the main pros and cons of the proposal and providing a possible retrofit solution for buildings that do not meet the current European code requirements.

The Seismic Evaluation of Existing Buildings for Energy Renovation—A Case Study for the Residential Building Stock in Bucharest (Romania)

“…Moscella et al [10] show a case study for the energy and seismic rehabilitation of two historical buildings in Italy. Martiradonna et al [11] present a solution for improving both the seismic and energetic performance of reinforced concrete buildings by using precast concrete panels. Various other structural solutions proposed for the same purpose include CLT panels [12,13], textile-reinforced mortars [14], RC-framed skins [15], waste materials [16] and sandwich panels [17].…”

Sustainable Renovation of Public Buildings through Seismic–Energy Upgrading: Methodology and Application to an RC School Building

“…Each one of these categories can be exploded into several specific techniques that have already been applied or at least laboratory tested to an intermediate TRL (Technology Readiness Level). Other studies [22] outlined the possibility of using retrofit systems for existing reinforced concrete buildings consisting of precast concrete panels, which are able to improve both the structural and energetic performance.…”